concept feedback

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nts

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Hi all. I am currently a student completing a design project for school, and I have come up with a design concept that I would really appreciate some feedback on, from those in my target audience. Essentially it is a portable cup holder (that has indents so that it can hold both mugs and tumbler cups), with the aim to hold them in place and stop them from tipping over and spilling whilst the boat moves and rocks (this problem was appointed to me to solve by a boat user who is basically acting as my 'client' in this project, so who I am designing the product for). Just a reminder that this is in no way a professional, serious project so my concept will evidently not be the most complex or revolutionary but something simple I came up with for a school project.

Here is the survey link:
Design Concept Feedback

Thanks so much, your feedback will be incredibly valuable to my project (however positive or negative)!
 
I have a feeling that you are trying to re-invent the wheel. There are many devices already on the market, and hundreds of DIY ones made from holes in a piece of plywood (which has an advantage that the depth is only a few millimetres rather than the bulky one you have proposed. Storage is critical on a boat.)

Examples :_
mug holder yacht - Search (bing.com)


That said , your work so far is good, with pragmatic use of 3D visualisation, and clear annotations. The survey is low on specific questions which a designer would need IRL. More work needed on designing the questions to obtain e.g. usage conditions, choice of material, storage, cost, any gap in the market, etc. The survey seems to me to have not yet gone beyond prototyping.
 
nts said:
Hi all. I am currently a student completing a design project for school, and I have come up with a design concept that I would really appreciate some feedback on, from those in my target audience. Essentially it is a portable cup holder (that has indents so that it can hold both mugs and tumbler cups), with the aim to hold them in place and stop them from tipping over and spilling whilst the boat moves and rocks (this problem was appointed to me to solve by a boat user who is basically acting as my 'client' in this project, so who I am designing the product for). Just a reminder that this is in no way a professional, serious project so my concept will evidently not be the most complex or revolutionary but something simple I came up with for a school project.

Here is the survey link:
Design Concept Feedback

Thanks so much, your feedback will be incredibly valuable to my project (however positive or negative)!
Click to expand...
This is very similar to a Muggi apart from the handles facing inwards. We have been using one on the boat for many years and also have one in the house.

As I have arthritic hands I think that I would have difficulty picking up a mug with the handle pointing inwards.
 
I sailed with a lady who had a strict rule that anyone drinking from the china mugs must return them to the Muggi any time they were not in hand.

I kept getting told off, even when motoring in a flat calm, for forgetting and putting my mug down on the cockpit seat beside me - the mugs in question were of irreplaceable sentimental value as they bore photos of the family enjoying the boat.

She expressed surprise when I started asking for a melamine mug when other crew were making my tea.

The same lady was absolutist about the wearing of lifejackets and one would be sent straight back below if one emerged on deck (again, even in the calmest of conditions) having forgot to don one. One of my most treasured memories of the 4-week trip is of handing her hers, after realising that none of us were wearing one as we motored out of the harbour one day.

She may have had a point about the Muggi though, as I have broken the handles of at least two mugs since owning my own boat.
 
Filled it in for you. My comments are somewhat negative as I sail a catamaran so when stuff tips over I'm not likely to be making hot drinks, but heading to a comfortable place of safety !

Edit. Dick Everitts offering from the PBO sketchbook number 3.
20220414_081744.jpg
 
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Your survey did not allow for the opportunity to air ideas - so you are missing the decades of experience and knowledge available to you (which I think has also been aired by Sarabande and the Antarctic Pilot). By all means maintain the existing survey by why not initiate another survey asking what we would like in a mug, cup or soup bowl holder. We too have a catamaran and if the conditions are so bad that a cup off coffee is a liability then the cup holder is well down the priority list :(

But we actually have truncated inverted conical ceramic mugs with a rubber ring in the base (and I could hanker after a double walled version). Ours were a discontinued line in an upmarket department store (we bought 6). The clientele of the department store were not in the least bit interested in robust mugs, with rubber rings in the base - hence the discounting but bargain for us.

Keep up the good work - think - innovation needs prompting - so keep the thread active :)

Jonathan
 
Boathook said:
Filled it in for you. My comments are somewhat negative as I sail a catamaran so when stuff tips over I'm not likely to be making hot drinks, but heading to a comfortable place of safety !

Edit. Dick Everitts offering from the PBO sketchbook number 3.
View attachment 133346
Click to expand...
That is a clever idea! But either it needs cups/glasses with heavy bases OR it needs weights below the rotating shelves. But ideal for use in the cockpit where a flat, horizontal surface is a rarety.
 
Your design addresses only part of the problem. It will stop tipping but it won't stop spilling.
To stop spilling the user has to limit the quantity of liquid.
To prevent spilling you need to think of either liquid containment or gimbals.
 
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