Off-Road Trike: Consumer Product Design Considerations

Designing consumer products is a challenging task because there is rarely a “right answer” to a consumer need.

In my Mechanical Systems Design class, my team and I are currently designing an off-road motorized three-wheel drive trike, including the drivetrain, steering and braking systems.

Although this project is a daunting task with a timeline of only 10 weeks, we’ve excitedly jumped at the opportunity to design a consumer product for a wide range of users.

These are my five key considerations when designing a consumer product. While this list is in no way comprehensive, these are the details that stood out to me through the beginning stages of our design process.

1)   Design for an audience

The consumer is not only the one that will be using the product, but also the one who must be impressed enough to pay for it.

My team's designated user is a paraplegic, one who has limited mobility of the lower body. As a result, we couldn't simply design a standard pedal-powered trike. We determined requirements based on the need for a motor-driven drivetrain and set sizing criteria based on readily available census data.

2)   Design for functionality

The consumer will only buy the product if it meets a need. It doesn’t have to do everything, but it should do one thing the best.

Motorized trike consumers have a passion for exploring the outdoors quickly and efficiently while achieving the illusive adrenaline rush. We set performance goals for top speed, acceleration, range, and ridable terrain to ensure that users would enjoy their experience.

3)   Design for simplicity

Users must be able to quickly understand how a product works to fit their need. If the product doesn’t work for them, they will switch to a product that does.

We want our trike to be straightforward to all users, so we plan to incorporate simple user controls into our trike: A thumb throttle button, a twist shifter for the derailleur and two brake levers incorporated into the linkage based steering system. These inputs are familiar to existing bikers and typically intuitive for new riders.

4)   Design for manufacturing

Imagination is unlimited. Manufacturing methods are not. If you can’t make the product, the idea has little value.

Although our project doesn't involve the manufacture of the trike, we are still considering how each component would be built and assembled, especially the chassis and drivetrain system.

5)   Design for testing and iteration

The first concept will rarely be the final product. Understanding that the design requirements can change is the best preparation for when they do.

Because our design involves so many components, we developed a system analysis tool using Microsoft Excel to easily perform iterative calculations when our parameters change. This tool allows us to evaluate the interaction of the variables throughout our design and choose the values that effectively meet our requirements. Soon, we will utilize SolidWorks FEA to optimize our material selection.

Although our project is already halfway over, I'm looking forward to the extensive knowledge still to be learned through this hands-on experience.

What’s a design consideration that you think should have made my list?