Motorcyles And The Art Of Product Design - IDSA/ICSID Connecting07 Conference Presentation

Motorcycles and the Art of Product Design Akshay Sharma, Virginia Tech Shimon Shmueli, Touch360 © Aprilia CONNECTING’07 World Design Congress

Why should we care about motorcycles? Death rates are 15-30 times higher than cars They are noisy They come with an attitude

Motorcycles attract wide range of attitudes, cultures, and interactions www.advrider.com www.advrider.com www.advrider.com www.hells-angels.com

Michaux & Perreaux, 1868 19 mph Steam engine mounted on a bicycle The motorcycles is a (relatively) primal vehicle

Motorcycles enable intense experiences

E=mV 2 Could the fun/thrill/experience be 64 times amplified even at 75 mph? speed = 8x energy = 64x

Most of us can relate to the motorcycle experience:

Self confidence

Motor skills

Social connections

Fun

Motorcycles facilitate and enable strong attachments

… so what? www.advrider.com

How we define design Art Humans Enablers & Constrains design expression, aesthetics, engineering technology, economy, environment Needs, wants, community, ergonomics

rider The motorcycle is the mediator/facilitator/ enabler between the rider and his/her experiences www.advrider.com

Women is the fastest growing segment. Women are moving from a passenger position, metaphorically and figuratively, to a rider position. * experience: (em)power*

experience: sexy

Sexy has been around even in 1951!

experience: (all) senses

experience motorcycle rider Involvement The emotional and physical connection between the rider and the motorcycle

The Rider is a Fully Stressed Member of the Equation.

experience motorcycle rider physical interface

experience motorcycle rider The interface is where the conversation between the rider and motorcycle happens control feedback

motorcycle

Thin Physical Interface

tight coupling

high sensitivity

clear and strong feedback

less forgiving

rider © Aprilia

Thin Thick © Harley-Davidson

Thin Thick © Wired

experience motorcycle rider physical interface emotional interface

experience motorcycle rider “ He talks to his motorcycle every time he passes by” The conversation is also an emotional exchange, at least in the mind of the rider (but some say also in the mind of the motorcycle or its designer)

motorcycle

Thin Emotional Interface

mutual awareness

respect

shared destiny

self-expression

the function is the aesthetics

something that only a moter could love - Steven Spielberg Design something that only a mother could love - Steven Spielberg

experience motorcycle rider Immediate presence of an object of knowledge to the mind, without any distortions, inferences, or interpretations, and without involvement of any intermediate agencies. Source: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. Immediacy

experience motorcycle rider High level of involvement between the rider and the motorcycle enables stronger immediacy Involvement > Immediacy

High level of involvement between the rider and the motorcycles enable stronger immediacy which in turn enables stronger (better) experiences

physical/emotional presentation mouse me Involvement immediacy

physical/emotional experience internet Him/her Involvement immediacy

physical environment, stimulus,… product user emotional community, self-expression product user Involvement immediacy

thank you شكرا 致谢 merci danke grazie ありがとう 감사합니다 obrigado cпасибо agradece תּוֹדָה Picture © BRP Can-Am Spyder Shimon Shmueli, Touch360, Partner …………………shimon@touch360.com Akshay Sharma, Virginia Tech, Assistant Prof……….akshay@vt.edu This presentation can be downloaded at www.slideshare.net/touch360