Greentom Walker

The Greentom Walker

TU-Delft - 2019
Final Bachelor Project
Client: Greentom

Challenge
Development of an Innovative Walker concept as part of the graduation project of the Bachelor of Industrial Design at TU Delft. The design assignment was commissioned by Greentom. A young company with a mission to make smart, functional and sustainable products. The design assignment was to create a new product to add to their current product portfolio, focusing on the expertise, mission and vision of the company.

Approach
The Greentom Walker is an innovative walker with an accessible and minimalistic appearance that provides an ageing population with a dignified feeling and supports them in maintaining their independence.
The unique look of the Walker has been realized by applying modern production techniques, which results in an integrated design in which the technical components of the rollator, such as the brakes, are hidden. This concept was designed using insights from current rollator users with a new generation of users (the baby boomers) in mind. This is reflected throughout the design on the basis of practical and valuable features where the independence of the user is central.

The complete frame is made of recycled polypropylene
which allows for a more integrated and distinctive design while at the same time offering more ride comfort thanks to the natural suspension of the material.

The Greentom walker's specific parts are designed completely symmetrical. This is to keep mould costs, production costs and assembly time as low as possible.
In total, there are only 15 unique parts.

Compact design, The basket has a rigid structure and is still able to fold completely flat thanks to the folding pattern supported by the trapezoidal thermoformed foam parts made of recycled PET.

The entire braking system is integrated inside the walker. The brake cable goes through the frame. This supports the minimalistic design and ensures that the user can't get hooked anywhere with the brake cables.

When opening the basket, the user can take out an inner bag. This bag can easily be hung by 2 hooks on the frame. In this way, the user only has to lift the bag once and doesn't have to bend down every time while shopping.

The goal of this concept was to make the rollator more accessible and thus the appearance was important to make the threshold to use the rollator easier. On the one hand, the minimalistic design provides an appeal to a large target group, while the symmetrical construction and structure of the design offer a simplicity one might compare to a comfortable chair. This character and the ability to personalize should translate into a rollator that is more accessible to the user.

design process

This grid is a visual representation of how the different rollator companies position themselves in the market in terms of design/innovation and price.
The position grid shows a competitive gap in the first quadrant. This shows an opportunity for new innovative rollators at a competitive price.

14 interviews were conducted with existing rollator users in order to better understand the product interaction and the context in which the rollators are used.

Thumbnail sketches were made to quickly generate ideas on how to solve the identified problem areas.

In order to get a better view of the proportions, early designs were projected and evaluated at full size.

Quick mockups and thumbnail sketches were made to explore technical aspects such as the the folding bag, the handles and the braking system.