Nicolette Colleen Lau Hui Ying

About

Nicolette is a BA (Hons) Product Design graduate with a strong passion for graphic and visual design.

She is especially interested in branding, visual communication and how design can shape the way people connect with ideas and experiences. She hopes to pursue opportunities in graphic and visual design where she can continue creating thoughtful and visually engaging work.

Outside of design, Nicolette enjoys drawing traditionally with pen and paper as a break from digital creative work, as well as spending time with her dog, Pepper, especially on walks to the park.

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Beyond Nicotine – Designing for Behavioural and Social Change

Colourways for Pivot – (left to right) Mist, Azure, Periwinkle, Sage

Beyond Nicotine is a smoking cessation project that explores quitting as more than just a matter of nicotine withdrawal.

While existing cessation aids often focus on managing chemical dependence, many smokers also struggle with the behavioural, emotional and social routines tied to smoking.

This project responds to this gap through Pivot, a behavioural support device designed for smokers who are already trying to quit but find the process difficult to sustain.

Pivot supports the quitting journey by addressing familiar habits such as hand-to-mouth action, stress-related use and social triggers. Through subtle behavioural friction, tactile interaction and companion app tracking, the device encourages greater awareness of smoking-related habits while supporting gradual, self-directed change.

Rather than relying on fear-based messaging or purely clinical intervention, the project adopts a more encouraging and supportive approach, positioning quitting as a process of progress rather than punishment.

By reframing smoking cessation through behavioural and social design, Beyond Nicotine proposes a more holistic and human-centred way of helping smokers move towards lasting change.

Pivot product shot in colour Mist.

Colour coded modular weighted insert system for each colourway, to support self-paced behavioural change.

Pivot is also designed in hopes to support social inclusion. Its familiar hand-to-mouth interaction allows users to still participate in smoking-related social situations without feeling completely left out, helping reduce the isolation that often comes with quitting.

The product’s colour palette further reinforces this emotional direction. Rather than adopting harsh or fear-based visual cues often associated with anti-smoking campaigns, Pivot uses brighter tones of blue, purple and green to communicate calmness, transformation and recovery. Together, these elements position Pivot as a more hopeful, supportive and approachable quitting companion.