Idea generation 2

Luke Kauffman
Nov 4 · 7 min read

HMWs

When generating ideas for the new statements, I began by looking back in my user research. I mainly looked into my survey research to find the main concerns or issues that people have with Panniers. Mainly being how to keep the pannier secured safely and the durability of the pannier itself.

The two statements I came up with based on the previous information was

  • How might we make Panniers lighter or more durable for the average commuter
  • How might we make removing, attaching, and keeping the pannier more securely attached to the bike for the average user.

Set Up

To start the participants were Erik, he is currently going to school to become a welder he also has some background in art and engineering. The next was Jesse, a friend of mine currently taking a semester off to work. He is going to Bethel to become a nurse, he has some background in computer science with no art or design experience. Last was Jeremy, another friend who has a bachelors in math and is trying some entrepreneurial stuff with designing new board games. One of the participants, Andrew had to step out as he had too much homework in the upcoming week he needed to finish or work on, so we were left with just 4 including me

The session was held at my house in the basement. I felt this was the best spot as it was very open and private, as some of the participants were a little confused or unwilling to get really into this at first. This was expected as this was way out of their comfort zone.

The session in total was about 80 minutes. The first 10 minutes were used to explain the process and if anyone had any questions on what to do, The next 10 were put towards warming up and getting them in the right mindset. We spent around 40 minutes to brainstorming and discussing, the last 10 minutes were put towards sorting and voting for the top ten ideas. the leftover 10 minutes were just a buffer for empty time or questions.

Materials I used were index cards and colored sharpies to distinguish each idea. I taped each card to the wall when someone gave me their idea.

For the warm up games I did the word association game as it worked well with a small group. The other activity I developed which is a sort of idea trade off game.

Warm Up

To start I used the word association game to warm up. It was pretty slow at first but we did get going pretty fast once the group loosened up a bit. We did this on and off for about 5 minutes. I would switch up the criteria like doing the opposite and then going to the normal version.

The second game I gave everyone one product just simple things. what they had to do was find some way to innovate or change the product, this could be any way they wanted. Once we had one we would rotate clock wise and try to build off the idea the previous person made. this was pretty difficult as it was almost a memory game. The further we went on the more creative we had to get. This worked decently, it became very scattered and messy the longer we went but by the end they all seemed to be pretty warmed up.

Brainstorm Session

The first part of the session was a very slow start as everyone was still very nervous about this and didn't want to have any bad ideas. I allowed them to design anything relating to the product, but even after my explanation of a pannier they still question the constraints. I found they were to focused on what they could do rather than just saying why not.

When I threw out the first How Might We question is when everyone finally started to get into a flow. They worked better when there was an actual problem to solve rather than being on their own. the second question had the same results. The more we progressed the for better and for worse the ideas got a little more extreme and eventually got to a point that were too out of feasibility that’s when I decided to stop the session.

The sorting was rough at the start as there was again more confusion on how this should work. I had to start placing stuff for the other participants to finally step in and just start making categories. This went by kinda slow as there were left over ideas that had to be thrown somewhere.

The voting was much smoother as they took the ideas they liked most and voted. I gave everyone 10 votes total and in the end we tallied up the ideas with most votes and made them our top ten. There was a bit of discussion on if some of the ideas really needed to be as the top ten. This was quickly resolved and we finished up.

Results of the session

  • 88 total ideas in 40 minutes
  • Just about 2.2 Ideas per minute
  • There were five major categories with some smaller ones these included
  1. New materials (yellow)
  2. New ways of securing to bike (Red)
  3. Ideas with very specific jobs or functions (Green)
  4. Mechanical or electrical improvements (Orange)
  5. different places to attach the pannier/built in panniers (Blue)
  6. Smaller categories included, new frames, novel ideas with no purpose
  • For voting we did majority on what made it to the top ten with some discussion
Top 10

Red=Jesse

Blue=Erik

Blue Green=Jeremy

Dark Green=Me

Top 10 Ideas

Rail attachment system

Instead of having hooks for attaching and risking a loose hold. The rails will slide onto the frame and create a very sturdy and secure mounting system.

Active awareness system

Works the same as it does on most new cars with this feature. The back of the pannier senses when something is too close or coming up too fast, and warns the rider instantly so they can avoid or adjust for them.

Carbon fiber pannier

A solid body pannier made entirely of carbon fiber, this would be incredibly strong and very light. This would allow to put fragile item in without worrying about damage.

Pedal powered battery pannier

A generator the attaches to the bike gears and allow the rider to actively charge a bank or their devices while riding the bike.

Removable organization containers

A system of containers that fit perfectly into the pannier and are able to be removed and rearranged as the rider likes. Allows for much better organization and flexibility.

Shock absorbing pannier

A panel attached to the pannier with shocks. This will reduce the amount of shaking and noise the pannier will make. The rider can have less time worrying about their goods as the shocks will keep them from shifting.

Auto closing pannier

A pannier that rolls the top automatically allowing for quick access and easy closing as you wont have to re roll the top.

Solar panel pannier

Self explanatory, the pannier has a fold out solar panel allowing the rider to charge devices when riding.

Stack able/expandable storage

Panniers that attach to either the top or bottom of each other. This allows the rider to carry more or less when going out.

Emergency ready pannier

The pannier has a built in first aid/ tool kit for most situations. also has an emergency beacon that will alert 911 of location in case of an emergency.

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