**We interviewed 50+ moms**

(and a few dads!) to hear about their pumping experiences, tried the pumping routine ourselves, and took apart all the pumps we could find.

"Milk and Cookies"

is what we called our group interview sessions to better understand our users.

We brought the cookies.

Due to a pump:

Pumping requires both hands
(and all of Mom's attention).

Having to hold the pump and lean forward for 30mins hurts.

Every single Mom we met
said their pump made them
"feel like a cow."

There are too many parts.
Setup and cleanup are hard, and missing one part derails you.

Mom can't relax and express milk when cold hard plastic is pressed to her breasts.

Pumps are so loud Mom can't take a phone call.

Big bottles stress Mom out! Not filling them completely makes her feel inadequate.

Spills are common due to shoddy bottles and lids.

Due to pumping in general:

When milk spoils, Mom has to dump it. It's easy to miss milk's expiration date.

Finding where to pump (and negotiating when with other Moms) is a daily struggle.

Because most pain points were due to the pump itself, we decided redesigning the pump or an accessory would most help our users.

Pumps are designed for
stay-at-home-moms,
but used by women at work.

Bottled breastmilk
frees mom up,
but pumping ties her down.

Breastmilk is natural,
but pumping is clinical.

Giving breastmilk is
a source of pride,
but getting breastmilk
is a source of shame.

We designed XX for a woman named Zoe.

She's busy as hell.

She drives her Volvo to work every day, where she manages a team of engineers at a medical device company in San Jose.

She just gave birth to her third child (a girl!) and is dreading returning to work because it'll mean leaving her new baby AND feeling like a cow again when she pumps her breastmilk at work.

And she tweeted this picture:

The pumps on the market make mom choose between portability and power (and neither are comfortable).

We wanted to move away from both archetypes and make something that doesn't make mom "feel like a cow."