Truck Cleaning Tools
I created an kit of cleaning tools with a multidisciplinary team (designers, engineers, and marketers) for the International Eagle brand truck. The company tasked us with designing a lifestyle product that would improve brand recognition. We followed a rigorous design process that included ethnographic research with truck drivers, brainstorming opportunities, gathering feedback, and testing prototypes. I advocated that the team rent a U-Haul truck and gain experience cleaning a truck ourselves, rather than solely asking truck drivers about their cleaning needs. Based on this experience, I created a wipe holder that combines the wet cleaning power of a wipe and the conformity of a sponge with the stability of a rigid grip. The kit improves brand recognition because truck drivers use the product at truckstops within view of other drivers. Patent pending.
This work was a part of Carnegie Mellon's Integrated Product Development class, which inspired the book Creating Breakthrough Products. My team included students from design, engineering, and the MBA program.
Brainstorming
Interviewing truck drivers
Team member trying to clean a truck with existing tools
Value opportunity analysis
Asking truck drivers to color in hard-to-clean areas
Form prototypes
Functional prototypes
Functional prototype of wipe holder. The disposable wipe is backed by foam, and is held by magnets onto a solid metal/rubber grip.
Case
The completed cleaning kit.