Manage your bicycle fleet
Challenge
Kipando believes that cycling is one of the key mobility solutions in a changing world of movement. Target is to increase the availability of bicycles through an electronic bike lock integrated with an online service that let bikers locate, and rent a bike. By focusing on the B2B market, the system had to incorporate several points of views from the various stakeholders.
Being a start-up, Kipando needed a partner with a proven track record in designing smart products as well as bicycles. They therefore joined forces with Achilles to develop their service solution. We had to combine strategic service design with state-of-the-art product design, engineering and digital design. We were responsible for the development and total project management.
Customer journey
Mapping out all aspects of the solution from the user’s point of view
We explored different product-service-systems and examined how they affect the use case scenario. Alterations in these product-service-system have a major impact on the user experience, the complexity of the device, the reliability and flexibility of the system and even the overall business model. For example, a GPS antenna in the lock could be great for locating the bike, but it would also consume a lot of battery power, require regular recharging, etc.
Mechanical design
Small, smaller, smallest
A major challenge in this project was to create a bike lock that can withstand brute force, and is still compact, lightweight and allow the bike to be safely locked. We came up with a patented mechanical solution that combines all requirements in a simple and reliable design and that can be easily attached on all standard bikes.
Prototyping
Functional prototypes to validate performance
Prototyping is generally very essential in product design, but it was particularly in this project. Early in the design process, raw prototypes gain insights e.g. on how easy a specific shape would be applicable on different bike frames. Further detailing of the design results in more advanced prototypes that allow verification of functionality and extra performance requirements such as water tightness, durability, etc.
The result
The solution is a bicycle lock that can be accessed either with a smart- phone app using BLE or phoneless with a keypad.. Need a bike? simply order your bike with your mobile phone, and with your mobile in your pocket you can access your bike with a simple push on the button!
