Our project is based around providing a safer means of transportation for Bikers and Pedestrians. How can we make everyone commuting feel comfortable?

Regarding bikers and their Safety, we’ve brainstormed the idea of shields and umbrellas that can attach and detach to their bikes.

We designed a product called Whether the Weather that is a protective bike capsule that keeps you safe in all weather.

What is the issue?

How might we allow bikers to feel comfortable biking in different climates?

Summary

As part of our research we used an initial survey to ask some of our family and friends who are avid bikers some of their concerns on the road. We learned that many people who don’t bike have safety as a main concern. 

We also researched the opinions of bikers online and their opinion of cars on the road. The city of Cambridge found that bike crashes have decreased since 2004. 

We conducted interviews and another survey to gather feedback on our design prototype and whether people would want to use it.

Survey

Context

• We surveyed 15 people, a majority of who are teens and a handful of adults. 
• Majority lives in and around Cambridge

We asked questions like this : 

• What is your method of transportation in Cambridge and why? 
• What’s your experience with biking in Cambridge? If you don’t bike, why? 
• What’s the best part of your commute? What’s the pain part? 
• When or where do you tend to feel unsafe on your bike?

Main Idea

Our project is making streets safer for bikers in all climates – rain, snow, hail, and the sun.

Ideas

The ideas we came up with in our design process include 

• Cameras
• Physical barriers
• Bike locks
• Bike shields
• Umbrella-sharing
• Personal safety 
• Bike lessons
• Bike repair skill share
• Making public transportation more bike-friendly

New Product Names

• Rain Curtain
• Weather Ride
• Whether the Weather
• Ride Clear
• Projectile Weather Roof
• Projectile Weather Protection
• Weather Protector
• Weather Shield
• Sun Shower

Summary

We’re planning on making drawings and 3D models with materials that replicate our actual design. We will test different materials to see what works best for our goal of keeping bikers safe in different climates.

We created a form to gather feedback on our prototype. We sent it to people we know and other bike organizations in Cambridge. We hope to gather more responses.

Prototype Questions

• How might we allow for bikers to feel comfortable biking in different climates? How might we make roads safer for bikers and pedestrians?
• Does our design make people more comfortable in all climates?
• Does this improve or affect biker time?
• Does our design affect biker vision?
• Incorporating different climates – not just rain

Testing

• We surveyed 18 people about our design and asked specific questions about what they liked, what they would change, and if they would use our design
• We did outreach to local bike organizations in Cambridge to get responses
• The responses were divisive and gave us important considerations for the next iteration of our project

Reiteration

• We changed our name from Revitalizing Roads to Whether the Weather to emphasize our focus on climate
• We changed our design to be less like an umbrella and more like a roof or capsule
• We want to continue testing this design to gather more feedback and determine if we need to make more changes

• We like that this provides a creative solution to a common problem and that it makes it easier to bike in the city
• We wish that we had the opportunity to work in-person together and feel like that would have improved our experience
• We wish we could have done more physical prototyping