UKC

Hi guys,

First post on the forums and I'm hoping to get a positive reception. I am a 4th year university student studying product design and I am currently doing my final year project. For this project I have to design a complete product of my own conception and right now I am at the research stage. The product I am creating is very much a legitimate design and the research is the key to its fruition.

So what is this product I speak of? Well, I wouldn't be posting on this forum without good reason. The product I am designing is a combination of a trekking pole, for hiking/hillwalking/skiing/any activity involving walking poles, with that of a camera tripod.

I'm posting on this forum to get some feedback from the genuine people in my target market. I would really, really appreciate if you could take the time to fill out my research survey, it should only take a few minutes and hopefully shouldn't bore you. This survey will go a long way to helping me establish the specifications of my product and the requirements and needs of the user. There is a more detailed description of the product and the idea behind it on the survey.

http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/cptjamesmckernan/hikepod-a-trekking-pole-an...

Thank you very, very much for taking the time and please, if you have any comments, questions or wish to share an opinion do not hesitate, everything helps.

In reply to JamesMcKernan:

Filled it in but it's a pretty poor survey.
As an example you ask what we would change about it but there is no detail about what features it will have so how do we know what we would change
also you ask about occupation, student, employed professional, business owner or other.
Not sure what demographic you are looking for but other is a bit of a broad brush.

In reply to JamesMcKernan:

A bit like this i am presuming

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leki-Sierra-FS-Monopod/dp/B0042777BW

Filled in and like Dax said, there is no comparison for the question of improving/changing (maybe you could photoshop merge a trekking pole and ballhead to give an example of your idea) One thing to amend. On your question of "Below are a list of potential and actual product features. How important is each feature to you?" You have not stated whether 1 or 5 is most important. I've ticked the 3 box on each as i'm not sure.

Chris

In reply to JamesMcKernan:

Done, as best as I can. I've assumed 5 is most important. Only thing is, most of those are pretty important or it wouldn't make sense at all!

Couldn't answer the "one change" question as have no real idea of how the product looks or actually works.

In reply to chris fox:

Dawn I missed the numbers bit.
I either voted very important or don't give a crap to most of them.

In fairness he is talking about a tripod/walking stick and not a mono pod one.
To be honest I can't see it working anyway. To incorporate 3 legs on a walking pole either have to be so skinny there won't be much support or bigger and heavier. There would need to be some sort of locking system to hold them together ad a walking stick but that will get muddy and the mud will transfer from the stick to your hands and the camera.
Also to get the stability the legs need to be full length and that means messing around adjusting each leg individually.

I think I would stick with my Joby Gorilla pod. Even the large one weighs next to nothing and can be deployed in seconds.

In reply to Dax H:

Yeh i pressed send without proof reading, i was meaning it for an example for him to show how it could be modified/improved to incorporate a tripod.
Sorry, was a bit vague/hasty with my reply.

To the OP, maybe look at the compact tripod systems that the legs fold back on themselves to reduce size. Thats probably the only thing i can currently picture it looking like. One thing to add to it, walking poles get a right beating, wedged in-between rocks, trapped, torqued. so this could have an impact (no pun intended) on the integrity of it, a bent leg is useless.

Maybe look into a lightweight leg system that could be attached to the pole end by a bayonet system, that way the legs can be put in the backpack and fitted when needed in seconds

Chris

In reply to Dax H:

Thanks for your feedback Dax.

I get where you're coming from. I have listed potential features within the survey and as this is a very initial survey to get an impression of peoples thoughts about the idea itself, I don't have any mockups or concepts. I should perhaps have worded the survey better by allowing the user to answer what they would like or look for in the product. The purpose of this question is to understand the background of each individual participant and how relevant it is to the target market.

In reply to chris fox:

Cheers Chris!

As this is an initial survey, it's more about getting people's impressions about the idea of the product but I can understand why it would be difficult to assess it seeing as I haven't given much else than a description. I was hoping the idea of a trekking pole/tripod combination would conjure up images and participants would get the initial idea of the proposed product.

And sorry about that, I've made a few amendments to the questions etc.

Thanks again!

In reply to Dax H:

I can see why you would consider it difficult to design but that's the beauty of being a designer, designing and modifying to make it work the way it should. I knew it would be a big and difficult task from the get go, for the reasons you have given and more.

Thanks again, all of this is really helpful!

In reply to JamesMcKernan:

I've filled in your survey; interesting idea, doubt it would be stable enough to replace a tripod for full size camera/lens + filters set up though.

But....

On the form it says:
"In line with the University of Strathclyde ethics, I require an email address. You will not be contacted unless you state that you would like to be contacted regarding additional surveys, correspondence, interviews or the outcome of the survey. Please type your email"

Really??? the IRB at Strathclyde requires you to collect email address??? I don't believe this for a second.
I would like to know who to contact at Strathclyde if I have any concerns about your project, please.

In reply to JamesMcKernan:

I think the Trailpix guys kinda had the same idea, and it's a neater solution I think.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1312251870/trailpix-ultralight-tripod