This document summarizes the design development process for a contemporary drill meant for use in small apartments. It details research into target markets and existing drills. Personas and user needs were developed. Early concepts explored integrating a USB charger and different handle designs. Further iterations refined the form based on user testing. The trigger and torque settings were developed, with the final torque ring using pictorial icons to simply convey settings. User testing provided feedback that improved the design.

1. Assessment #2 - Design Development (drill)
Studio 6
Bronte Stolz

2. Introduction Target Market
Power tools have lived within the shed since their conception. The only
problem with this is that many people now live in different types of hous-
ing, smaller, apartment based settings where sheds simply don’t exist. As
such, the boundary between the workshop and living area for these dwell-
ings has blurred. This project sets out to design a contemporary drill, with
highly resolved physical and cognitive ergonomics, that compliments the
kitchen (not the workshop).
This report, documents the development of such a design, researching the
current field of drills, their environment of use to inform the actual design.
From this research, personas and scenarios are developed to aid, in conjuc-
tion with the environmental research, a brand language suitable for such a
product. As well as highlight aspects of the design that will need attention.
Once a concept has been chosen, it is refined through iterations of user
testing, analysis and re-evaluation.
This set of photo’s shows various choices of de-
cor within small scale living environments. With
the image to the left, it can be seen that the iron
has a theme colour to it.

3. The image to the left Brand Identity
encompasses the influ-
ence for our brand
language. Implicit Values
Most of the appli- Thought for design (in that users don’t have to think
ances/products within about what they are doing all the time) - just a simple
this kitchen are quite product where the thinking has already been done for
contemporary, brushed the user.
aluminium pieces.
Comfortable ergonomics
There is a neutral
theme colour of Contemporary aesthetic (elegant)
torquise through the
kitchen.
Explicit Values
(the housing type is a
-Simple/minimalistic layout
duplex unit).
-Rubberise soft touch texture
-Turquoise color surface/theme
Neighbouring Products
-Brushed metal components
theme colour (turquoise)
-iconic representations (for information)
-Neat and smart packaging
Rubber soft textured finish
brushed metal
In order for the product to be successful, it must fit in with the aesthetic of other household appli-
ances (in this case, the kitchen).
Note: Bronte means thunder, and Torgen is dan-
ish for thunder (which fits in with power tools
and contemporary design). I feel at least.

4. Personas:
Interests: Shopping/fashion, partying, gourmet cooking, pop culture/music.
House plans: I need to buy a bedside table, install some s and make a veggie patch.
Name: Somaya
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Annual Income: $32k
Type of Housing: 2 story Duplex/unit (2 bedroom), 1 carport
Partner: no
Skill set (1 = novice, 5 = seasoned handyman/woman): 3
Years lived in apartment: ½ year
Disability: N/A
Time spent in apartment/week: 65 hrs

5. Re
Skill Set (1 = novice, 5 = seasoned handyman/woman): 4
nths
Disability: Tennis Elbow (R.S.I)
Time Spent in Dwelling/week: 100 hrs
Interests: Philosophical literature, human behaviour, classical music and Red wine
Name: Cassandra House Plans: Hang up sketches of mine; I guess I will need some kind of power tools to do it.
Gender: Female
behind the human will.
Age: 41
ice)
-plans to hang an art frame on her bedroom brick wall
Annual Income: $80K
Type of housing: Studio Apartment, 2 bedroom, CBD -measures a suitable height for her frame with an extension ruler
-Draws a dot on the wall
-Using a 12 volt drilled to make holes on wall
-Her arms are uncomfortable due to the thicker handle which also hurt her wrist
-drill gets jammed in the wall, get harder to drill deeper
-has to reverse the drill and go at it again
-

6. Interests: s cycling, volley ball,
House Plans:
Life Goals: Earn more money and work less hours. Maybe buy a small boat to quell my status anxiety.
Gender: Male
-ready to move out to a bigger place with his misses
Age: 32
-dismantling furniture for transport
-taking out screws from walls
Annual Income: $64K
-has issues using a drill, cumbersome
Type of Housing: 3 bedroom, town house, Norwood (street parking)
-hard to control torque and speed
daughter.
-breaking screw heads and being frustrated
- -
Skill Set (1 = novice, 5 = seasoned handyman/woman): 2.5
-
Time spent in apartment/week: 80 hrs

