Product Design: Badminton Back Saver

This was a product creation project for the course SYDE 161: Introduction to Design. Utilizing engineering design methodologies, a physical solution was created to alleviate back strain in badminton athletes, caused by repeatedly picking up birdies after a training session. The final solution was a mechanical device which picks up birdies similar to a golf-ball collector. This project focused heavily on iterative design processes and user requirement analysis.

Tools Used

Decision Analysis: SWOT, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Computational Decision Matrix (CDM)

Concepts: Personas, User testing, Product Lifecycle Analysis, Iterative Design, Gantt Charts

Story

Over a period of 4 months, a total of 3 low to high fidelity prototypes were created. 3D-CAD software (SolidWorks) and 3D printing were also used to assist in the prototyping process.

One of my favourite takeaways from this project was how to create CDM and QFD charts, which provide quantitative calculations of user requirements and engineering specifications for a product. The values are obtained through vigorous user testing and feedback from our rapid prototyping. The QFD provides evidence-backed feature lists for the product, while the CDM assists in data driven design decisions. Here is our product's QFD chart, with the CMD appended on the bottom.

Check it out here:

Design Report