Comfort Products
Work conducted for Ford Motor Company as part of the Product Development Core Comfort Engineering team. More information about this project and the development process can be shared verbally.
Introduction & Objective
My role: Understand project mission
A therapeutic neck pillow and foot pillow will enhance customer wellness experience in the Lincoln brand.
I used human-centered design principles to take the idea of a neck pillow and foot pillow to automotive comfort products ready for production.
The essential question was "How might we enhance occupant comfort in the second row seats on a vehicle line?".
Research
My role: User Research Lead
An extensive benchmarking report and comparative analysis was conducted. Comparing not only current automotive comfort pillows on the market but venturing into other industries, such as comfort products used on airplanes, trains, buses, camping, and more. Secondary research was also conducted.
The data collected was then groups and organized. Different design patterns were discovered from the findings as a result.
Ideation & Concept Design
My role: Lead designer
The design patterns were then used to help inspire improved and novel ideas for this automotive second row occupant situation.
Sketches and design plans were then created with details such as pillow shape, type of foam, type of trim cover, functionality, and any mechanisms/features.
Although I was the lead of this project, my supervisor and coworkers were helpful in bouncing ideas off of and giving critical feedback.
Prototypes & Evaluation
My role: Lead Prototyper & Lead Tester
I used Ford Motor Company's Maker Space to build the low-fidelity prototypes by shaping the foam and sewing custom trim covers.
Next, user testing was conducted to compare a popular automotive neck pillow from Amazon, one from Penn State students, and my prototype. Two of my foot pillow prototypes were also compared to its competition during user testing. Data in the form of a survey, observations, and quick interviews were analyzed and used for further refinement and patterns in the design. This data helped me further understand not only what the occupants found as the most comfy but the why behind it.
DNA
My role: Supplied data for comfort DNA creation
The patterns from the data were analyzed further. The overall softness of the pillows were discovered and plotted on a graph. Occupants like the softness of the prototype A but the support from the the Amazon pillow. This results in the winning pillow to fall in the middle of these curves.
A contour shape that hugs and supports the neck is also a key feature in a successful Ford/Lincoln neck pillow.
These are a few of the design specifications that were noted as part of comfort DNA. This addition to comfort DNA will help guide further comfort products design development.
Final Product
My role: Product Owner & Developer
After many prototypes, user testing sessions, data analysis, and design refinements, the final neck and foot pillow were ready for production.
I worked with supplier to gather cost and timing quotes and presented all of the findings to upper management. Handed off the project ready for production.
Although I am unable to release the final designed product, the products did in fact enhance occupant comfort for most occupants. An invention discloser was submitted through Ford Motor Company for the foot pillow design.
CONFIDENTIAL
Impact & Reflection
The final neck pillow and foot pillow prototypes were handed over to Ford's team in China.
The main impact for this project was the contribution to the Lincoln brand's comfort DNA. The overall data discovered and guidelines created to answer the question what and why this is comfortable helped guide future seat and comfort products enhance comfort.
My discoveries and guidelines are part of the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln brand DNA database that is referenced by the designers, engineers, material experts, and other people that aid in the development of the vehicle.
Reflecting on this project, I discovered the importance of observation during the usability testing. For the foot pillow, I designed and built it in a way that allowed users to operate and adjust the product with only their feet. However, I observed that this feature was not intuitive, as each user bent over to use their hands to adjust the product. This insight was something I would not of been able to discover with only the usability survey I had participants fill out during the test. I also learned the importance of making sure features are intuitive.
