LITTLE DIPPER

OVERVIEW

BRIEF

The little Dipper has been in Bontrager's product line for over 8 years. Wit the redesign and revamp of our adult helmet line, we took the opportunity to redesign our toddler helmet that has had declining sales for a few years. With the design process starting, we took the time to identify not only what made a child's product successful from a kids point of view, but also the parent. With the 'protective mom' syndrome and wanting to create a safe helmet, we were able to identify key aspects of a moms concern and correct them. The fit pad design - has a waterfall feature that creates a comfortable transition for the brow pad. The Fit system arms - hold the straps outside the helmet so it is easier to put on for those 'strong independent kids'. The new fit system Dial - is kid hand friendly, and creates a secure fit to all toddler heads. With cost being a driving factor for this helmet, we focused on putting money where it had the most impact. The EPS design and tooling was very interesting and this helmet was designed with cost effective tooling in mind. Creating plastic parts with embossed + textured logos, creating cost effective graphics and fit pads with more bang for the buck we were able to develop this as one of treks cutest little additions.

Toddler Specific

We took the time to look at not only how a parent purchases a helmet for a child, but how they interact with it. Focusing on easy user interactions like anchoring the straps as low as we could to reduce 'floppy strap' and integrating it into the fit system to move it as far away from the face as possible. Fitpads, fitsystem, and eps have all been created with a toddler in mind

In mold construction

In mold construction allows us to not only create a stronger helmet, but creates the opportunity to embed parts into the helmet to create a thinner material stack and create a thinner helmet.

Kid approved

When it comes to goats or your children, you want to make sure they grow up big and strong. The user interaction of a child is much different than an adult; and this helmet accounts for an adapted fit-system as well as soft touch interaction on critical surfaces

DETAILS

WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN

Protect the young cyclist in your life with the Little Dipper toddler helmet, featuring a built-in visor and easy-to-use magnetic buckle. Perfect for little ones riding in a trailer, a child carrier, or all on their own. Knowing parents control the wallet - we were designing for multiple end users. The parent, who is purchasing the helmet - and will only purchase the best for their little ones. And the child - who will need to live in the helmet every day when they ride. We focused on creating an environment for the child that is safe and covered in soft pad - while reducing cost as much as possible for this low cost helmet.

THE CUSTOMER

Focusing on toddler head sizes, we developed the dipper on a new shape that was focused on child head dimensions. The Dipper was designed to be a EPS / PC helmet for weight reduction - but also to create a helmet that could survive a drop of a child throwing the helmet. Its full PC coverage makes the foam fully protected and developed for comfort. The fidlock buckle was developed and used to create a safe, non pinch situation if a parent is putting on the helmet or if the child is feeling adventurous to go on their own.

DETAILS

Design Ideation

Using the current little dipper as inspiration and direction for costing. The design intent was to create an approachable helmet for both toddlers and parents. If we look at who is doing the purchasing for children's products, we designed this helmet with a large effort to see how parents shop and choose products for their children. Developing a shape that provided enough coverage but allowed a interesting enough shape and design detail to make it look a step above the rest on the best in class competitors. The development was one of the first helmets we did in cad from start to finish in a new process I developed for the company.

DETAILS

CAD Development

Developing the Little Dipper was a new approach for the design group. Creating a product from start to finish with minimal hand modeling and development mainly in CAD. The Dipper had 5 concept iterations and was developed in Solidworks. The surfacing and design detail was done 100% in CAD and relied heavily on a new design process I developed for the Trek design group. We worked with graphics to create a product that was fun and approachable - using new casting methods with multiple colors and shell trims that pushed the possibility of what our vendors were able to put into production.