Team:
D. Costa & D. Kussmaul - Prof. F. Zebner (HfG-OF, advisor), S. Buck (Peter Schmidt Group);
Germany, 2012 (6 months)
My role:
Research, Brand strategy, Product design
Briefing
Generate a brand oriented concept that attends to the users' needs, while respecting engineering demands.
Brand analysis summary (with Peter Schmidt Group)
Linde sells a highly specialized technological tool (the best tool), which users are proud to operate. The product language references the automobile industry. What if we challenged this visual reference?
User Research summary
The forklift truck as product evolved as a vehicle that transports heavy loads. Security and functional issues were being solved as they were appearing and accidents happened.
Still, many accidents still happen. Our research showed that this is mainly due to visibility issues: the operator cannot see the surroundings and people fail to perceive the now electric truck behind full shelves in dark warehouses. Another reason for accidents is the wrong evaluation of weight and height, leading to loss of balance of the truck, which tips over.
Still, many accidents still happen. Our research showed that this is mainly due to visibility issues: the operator cannot see the surroundings and people fail to perceive the now electric truck behind full shelves in dark warehouses. Another reason for accidents is the wrong evaluation of weight and height, leading to loss of balance of the truck, which tips over.
Design Thesis: See and to be seen
Improve the visibility issues with a user centered approach while transforming technical solutions into branding features. That would mean developing the truck as a tool that performs a task and not only a beautiful car.
Solution: User Experience + Branding + Engineering
Gamma transforms user experience into engineering proposals and design them to be branding features. Like this the user has a bigger field of vision before their eyes and Linde's product is SEEN and recognizable even behind full shelves!
