Andrew Garner | Ben Lublin | Brett Steenwyk | Jordan Lym | Justin Pisarski
Professor Shankwiler | Product Studio Spring 2021
What is Bikepacking?
The experience of using a bike as the primary means to transport a self-sufficient load of “camping gear” for the purpose of sleeping one or more nights in an outdoor location.
E-Bikes today are able to achieve a range of 125 miles off of one charge, whether it be over hilly terrain or dirt paths, while supporting up to 300 lbs.
**According to Bosch’s website, using a dual battery system**
After online research, we turned to field research. We conducted multiple interviews with a diverse group of current bikepackers, backpackers and bike shop owners. We then conducted observations of bikepackers packing their gear on their bike.
As a manner of generating ideas rooted in the specific insights we gleaned from the affinity diagramming exercise, we created a series of “how might we’s.” These were geared at prying into the high level concepts we identified and drawing out inspiration in the form of thumbnail sketches. This brainstorming exercise was completed in a series of sessions with all team members allowing for ideas to be simply shared and built upon.
After all sketches were posted, we labeled and reorganized the sketches by the specific part of the service model they were related to.
Service Model
Outfitter Storefront
Leverage outdoor outfitters to establish a client base and provide service to the bikes both before and after trips
Gear Rental
Offer a variety of gear for the user to experiment with and optimize their experience when exploring
Specific Location
Offering service in tourist heavy mountain towns for newcomers and inhabitants to explore the landscape
Our Thoughts
We found that one of the greatest strength of this project was its requirement to collaborate and distribute work in a fast paced environment. While it was not uncommon for us to each be working on completely different parts of the bike, we quickly discovered the importance of communication and review for the sake of maintaining a cohesive product. We developed a greater understanding of the bike, brand and service system as a result, and ultimately were able to push our final product to a level we were all proud of.
Conclusions
As the project comes to its close, it is always nice to look back and reflect on the completed work over the previous weeks and laugh about the all-nighters and countless hours put into each detail of the product. Nevertheless, it is also equally important to note the outcomes of the project. Whether they be tangible skills, newfound practices, or simply experience, the completion of a project of this scale always guarantees valuable personal development. The opportunity to work and learn alongside talented peers and professionals facilitates individual growth and helps to propel us, as young designers, towards our futures, and for that we are thankful.
