What inspired?
Earlier project: Tip tap
Personal interest in User comfort & ergonomics
Peers working in a similar industry
Availability of resources during the Pandemic situation
Graduation thesis document
The Document inquires about foot comfort and how everyday footwear affects the user’s gait cycle, posture and stance. During pregnancy, each woman experiences increased body weight and a change in hormonal structure which makes the bones of the body softer. This also affects the bone structure of the foot and changes the shape and gait of the person.
This document captures the design process through a product design lens focusing on research, experimenting with material, form study, ergonomic considerations, concept building prototyping and user-specific design solutions.
The final product (and the combination of products) provides additional comfort to foot muscles, support and improvement in foot shape, and relaxation of muscles. The aim was to create a product which is a familiar solution for easy adaptation by the user group - a product which does not require any external help for usage.
Please send an email if you are interested to read the entire document in detail. I will get back to you as soon as possible!
Research & ideation
After user survey, persona building, insights of podiatrists, gynaecologists and orthopaedics, discussions with footwear industry experts and manufacturers, I dived into the ideation stage of the project.
Focus Points:
Key points derived from ideation stage :
-
Additional comfort to foot (or the entire leg) muscles.
-
Support and improvement of foot shape.
-
May/may not be an improvement of existing product.
-
A familiar solution for easy adaptation by the user-group.
Design direction:
A footwear solution that fits the individual’s foot perfectly and provides comfort to back of foot area during the last trimester of pregnancy.
-
Provide comfort through custom solutions to individual's foot contours.
-
Make sure the gait cycles & mobility for pregnant women isn’t changed.
-
Make a product that can be used by pregnant women independently.
-
Reduce material layering in footwear, encouraging recycling process
Material Exploration:
I first encountered PCL (Polycaprolactone) material in 2016 during my dad’s radiation therapy. The perforated sheet when heated (60-70°C), softened, and moulded onto the body, cooling into a stiff mask. With the remaining mask at home, I started experimenting and confirmed its reliability. Once I achieved substantial results, I started 3D modeling and printed the insole. I then optimised the form, timing and user journey with the mouldable insole.
PCL experiment (1)
PCL experiment (2)
3D printed PCL insole
I decided to build two separate products for these reasons:
-
To increase customisability & sales of individual products.
-
Mono-material is easier to recycle/ repurpose.
Prototyping:
Using a chip module, accelerometer, vibrating motors, PCB, copper charging coil, charging module receiver, and the Arduino processing environment, I built multiple prototypes of the footwear.
Electronics integration in working prototype
video shows the working of product with the help of LED color change
Charging pod detailed view
Please send an email if you are interested to read the entire document in detail. I will get back to you as soon as possible!