Prototype Development
Early designs struggled to meet the 9 criteria. Initially the product was designed to be out of aluminum (thanks to Nyg - see photo). Material costs and tooling soon saw plastic being considered. It would be more affordable, cheaper and have no scrap value. The ramp track design was relatively simple; designed to sit to one side of the staircase, with rounded edges to take joining pins but to also providing safer edges to the track. Connecting or fixing to the staircase however had no easy solutions, neither did the on/off ramps. Numerous designs were considered for both. The bracket ultimately ended up as a single piece capable of both fitting beneath the track and adjusting to suit the stair pitch. Simple to make, easy to fit and cheap to produce.
The ramps, were possibly the most challenging part of the design. How do you design a ramp that has an inbuilt flexibility so suit various pitches and not be an obstruction to pedestrians. The result is probably that part of the ramp that will ultimately be is most identifiable design element. It met perfectly with Dysons edict that good design is about both working well and looking good. The curled ramps enabled the cyclist to access the ramp easily whilst not having any protrusions into pedestrian areas.
The final part of the design was the need to create a traction surface on the ramp for wet tyres or ascending bikes. This either had to be a surface that was part of the track, or one that was applied. Here the idea of the logo was 'born'. A soft peal back PVC with a rough surface would provide that traction surface. It would also cover fixing screws. It would also enable the track to be fitted free….so long as the logo could be licencees logo.