DESIGN NAME: Wiivv Custom Fit Sandal
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Custom Fit Footwear from you Smartphone
INSPIRATION: After launching our custom fit 3D printed insoles in 2016, many customers wrote to us saying how much they loved our insoles, and wish they could put them in their sandals, as many of them could never wear sandals due to the pain they caused.
So we did just that, and put all of our biomechanics, manufacturing and design expertise into creating a sandal which broke the dichotomy between comfort and style typically seen in the footwear market.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Wiivv's smartphone app with award winning user experience capture the users data and then generates a biomechanically optimised design. It is 3D printed, and shipped to the customer within 14 days.
- Custom Fit - using the customers foot data, the sandal's arch support is printed unique to them, and the straps anchors placed in specific locations.
- Comfort - the triple density foam footbed, deep heel cup, biomechanically data driven design, no rub toe thong construction, custom strap placement and custom arch support make it the most comfortable in on the market.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Step 1: Customer downloads the Wiivv app
Step 2: Customer selects their product and customises the aesthetic design
Step 3: Customer scans feet
Step 4: Customer checks out and places order.
Step 5: Customer receives automatic updates during manufacturing process
Step 6: Customer receives sandal within 14 days
Step 7: Long lasting custom comfort and bliss for their feet
Step 8: 31% of our customers repurchase another product
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in April 2016. The team were based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, however Wiivv's manufacturing facility was built and scaled in San Diego, California, USA.
The product was launched on Kickstarter in March 2017 and became the most funded 3D printed product ever. Fulfilment of Kickstarter was completed by August 2018.
In April 2018, the lead engineer Chris Bellamy, ran the Boston Marathon, wearing the Wiivv Custom Fit Sandal, and completed the race in a time of 2 hours 59 minutes!
In September 2018 the product was then made available to the general public.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Price point <$130: this was achieved by combining 3D printing with conventional manufacturing techniques
Modularity: allowed aesthetic customisation, reduced duties, and end of life recycling.
Biomechanical design - 50,000+ foot scans were used to inform every single line, curve and material property
Custom product fulfilment: we built an entire system to manage and process every custom order
Design process: we adopted a human centric design process, using over 5 million human data points in creating the design including customer trials, surveys, feedback, clinical trials and biometric data
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Product Weights:388-684g depending on size of customer foot.
Fits Foot Lengths:235-315mm length
TAGS: Sandal, comfort, 3D printing, custom, shoes, computer vision, smartphone, insoles, pain, data, biomechanics, adjustable, ergonomics, design, footwear, mass customisation, technology, bespoke, modular, removable, closed loop, recyclable, plastic waste, aesthetic customisation, foam, support, arch support, plantar fasciitis
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: We conducted extensive market and consumer analysis throughout the project. From consumer perceptions, to understanding the "science of fit" and the "equation for comfort" we were able to determine what was required to make the most aesthetically pleasing, yet comfortable design.
While placing the customer first, we did not operate an "open innovation" approach. This is because the nature of this product being completely unimagined and unlike anything else on the market, it would be difficult for consumers to make direct recommendations for what the product should be.
Instead my practicing design empathy, we immersed ourselves in our target consumers to understand their pain points and needs.
We could then combine this with biomechanics data, business requirements and technology limitations to create the best possible balance of a product.
By adopting a "lowest viable resolution testing process" we increased the speed of testing and iterations. Using advanced prototyping techniques available to use through our 3D printing factory we went through 1000s of iterations in our design.
This required each iteration to have the lowest possible investment of time and money, allowing us to make more mistakes and learn faster.
Each round of prototypes (from initial sketches to production tooling, and every step in between) was tested in a variety of formats.
Competitor benchmarking was also critical in the design process. Using 3D scanning and other techniques we could create a complete profile of the industries geometry and material properties. By correlating that with survey results and data we were able to identify targets for geometry and material properties before creating any samples ourselves.
CHALLENGE: Overall the challenge was to put Wiivv's custom fit comfort technology, and embody it into a sandal in a scalable, cost effective, attractive and functional manner.
Our biggest hurdle was our biomechanical thoroughness. In June 2017 we were ready for production with our design. However our biomechanical clinical trial results came back showing we weren't best in class. We did the right thing, tore up our design and started from scratch. The final design now has best in class biomechanics results.
ADDED DATE: 2018-12-04 23:35:53
TEAM MEMBERS (5) : Chris Bellamy - Wiivv - Engineering, Michael Salmon - Wiivv - Design, Brett Ritter - Wiivv - Manufacturing, Carly Fennel - Wiivv - Biomechanics and Amy Vandenendye - Wiivv - Biomechanics
IMAGE CREDITS: All photography created by Wiivv
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Patent Pending:METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A SANDAL HAVING CUSTOMISED TOE THONG LOCATION WO2018000081A1 - Wiivv Wearables
Patent Pending: SANDALS CUSTOMIZED FOR A WEARER'S FEET AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING WO2018170580A1 - Wiivv Wearables
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