Nike Grind Project
The foam fitted stress ball is a result of my team’s participation in the Nike Design with Grind challenge. The challenge involved designing a product that utilizes Nike Grind materials (waste/recycled products form Nike shoes) in order to take a step towards developing a circular economy and reduce waste. The project involved three main phases: the ideation phase, the prototype phase, and the final design phase.
In the ideation phase, we went through a couple different brainstorming techniques. At first, we just thought of as many potential product ideas as we could as individuals. Next, we added ideas to each team members list. After that, we each chose our top 15 ideas and wrote them on a sticky note. Another brainstorming technique we used involved solving a problem for a particular person or group of people. My team came up with ideas that would solve a problem for a veteran. Once we accumulated a fairly large list of ideas, we went into thematic sorting in which we organized our ideas into four themes. Our themes were Medical Supplies, Repairs, Packaging/Shipping, and Leisure. Each member of my team then chose an idea from one of those four themes so that our four ideas after the ideation phase were a hammock, insulation for buildings, replacement for cardboard, and a stress ball. We each also interviewed a potential user of our different ideas to get a better understanding of each target groups needs.
The prototyping stage involved exactly what one would think: prototypes. Some teams had a single product they wanted to prototype in different ways but our team used the prototyping phase to get a better sense of how feasible our ideas were to make. At the end of this phase, we had a prototype for each of our four ideas.
The final stage was the decision and submission phase. In order to determine which idea to continue with, my team analyzed each idea according to set criteria. The criteria we used were the possibility of production with the available materials, the ease of production, the impact it would have on the environment, how well it would contribute to a circular economy, and whether our idea was in fact a better substitute for things already in place. As it turned out, we found out through an interview that our available materials would actually not serve as good material for insulation. Also, we couldn’t figure out which material to use for the hammock so that it could stretch while also being able to return to its original shape. For the packaging idea, we couldn’t figure out a way to make packaging out of the materials that would be worth replacing cardboard as cardboard is already incredibly inexpensive, light-weight, and environmentally friendly. Thus, the idea we finished with was the stress ball. We would cut the contoured shape out of foam and then wrap it in a rubber and heat shrink the rubber to snuggly fit around the foam shape.
In this project, I was responsible for choosing the stress ball, interviewing a potential user of the stress ball, and prototyping it. My team then helped with the final design and project submission. I chose the stress ball because it was relatively simple to make and could be produced in large quantities with reusable materials. The main innovation of the stress ball is its shape which includes contours for the user’s fingers. According to Joe Jardine, the therapist that I interviewed, stress ball are most effective when material from the ball touches the inner parts of the user’s fingers so that need inspired the contoured design.
In the ideation phase, we went through a couple different brainstorming techniques. At first, we just thought of as many potential product ideas as we could as individuals. Next, we added ideas to each team members list. After that, we each chose our top 15 ideas and wrote them on a sticky note. Another brainstorming technique we used involved solving a problem for a particular person or group of people. My team came up with ideas that would solve a problem for a veteran. Once we accumulated a fairly large list of ideas, we went into thematic sorting in which we organized our ideas into four themes. Our themes were Medical Supplies, Repairs, Packaging/Shipping, and Leisure. Each member of my team then chose an idea from one of those four themes so that our four ideas after the ideation phase were a hammock, insulation for buildings, replacement for cardboard, and a stress ball. We each also interviewed a potential user of our different ideas to get a better understanding of each target groups needs.
The prototyping stage involved exactly what one would think: prototypes. Some teams had a single product they wanted to prototype in different ways but our team used the prototyping phase to get a better sense of how feasible our ideas were to make. At the end of this phase, we had a prototype for each of our four ideas.
The final stage was the decision and submission phase. In order to determine which idea to continue with, my team analyzed each idea according to set criteria. The criteria we used were the possibility of production with the available materials, the ease of production, the impact it would have on the environment, how well it would contribute to a circular economy, and whether our idea was in fact a better substitute for things already in place. As it turned out, we found out through an interview that our available materials would actually not serve as good material for insulation. Also, we couldn’t figure out which material to use for the hammock so that it could stretch while also being able to return to its original shape. For the packaging idea, we couldn’t figure out a way to make packaging out of the materials that would be worth replacing cardboard as cardboard is already incredibly inexpensive, light-weight, and environmentally friendly. Thus, the idea we finished with was the stress ball. We would cut the contoured shape out of foam and then wrap it in a rubber and heat shrink the rubber to snuggly fit around the foam shape.
In this project, I was responsible for choosing the stress ball, interviewing a potential user of the stress ball, and prototyping it. My team then helped with the final design and project submission. I chose the stress ball because it was relatively simple to make and could be produced in large quantities with reusable materials. The main innovation of the stress ball is its shape which includes contours for the user’s fingers. According to Joe Jardine, the therapist that I interviewed, stress ball are most effective when material from the ball touches the inner parts of the user’s fingers so that need inspired the contoured design.
3 Teammates
Comments