Aegis
Role: UX Researcher & Designer
Project Overview: Mixed Moments of discomfort and threat often unfold quietly, leaving little time to think, react, or reach for help. Aegis explores how safety can exist within these moments without announcing itself. The project reimagines a pen, an object carried, used, and overlooked every day as a discreet companion that supports users when situations begin to feel unsafe.
Project Duration: October, 2025 - November, 2025
PROBLEM
Individuals’ sense of safety & control is undermined, particularly in confined or low-visibility spaces.
In India, everyday spaces often carry unspoken risks, and rising incidents of harassment continue to expose the limitations of existing safety measures. These moments highlight the need to understand how individuals across genders experience vulnerability in close, low-visibility settings.
Safety features added to everyday objects such as phones, wearables, bags, or keychains often become visually apparent, reducing discretion, while trusted systems tied to these objects tend to respond only after an incident rather than during it.
Sources & Links:
Official 112 India portal and app store pages.
Safety pin annual reports and city safety audits.
GSMA, IAMAI / ICUBE and related digital gender gap reporting.
STUDY ON EXISTING SOLUTIONS
Lack of tools that support users proactively during the moment of threat rather than after the incident.
Impact–frequency mapping was used to cluster user reactions based on how often they occur and how strongly they affect decision-making during unsafe moments, revealing recurring patterns like cognitive overload, avoidance, and delayed response that break trust in existing safety systems.
USER INTERVIEW
Users tend to hesitate driven by fear, uncertainty, and the pressure to decide quickly in closed spaces.
Voice Recordings Stored in Aegis App
The recordings screen is designed as a clean, card-based library with search and quick playback controls, prioritizing easy scan & access to multiple audio files without overwhelming the user.
This screen reduces stress during review by making it effortless to locate, revisit, and manage recordings, especially when they need to access evidence quickly or repeatedly.
01 Voice Recordings
02 Transcript
03 Controls
The controls screen centralizes audio management features such as renaming, playback speed adjustment, noise reduction, privacy locking, and secure export to support post-incident handling.
This gives users a sense of control and ownership over their recordings, allowing them to prepare, protect, or share evidence at their own pace and comfort level.
This screen presents an auto-generated, chat-style transcript that distinguishes between the user’s voice and other speakers, with options to replay specific segments and isolate background voices for contextual clarity.
By translating audio into readable dialogue, the interface helps users understand and validate what was recorded without having to relive the entire incident, making review less emotionally taxing and more precise.
SOLUTION
Aegis, a pen that merges technology & self defence.
Dual Mode Tip Trigger
Single-press deploys the writing tip; double-press activates the concealed electroshock tip. A microcontroller-based switch differentiates press patterns for quick mode selection.
The user gets an immediate, instinctive way to defend themselves even when they are scared, rushed, or unable to take out a larger device, making protection accessible in the exact moment of danger.
Recording Activation Button
Long-press initiates audio recording through an integrated MEMS microphone. A discreet LED cue confirms activation.
A single long-press instantly starts recording without needing to unlock a phone or look at the device, letting the users capture evidence discreetly even in high-stress or threatening moments.
Electroshock Defence Tip
High-voltage, low-current pulse delivered through dual conductive prongs for non-lethal self-defence. Powered by a compact capacitor-transformer circuit for instant activation.
This feature gives users a rapid way to interrupt the aggressor’s hold and create a moment to escape, without needing strength, precision, or verbal confrontation.
Hidden Display Console
A concealed micro-OLED screen displays real-time status such as ‘Recording Started’ or ‘SOS Sent’. Includes touch-based SOS and Back buttons for quick action control.
This makes the pen more usable by giving instant visual confirmation of actions, allowing quick, intuitive control even when they are anxious or unable to operate their phone.
USER SURVEY
Users rarely rely on digital safety tools due to ineffectiveness & difficulty of those in moments of panic.
PERSONAS
FEEDBACK SURVEY VIA MAZE
A pen is universally carried, socially neutral that could allow discretion w/o suspicion.
The dual-tip structure allows the pen to function as a normal writing tool while discreetly housing safety mechanisms without drawing attention.
Controls are positioned for natural thumb reach to reduce cognitive and physical effort during moments of panic.
Placing SOS and recording inline with the pen body keeps emergency actions reachable while maintaining a familiar, non-alarming form.
Press-based activation was chosen to enable silent, eyes-free control during high-stress situations where speed and discretion matter.
IDEATION
The goal was to explore everyday objects that could discreetly embed safety elements & pen emerged as a viable choice.
ERGONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
Challenge: During high-stress situations, fine motor control reduces and grip strength varies, making precise interactions unreliable.
Due to rendering and visualization constraints, the OEM interface screen could not be accurately represented within the Blender-rendered product, resulting in a gap between the intended interaction detail and the final visual output.
This project taught me the importance of designing for real human reactions rather than ideal behaviors. It pushed me to question assumptions around how people respond under stress and to prioritize simplicity, discretion, and trust over feature-heavy solutions. Aegis became less about adding protection and more about understanding when and how design should quietly step in without demanding attention.
FAILURE POINT & TAKEAWAY
CONTINUE EXPLORING
© 2023 Aakriti Srivastava
Research-forward. Design-focused. Let's build what matters.