Situation
Hiking is a world-wide popular activity, with
the simplest of premises – walk through different landscapes and terrains,
relishing the experience of nature and escape from society. The outdoor
recreational products industry is a large international market, with much
emphasis placed on the quality of products to perform in product-dependent
situations and environments often secluded from civilisation. The need for
products to perform at a high level as well as overcome many functional
obstacles has made the outdoor recreational market a ripe industry for
innovation and progress in product design.
Problem
The hiking cooking pot (otherwise known as the
‘billy’, or billycan in many cultures) is a useful hiking tool that has been
refined in many ways. Problems still exist with this product however:
·
Current billies have difficulties
with handling. A small metal handle has a low surface area contact point making
it difficult to hold, manoeuvre, and if positioned incorrectly, can become
quite hot. Removable metal grips can be useful, however these can also be
unwieldy, and as soon as the grip is released the pot/pan is instantly dropped.
·
Billies often have difficulty
pouring. The vast majority of billies do not have a spout built into them, and
expect the user to pour liquid from the billy by holding the handle and
carefully balancing the billy whilst not touching any hot surface or tipping
the billy the wrong way.
·
Many foods cooked in a billy can
require straining of the liquid in some way shape or form. As of recently, it
appears there is no suitable way to strain water or liquids from a meal such as
pasta, noodles or rice – all of which are popular camping foods.
Objectives
To design a product which addresses the
aforementioned needs of increased ability to handle with ease, to ease the
ability to pour liquid, and to include a practical way to strain foods commonly
cooked whilst camping.
The product should consider the needs of the
hiking environment and activity. Durability, weight, cost, appearance, size, function
and ergonomic considerations are all critical elements to consider in the
design.
Target User
In existing products, the high-end market of
camping cookware tends to involve cutting edge technology as well as a highly
mature design sensibility. This is reflected in the cost however, with some
single user billy/cook-pot units reaching $300 AU (see MSR Reactor Range – RRP $299.95).
On the other end of the spectrum, some budget camping stores provide a range of
rudimentary billies which do not deviate from the commonly used design of a
single pot, lid and overhead handle. These range in size and can be as low as
$10 AU per unit.
With this in mind, the targeted market for the
product will be the mid-range price bracket. An arbitrary but ideal price range
would be around the $80-100 AU mark.
The target user in this market will be casual
hikers and people beginning to become more involved in hiking. This includes
young adults and children in particular – meaning the styling and brand
identity of the product will attempt to appeal predominantly to this user. This
is not to say that the product will be universally appealing, however design
cues will be taken from existing products from a more ‘youth’ based market.
Schedule
The project will be broken down into 4 stages of
development, beginning from the project starting date of Thursday, 26th
of July.
Phase
One: Project Planning - Length: 7 days
Phase
Two: Research and Conceptualisation - Length: 15 days
Phase
Three: Product Development - Length: 30 days
Phase
Four: Product Launch - Length: 21 days
No comments:
Post a Comment