Research and Brainstorming
This project started with doing a lot of research on existing products that solve the issue of picking up balls in the golf industry as well as in the tennis industry. In addition to this market research, I also created several surveys which we sent out to our sales force and some courses and I conducted social listening research by watching videos created by golf course employees. After we had a strong understanding of the problem and shortcomings of existing solutions, I lead the team through several brainstorming exercises. After generating many concepts, we then refined these concepts into several distinctly different prototype configurations which I then made so we could test with users. I lead us through this process twice as we converged on a refined set of features for the final product.
Prototyping
The focus of my first round of prototypes was to test a wide range of concepts for how balls could be picked up. These prototypes were all lower fidelity made from MDF and 3D printed parts, but critically they were all made to the same fidelity so none stood out purely due to its build quality. This first round simply had to be functional for a few testing sessions so durability was not a huge focus. After testing these and conducting another round of brainstorming and feature mashups, I build a second round of prototypes. This second round focused on near production quaility and construction. The parts were all metal and off the shelf parts similar to what we would source for the final product. This round was intended to be looks-like, works-like, and built-like. After getting feedback on this second protoype round, I moved into sourcing final parts and creating our final product.
Testing
In order to validate the concepts for this product, I conducted user testing at every prototype stage of the process. In each testing session I first showed the user the selection of prototypes that they would test that day and I asked them for their first impressions. Then once I got their unbiased idea of what the product is intended to be used for, I had them try each prototype by dumping balls onto the green and having them pick it up. As they used each prototype I probed on what they were thinking while using it and took notes. After they had tried each prototype, I then asked them to rank each prototype based on criteria like, speed of picking, gentileness on the green, etc. This forced them to closely compare each feature and as I probed on what they were thinking I was able to understand what they liked about each prototype. After this ranking exercise, I then asked them to create their ideal product mashup using the features they had just been comparing from each product. This gave me very good data about what exactly people liked and needed from the product, and allowed me to refine the design into a product that best fit the problem space.
Engineering the Final Result
The main constraint I had on this project was keeping the budget below $150. In order to hit this target while maximizing functionality, I estimated pricing for each prototype I made as the design developed and used this pricing to inform tradeoffs between what users ideally wanted and what solved their needs most cost effectively. The final design uses all bent sheet metal parts which are easy for nearly any metal manufacturer to produce. The main wheel is a part that we use on our core picker product line, so we already had bulk pricing on these, and the rear wheels are off the shelf lawnmower parts so I was able to capitalize on large scale production pricing. The main features of this product are the fold down funnel which funnels balls into the pickup wheel and folds up nicely for storage. The basket that hooks on the back is a part that we distribute in bulk to diving ranges, so it is something they are familiar with using and most likely they have extras laying around. The main handle sits at a comfortable height and its offset position allows the whole device to be hung nicely on wall hooks for storage. I added a carrying handle on the top center so that transport is easy.