7. Tech Pack - Basis Explicit User Needs Table:
The Crimps tech pack is based off of the Ikea Fixa drill’s No. Need Importance
1 5
2 Fast re- 4
3 Low weight product 5
4 All A drill that can be 5
understood by most
types of people (not
just tradespeople).
5 motor A motor powerful 5
enough to drill into
gyprock, wooden
studs and 6mm steel
but can also handle
screwing
6 motor Something that is 4
quiet enough for use
within a
duplex/shared wall
housing
7 Easy to recharge 4
8 chuck 4
be used for both
screwing and drilling
9 All (motor) Low weight product 5
10 All (Trigger) Low weight product 5
11 Trigger Adjustable speed; so 5
which looks like this as to allow for both
screwing and drilling
12 Trigger Understandable 4
mapping in terms of
13 Shell/housing Low weight product 5
Benchmarking prod- 14 Shell/housing An ergonomic/ easy 4
ucts. to grip product
15 Shell/housing Something that 4
apartment
Power 7.2 v 7.2 v 10.8 v 7 .2 v 1 0.8 v 16 Package Low cost item 5
17 Packaging Minimal impact on 3
N/A N/A N/A 1.5Amp 1 .3Amp
capacity room decor
(Ampere ) 18 Chuck Ability to hold 3
Torque (Nm) N/A 6.78 Nm 10~25 Nm N/A 10~16Nm fastener in place
before screwing
Tourque N/A N/a 10+1 1 5+1 0.2-2.4 Nm
19 All Physically and 5
Weight (Kg) 1 .1 Kg 2.2 Kg 0 .95Kg 1.3Kg 0.9Kg
ergonomic
Rpm 0-720 0-650 0 -410 0 -400 0 .-1200
Switch Speed 2 1 1 1 2
1 .5 hours N /A 3 hours 3 -8 hours 2 0min

8. Existing Market (features) Drill User Study (how do different people grip cordless
drills)
removable cartridge battery
Note: the following test was undertaken using a 14.4V volt Bosch drill. The following images depict the differ-
ent ways in which users grasped the drill.
pressure trigger
overmould handle
speed control
drill direction switch
Conclusion: users tend to use 2 hands to hold the drill ,even though many drill do not afford
this style of use.
spirit level
torque ring settings

9. Design Development Concept 1 was chosen as the starting point for the drill design. A soft model was made to represent the
design physically.
concept 1
Pistol grip form
with in built
stand.
In order to
develop this
design, it
was believed
necessary to
create an addi-
tional function
for the handle.
concept 2
USB charger idea. Although, after research, this was ruled out as a possibility as the standard charging
time of a 3.7V Li-ion battery 1600mAh (approximately half of the desired battery capacity) is roughly 4
hours on USB 2.

10. This sketch marked the turning
point in my design. The bottom
section depicts experimentation
with the form. i.e basing it around
the shape of the battery back
(which was at this point still 10.8V
- meaning 3 cells).
And with such a battery pack, a
triangular form lent itself to the
handle.
The top part of the above illustration, explores the idea of using the bottom section to act as a limit-
ing barreir for drilling depths i.e. by setting it 20mm in front of the drill bit, the drill hole could only
be 20mm deep.
Which then became this, a simple two part drill.
Without the additional section, it seemed to lack
a sense of refinement. 10.8V - drill concept.

11. The connection between the handle and
body seemed too stunted on the last it-
eration. Consequently the adjacent body
was born.
After a few informal user trials, it was
considered more comfortable than the
last attempt but still to wide.
10.8V Drill Soft model.
After testing 5 users (3 female and 2 male) - all under 30. The general consensus was that the drills
handle was to wide and thus awkward to hold.
Believing that a 10.8V battery powered drill
would create too large a diameter, I switched a Progression of the forms profile - the far right shows the conclusion.
to a 7.2V system. In doing so, the form altered
with it. Instead of having 3 equal sized circles
defining the form it became two small and one
large (as seen below).
The image to the left shows the first iteration
of this form.

12. Basis for Final Form More suitable, compact form, less strain in holding with a
shorter shaft.
Initially, the drill’s upper body (horizontal) was relatively long (so as to ensure that a second hand could by used on
this part to steady the drill).
After weighting it, it began to seem less comfortable with the weight of the engine close to the chuck end.
Note: the minimum height the handle
grip section can be is 103 mm (in-
cluding wall thickness) to house the
battery back, trigger, and trigger travel
components.
Form refinement

13. Trigger Refinement
Once the main shell’s form reached a semi workable state, I set about trying to fit a usable trigger to it (iso-
lating the design of each part -but still considering their place within the entire product).
Initial experimentation with dif-
ferent trigger types.
basis for final trigger
Angled trigger concept. Note: the trigger is split into
2 separate sections because the top section controls
the direction of the drill (i.e. clockwise vs anti-clock-
wise)

14. Two part trigger. The front
section, which also acts
as a guide, can be pushed
forwards to change from
reverse, to lock and then
forwards.
Removing sections of the prior concept to try and fit in the direction switch Decals showing which
setting is in use - these
arrows were picked from a
trying to increase the radii user survey.
on the trigger and directin
component (so as to differ-
entiate them).
After trying to get 2 female
users, to change the direc-
tion unsuccessfully on a
Showing the movements of the integrated direction trigger.
foam model, the integrated
trigger system was deamed
un-usable and therefore
forwards locked reverse
scrapped.

