Contribution

Research

Product Thinking

Concept Testing

Product Fabrication

Brand Design

Video Production

Project Type

Team Project for Integrated Product Development Course

Team

Mayank Kinger

Alyssa Downs

Holden Pizzalato

Julie Zhang

Liz Li

Timeframe

Fall 2022 (3 months)

Introduction

Context

As part of the IPD course, I was part of a team of 5, with students who had background in industrial design, engineering, and business. Together, we designed and marketed a product in a simulated market environment, similar to running a startup and pitching our product in a kickstarter campaign. I led initiatives on the research and design front and was actively involved with product fabrication and business development strategy.

Design Challenge

Design a tangible product solution which lowers barriers to participation in outdoor activities by persons who have lost functional use of one or more limbs.

Design Process

Competing in a simulated market space of 5 teams, we conducted rapid product development cycles from researching market potentials, validating design concepts, fabricating tangible prototypes to marketing products in a tradeshow. Along the process we also went through 3 design reviews from a panel of design professionals, business specialists, and public health practitioners.

Research

As the design prompt of the class, designing tangible product for people with limb loss, targets a broad group of users, we gathered our research reflecting this problem space:

• There are approximately 2.1 million individuals in the United States who have experienced limb loss.
• While there are already many solutions available for individuals with lower limb loss, there is a notable lack of focus on developing solutions for those with upper limb loss, despite the fact that they make up 30% of the limb loss community.
• Participating in adaptive sports can lead to improved overall health, enhanced social interactions, and a sense of self-identity for the limb loss community.
• Adaptive products are extremely expensive and difficult to obtain, partly due to their custom-made nature.

Needfinding Inteviews

To better understand the physical and emotional challenges of limb loss community in their daily life, we spoke one-on-one with people who experienced limb loss, paralysis, or weakness. These insights helped us identify out the common themes and which areas to priorities first:

• There are certain everyday tasks that people with upper limb amputations find difficult to do without assistance, like carrying gear or taking a heavy pan out of the oven.
• Outdoor experiences, like backpacking trips, have a great emotional and social importance for the individuals with limb loss.
  
• Certain product design features, whether intentional or not, can really help people with disabilities. For example, tents with partitions can be helpful for privacy for changing catheters, etc.
• Efforts are being made to adapt sports to the specific needs of people with disabilities, however, there is a need for more cost-effective and universal products that can that can be used by a wider range of people.

Scoping

Identifying the Niche Market

To synthesize the data collected and narrow down our scope, we leveraged affinity diagram and consulting model to frame 4 essential themes to focus on:

Upper Body Extremities

Sleeping Bag

Affordable

Universal

Target User

Based on the data we collected, we developed a persona and user value statement to define our target audience. 

Ideation

Bodystorming

We attempted to fold and store a sleeping bag using only our non-dominant hands in order to understand the difficulties that may occur during this process. This exercise helped us to empathize with our users and consider spatial limitations before beginning our design exploration.

Design Explorations

For ideating phase, each one of us came up with five ideas each and we started building ideas on top of each other's idea. We then grouped ideas sharing common values into 6 design concepts that fall into the the 4 themes identified during research. To visually communicate our ideas and further inform our final decision, we created detailed sketches and wrote product specification for each concept.

Validation

Concept Card Testing

We evaluated our design concepts through two rounds of concept card testing. During the first round, we presented potential customers with more general descriptions of the concepts. We tested 6 concepts along with 2 existing products, which helped us to gauge the customers' willingness to purchase each design concept and provided further design inspiration. We refined a few design concepts for the second round, which yielded more specific feedback on design details and product functionality. Click here to view our Concept Card Testing Report.

Value Statement Scoring

In order to convey the values of all stakeholders and achieve consensus, we met as a group to discuss and evaluate the value statement for each concept in terms of our values, passion, technical abilities, and market potentials. This helped us to rate the concepts according to these factors and reach a collective decision.

Identifying intersection between team values and user needs

By comparing the results from the value statement and concept tests, we created a statistical map to identify areas of high market potential and alignment with our team values. This revealed that three product concepts, 2, 1, and 6, ranked similarly on the map, with concept 6 being perfectly aligning with our team values. However, user testing showed that the highest demand and market potential was associated with concept 2 and 6. As a result, our team ultimately decided to design concept 6 as it was highly valued by the user and ease to implement.

Product Fabrication

Prototyping V1

We began prototyping early to test our design details and potential technical issues. For our first design, we focussed on creating a functioning prototype which required precise mechanical engineering work to make sure the roller could pack the sleeping bag neatly in the right position. We used materials like cardboard, wooden planks and dowels, duct tape, super glue cut, and spray paint. While the prototype was fully functional, it was heavy and bulky and not made with weather-resistant materials

Prototyping V2

We worked tirelessly to think of new ways to make the structure more compact and more efficient. We made a lot of mistakes along the way and constantly adapted our strategies as we began understanding the materials we were working with more deeply. We used lightweight premium materials such as ripstop nylon, woven polyester, adhesive velcro, and PVC pipes. We used our 3D-printed assets in addition to supplies purchased from local hardware and fabric stores to assemble the final high-fidelity prototype. This version addressed the durability and size issues of the previous version.

Final Design

Rolipoli is a sleeping bag storage system to quickly and effortlessly pack your sleeping back with the simple turn of a crank. This system is particularly helpful for individuals with upper limb impairments, paralysis, or fatigue, as it eliminates the need to use an elastic strap or stuff the sleeping bag into a drawstring bag.

We defined an entire brand concept around the product to set ourselves unique among competitors. We created a promotional website, video trailer and designed the trade show experience for customers.

Accessible for people with upper limb loss, weakness, and fatigue

Durable and water-resistant material

Lightweight and easy to carry

Concept Video

Image Gallery

Takeaways

The simulated market environment allowed me to further develop my product thinking skills. The process of developing Rolipoli involved not only designing good user experience but also identifying opportunities among other competitors, making trade-offs for production and cost and creating compelling storytelling to customers. Cross-functional collaboration also took great part in this project, where we resolved conflicts, made tradeoffs and set clear team values, to achieve our final design. I'd like to give a special thanks to my instructors Eric Svaan and Stephanie Tharp for this amazing learn opportunity.

Here is us demonstrating our working prototype to tradeshow visitors

If you’re looking to work with me or want to grab some coffee, feel free to email me at kingermayank@gmail.com