sell more, at a higher price

Aquacruiser

OPPORTUNITY

The Stand Up Paddle Board Market Report 2017 is a detailed review of regional markets, sales volumes and type and use of stand up paddle (SUP) boards. The report identified three types of SUP boards; solid, inflatable and pedal powered.

The SUP market as whole is large and growing, but the pedal boards were only one quarter, of 1% of the market.

Our client had built a very successful exercise equipment company. He saw the opportunity to enter a new and growing market and engaged with our experienced and versatile team to design, engineer and develop the product.

Walk on Water

The client started with a vision and a concept for propulsion, dubbed “Palm Drive”. This system would be hidden in and under the board, using the cross-country skiing motion of the rider to drive the board.

From a distance, the rider would appear to be “walking on water”.

The concept was verbally explained to the team. Specializing in a responsive and iterative design process, KAIA illustrated the concept in a day. The client was pleased to see that we listened, understood, and visualized his ideas so quickly.

Solution

iAfter the initial design-in-a-day, there was much work to do. The following pages are the story of AquaCruiser development, using our iterative, responsive design process of creating, testing, and improving:

Psycho-graphic Positioning
Style Refinement
Mechanics and Ergonomics
AquaCruiser XC
Alternative Propulsion
Pedal + Propeller
Product Line

Accessories and Color Options
Mid-Project Review
Market Report Focused on the Closest Competitor
Engineering and DFM (Design for Manufacturing)
Component and Assembly Sourcing
Completed AquaCruiser GT
Adjacent and Overlapping Product Space

Psycho-Graphic Positioning

The individual’s motivation
The culture around that activity
Visual cues (form and graphics)

Exploration of Adjacent and Overlapping Product Space

Exercise
Cycling
Sailing
Canoe & Kayak
Outdoor Adventure (camping/exploring)
Summer at the Lake
Beach Life
Surfing

Style refinement

Surfing psycho-graphic market with automotive cues that suggest mechanism and speed.

Mechanics and Ergonomics

Feet move opposite

one foot locked to board

left and right trucks are connected with a belt and pulleys
connecting the feet keeps the rider centered and gives the power leg something to push against

only one foot is free to move at a time
connecting the one foot to board gives the power leg something to push against

Feet move opposite

left and right trucks are connected with a belt and pulleys
connecting the feet keeps the rider centered and gives the power leg something to push against

one foot locked to board

only one foot is free to move at a time
connecting the one foot to board gives the power leg something to push against

Aquacruiser XC

Early testing demonstrated the need for a handle to push against. A steering system and foot pad return springs were added.
To maximize the value for the client, a standard SUP without propulsion was included.

Alternative Propulsion

During the palm drive prototype testing a drawback was uncovered: the paddles ( or palms ) took 1/3 of the power stroke to open and begin providing thrust. This loss in efficiency was significant. After reviewing with the client, the decision was made to explore additional propulsion methods.

Pedal + Propeller

Higher Efficiency at Lower cost

There is a reason propellers are ubiquitous, they are simple, durable, and 95% efficient. Furthermore, there are off the shelf drive systems available that can be adapted to our purpose.
The top speed of most pedal powered kayaks is 4.5 mph. Using sophisticated hydrodynamic engineering, we achieved 5.9 mph in testing.

Expanding product line

4 possible models
Aquacruiser XC
Aquacruiser GT
Aquacruiser SUP
Aquacruiser SUP racing

Accessories and color options

4 possible models
Aquacruiser XC
Aquacruiser GT
Aquacruiser SUP
Aquacruiser SUP racing

Mid-project review

The client decided to move forward with Aqucruiser GT. The pedal powered model had the quickest development path to market and was more adaptable to sub markets.

Setup time

From vehicle to assembled on water within 2 minutes

Performance

Top speed 5.9mph
Faster than competition with far less effort
required to maintain speed

Aesthetics

Automotive lines on the water

Features

Seat is adjustable and folds down and transportation. Storage space front and rear, water proof center storage, cup holder, and phone mount.

Market report focused on the closest competitor

Findings on Hobie Mirage Eclipse & Kayaking Markets

This report summarizes findings about the stand-up paddleboard (SUP) and kayaking markets. In addition, a significant part of this report focuses on a new product/category that was introduced last year: a stand-up pedal board, called the Hobie Mirage Eclipse (HME). Some dealers categorize HME as a SUP while others put it in a new category by itself.

The HME was introduced by the Hobie Cat Company (Hobie) in April 2016 to

a very enthusiastic global audience. For the first four months of its existence, Hobie was not able to produce/supply enough boards to meet the market demand. One year later dealers have HMEs in their in-stock inventory and the HME continues to be very popular. Nevertheless, since the product is only on the market for a year, some think it is still premature to determine whether it is a passing fad or if it can sustain excitement over the long-term.

The pedaling propulsion system in the HME, called the Mirage drive, is not new: Hobie has been using it in some of their kayaks for approximately 10 years.

Whereas only two companies had pedal kayaks for a while, the market is now becoming crowded with multiple other competitors introducing their own pedal kayaks.

In general, the SUP market is growing much faster than the kayak market but it would not be accurate to say that SUPs are displacing kayaks. Each type of watercraft comes in a variety of models and can be used for various purposes (fishing, racing, recreational fun, exercise, etc.). Personal preferences and

the type of water environment (lake, river, ocean, etc.) dictate which type of watercraft is preferable.

This report summarizes findings learned about the SUP and kayaking markets as well as HME from a variety of sources: articles identified on the Internet, phone calls to US-based Hobie dealers in late March- early April 2017, and parts of syndicated market research reports.

The report has the following sections: Hobie (information about the company and products); market trends about the paddle sports markets in general, and about the SUP and kayak markets in particular; and a dealer comments section that includes remarks relevant to prospective kayak/ SUP customers, geography-specific topics and a description of the HME launch.

Engineering and Design For Manufacture (DFM)

Component and assembly sourcing

Completed Aquacruiser GT

Adjacent and overlapping product space

Accessorizes + CFM (color finish and materials)

OUTCOME

The project influence was lasting.

The new division was formed to market and sell the Aquacruiser product line. Upon seeing the range of concepts the new CEO expanded the product range. There are versions for different markets, as well as a range of light one person boats and exploration of electric powered personal watercraft.

KAIA develops product that resonates with your customer and stands apart from the competition, so you can
sell more, at a higher price.
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SERVICES & AWARDS

Product Development

223 products brought to serial production
Concept Design
Visualizatio
Design thinking
Sketching
3D modeling
Detailed Illustration
Technical Illustration
Slide show presentations
Industrial design
Sketching
Component packaging
Brand communication Ergonomics, Human Factors, and Semantics
User Interface (UI, UX)
Conceptual CAD modeling Class-A, watertight CAD Mechanical Engineering Research And Development
Prototyping
3D printing
Design for Manufacture (DFM)
Color, material and finish (CFM)

Brand Story

Messaging
Script Writing
Story Boarding
Narrative
Video design

Interactive

Mobile
Online
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
Mixed Reality
Simulation

Marketing

Online presence, SEO
Live Video
3D Animation
Photography
Display models
App Development
Technical Illustration

Awards

11 product design awards: Industrial Design Society of America IDEA, Red Dot, design Preis Schweiz, iF awards
16 User Experience (UX)
14 Excellence, Innovation & Technical Awards
21 Emmy awards & nominations