The Firefly Climbing Device
Reworking the Firefly climbing device to make it understandable and user friendly
User Testing the Current Design
Changes to be Made
- Less moving parts
- Easily manufacturable and affordable
- Understandable affordances
From our testing, we understood that because there is currently no device on the market like the Firefly, it can be confusing and frustrating to understand. They have difficulty understanding how it works and what it does. They also wonder about the safety and efficacy of the product. These changes work to fix that.
Reducing the number of parts and making the Firefly easily manufacturable
The Firefly can be made out of one solid part with bent metal and as long as the metal never passes the yield point, it will continually hold its strength and bend back to its original state (1). Aluminum was chosen because it has a high tensile capacity, is affordable, and lightweight.
Understandable Affordances make the Firefly easy to use
Obvious affordances spell out exactly how to use the product, such as instructions on the product itself which is common in climbing equipment.
Subliminal Affordances show how to use the product through things like shape and color. If the rope hole on the firefly switches directions then it will show the direction the rope should go. And if the hole is smaller then it will be the obvious size of the rope.
These small changes will instruct and inform on how to use the Firefly.
Appendix
- Metals can be bent up to a certain point infinitely without breaking, this is called Yield Tensile Strength. “Once the yield point is passed, some fraction of the deformation will be permanent and non-reversible and is known as plastic deformation.”