15. More User Testing:
Initially, users found it somewhat confusing the change the direction (possibly due to the fact that they had never trigger path
quite interacted wtih such a mechanism on a drill) - although, once they spotted the direction icon slot, they picked
it up. And once they new it, after 5 minutes i asked them to change it again and they knew exactly what to do. Note:
with the old style direction swtiches - this was not the case. Each time the user put the drill down and then picked it
up again, they were sure which way the drill was spinning until they pressed the trigger. (This was confirmed using
the CAD assembly model in conjunction with the foam model)
trigger
directional
switch
speed icons
How to actually make the directional switch work...
One thing that was still considered
uncomfortable about the new trig-
ger design was the height of it. Users The trigger sensor on the tech pack, can be
complained, that the trigger was to changed by moving the opage arrow switch
long (from the top shaft downwards) up (for clockwise - which is actually right [if
the user is behind the drill]), the middle is
locked and down for anti-clockwise.
trigger
By mapping the bottom left illustration over
the top, this allows the exterior mapping to
coincide with the trigger mechanism itself.
32mm from the top of the bot-
tom section of the top shaft was
considered adequate.

16. This concept, uses the idea of slicing the top shafts form into 3 sections, so the middle part
can be twisted (changing the torque function). This seemed like the easiest solution to be-
Although the component isn’t detailed - it proves the concept. Essentially the trigger switch (grey arrow gin with, although the resulting aesthetic was rather jarring.
under the sliding form (un-detailed) is connected to the sliding display that alerts the user as to which set-
ting they are using. The bottom part of the above sketch begins to deal with the display of information con-
cerning the torque feature. The bottom sketch shows the final concept
Torque Form Considerations/Development
This concept works on the
idea of having a partially
obscured ring (due to the
drills form) that can rotate to
change the functions set-
tings. After making a model,
it was obvious that it was not
very ergonomic.
chunking the torque dis-
play settings, so as not to
confuse users so much.
simple ring between body and
chuck

17. The final design of the torque ring consists of
2 snap hook assemble Poly carbonate halves.
Each half has four recessed slots within its form
to increase its grip when twisting between set-
tings).
The various settings are shown pictorially not
numerically, due to the pictorial superiority
principle.
screwing range drilling range
When using the pressure sensitive trigger, there are two main ranges - one for fasten-
ing, and the other for drilling. To maintain consistency and develop user recognition,
this is conveyed using the same icons that are present on the torque feature. The first
range is accessed as soon as the user exerts a force on the trigger. The upper limit of
this setting is petitioned by a slight resistance in the trigger. After pressing a little more,
the user can then enter the second range for drilling.
Detail of the torque ring in use
By placing the icons on the trigger itself, they move with the trigger creating a proximity
relationship between the two (strengthening the perception of relatedness).
Upon close inspection, it can be seen that the icons used on the trigger are the same as
those used on the torque ring, the only difference being scale. By doing this, it creates
a certain level of consistency, making the system easy to understand and eventually
retain.

18. Break through in chuck design.
Chuck Development
By having the inner portion angled,
parrallel to the outer housing of
As one of our personas, Cassandra, suffers from a RSI injury in both of her elbows the twist tightening chuck
the chuck. When the outer chuck
system began to seem redundant. With all of those tight rist movements, it would be no surprise if she didn’t
is pulled away from the body, the
inflame her elbows.
tensioning springs (that keep the hex
head drill bits within it) can be sprung
In order to counter this, a quick release chuck was designed from scratch.
away from the centre, allowing the
bits to be removed.
The screen captures show
the chuck at rest and
then pulled. In order for
this to be acheived, the
main spring is press fit-
ted into the outer chuck
(see seeming undercut
on outer chuck) and then
welded to the inner chuck

19. This image shows the tension-
ing pins, that allow hex head
bits to be inserted and released
from the chuck. By pulling on the
chuck, these tensioned springs
are no able to move outwards
(releasing any drill bits).
chuck outer Zn Al alloy, chuck inner, D6AC alloy torque ring PC spring, spring steel
brushed steel ASTM A228
chuck collar,
D6AC
Hex head,
drill bit
quick pull, chuck sub assembly - exploded view

20. Packaging
Torgen’s packaging/docking
station is simple. It is one piece
of Zn Al alloyed metal with a
brush finish. When the drill is
placed on the dock, it is au-
tomatically plugged into the
charging area.
The top of the dock has a re-
cess to help locate the drill.
Drill bits are stored in the front
section and as such are acces-
sible from both side by pulling
or pushing.
The recesses in the middle are
for longer drill bits (not hex Pad Printed information to prompt the user.
head).

21. the crimp
by
torgen
(a cordless drill for compact housing)

22. Detail of Final Model
side view of internals
converter for drill trigger, brushed
(PC) slider alloy of Zn and Al brushed alloy of Zn and Al
exploded view
Detail of the housings snap 7.2V brushless
hook fastening system. micro motor/
gearbox
assembly
polycarbonate
(PC) housing
DC power tool
switch (with
locking
7.2V li-ion
2Ah
overmould grip