Design for Obesity

Abstract

This report describes the process and the results of a project which focuses on designing for obesity. The project starts with fuzzy front end which is to explore the needs of obese people. A thorough literature is carried out to understand obesity in different perspectives. Later on, an internal analysis shows the background and the knowledge of the company, the opportunity in the obesity market and the advantage to develop a product for obesity. An external analysis reviews the current situation correlating with obesity in the society. Moreover, it gives an overview of competitors and stakeholders; the prior one indicates the threats to Tilcentrum and the later one lists the people involved with priority. A field research including interviews and observation of obese people. The purpose is to gather the information which cannot be obtained from the literature research. The result of the literature research and the insights gained from the field research formulate the design vision: “By combining home activities and training exercises for better physical condition, the defined end-users are motivated to be active and further improve the quality of life.” The second phase, concept development phase, starts with the list of functions that is the research result of the vision development phase. Some of the functions need more specific definitions, so a brief literature research is conducted to support the elaborated functions. Five of the functions, indication, motivation, reminder, integration and challenging, are considered as a starting point for idea generation. The other functions such as aesthetics or accessibility are concentrated at the stage of conceptualization. The ideas are generated by the means of creative session which is a systematic process inspired by the possible solutions for each function. Eight principle solutions are selected and developed into ideas. After evaluating the ideas involving the opinions from end-users and Tilcentrum, three ideas are chosen to be the future concepts. They are separately Sit-up Assistant, Squat Assistant and Stand-up Assistant. Each concept has detailed descriptions of its design and the usage scenario. A principle test (preliminary user testing) and free body diagram are made in order to examine and prove the working principles of the concepts. Afterward, three concepts are evaluated by an extended version of criteria. The criteria with marketing orientation ensure the evaluation process to be more comprehensive. The concept, Squat Assistant, is selected as the final design proposal after comparing the pros and cons of all the concepts. In the beginning of the embodiment phase, the requirements of Squat Assistant are listed. The requirements are generated from the product process tree and the research results from different phases. They are continuously adjusted during the design process. The working principle of the concept is evaluated by a preliminary user testing. This testing also defines some of the geometrical shape and dimensions like the knee padding height. There are valuable comments from the testing which are implemented in the final design. Currently, there is no sufficient anthropometric data relating to obesity. An ergonomic research is simultaneously carried out to collect referable data. The final design has an added function; Squat Assistant can be used as a chair. At this stage, all the dimensions, materials and assembly have been defined. However, the functional prototype has slight differences from the final design; it is built with available materials and inspired by force simulations. The prototype is used for user testing at which two participants are instructed to evaluate the concept. Two opposite results come from the distinct participants. The participant representing the smallest group (P5 female with BMI 33) is satisfied with the product functions; the participant representing the biggest group (P95 male with BMI 45) cannot squat properly. These results indicate the shortcomings of the concept, but the working principle is approved by the user who is capable to squat. Furthermore, a long term study is needed to explore the long-term influence of changing behavior.