Final Year Design Process - Axis Backpacks

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT A look into the research process, design development and prototyping undertaken during the Axis Backpack project.

A day pack for Young Travellers helping to reduce misplacement and theft of valuables

RESEARCH Over a period of a semester, extensive research into young traveller’s was undertaken. This enabled me to develop products aimed at the specific needs of my user. Through using in depth primary and secondary research a thorough understanding of my target user was achieved.

ONLINE REPORTS

WHO? TRAVEL EXPERTS

TRAVEL FORUMS

WHERE? ONLINE SURVEYING

PRIMARY USER RESEARCH

WHY? EXISTING PRODUCT ANALYSIS

CONCEPT DEVELOPEMENT Ideas and concepts came to me throughout the research process, however through using specific concept generation tools I was able to focus my ideas into ones that were most likely to succeed and be desirable to my target user.

MIND-MAPPING

SKETCHING

PEER GROUP DEVELOPMENT

SCENARIO VISUALISATION

CAD PROTOTYPING

During concept generation I personally use sketching a lot to develop my idea.s. From low fidelity thumbnail sketching all the way through to full photoshop renderings, hand drawn sketches help me communicate and develop my ideas quickly.

PROTOTYPING & TESTING

For a project as experimental as Axis backpacks, prototyping was always going to be an incredibly impWZtant and highly iterative process throughout. During the project I created 8 prototypes before arriving at my NQVIT _WZSQVO prototype.

+MNWZM developQVO Axis backpacks I knew there was always a high possibility that the mechanism would not meet the specification in the time provided. No such mechanism had ever been previously developed on a product of this sort. Aspects such as the backpacks resultant weight, the strength of the mechanism and ergonomic considerations all had to be addressed in order for the backpack to JM I ^QIJTM XZWL]K\ NWZ \PM UIZSM\

The three main issues that I faced during the prototyping of the mechanism were : mechanism friction, support of the compartment at full weight and getting the strap to fit a large percentile of the target market.

Each of these challenges wMZM W^MZKWUM by the final prototype.

1st MAIN PROTOTYPE

The first main prototype was made by modifying an existing backpack.. The prototype’s mechanism performance and functionality were tested and evaluated with real end users.

EVALUATION

MAIN PROTOTYPE

Several issues were discovered during the testing of the prototype including high friction, ergonomic issues, snagging and security concerns. These findings were incredibly beneficial in the developing a []KKM[[N]T final working prototype.

Due to LDPE’s low friction, low glass transition temperature and low modulus of rigidity, it was perfectly suited as a runner for the backpack.

The main compar\ment chamber was manufactured by vacuum forming and laser cutting HIPs plastic.

The padded hip strap and adjustable belt were both produced bespoke for this prototype. Materials were hand selected to meet the specification and sewn together using the same methods as those used in mass manufacture.

2nd MAIN PROTOTYPE After making several major design changes, the final prototype was tested to see whether the Uajor issues from the previous prototype had been resolved. Due to financial and time contraints the prototype was developed to test and mimic WVTa the innovative element of the backpack..

Final prototype was created fully by hand di using several different woods, plastics, fabrics and metals.

EVALUATION On evaluation, all of the issues with the previous prototype had been overcome. The prototype was an incredibly encouraging progression in the development of the design and gave promise to its potential in becoming a viable backpack design for the market.

The sucess of the final design came as a result of changes to the design of chamber, hip strap and compartment.

Matt Oliver | PRODUCT DESIGNER

© MATTHEW OLIVER 2016