Pišek Vitli Krpan
2019
Reimagining the forestry winch meant enhancing user-friendliness, functionality, and overall usability. In addition to refining the user experience, it was imperative to create a winch that offered a comprehensive overview of its functioning, allowing operators to navigate seamlessly through various operations. Furthermore, we sought to incorporate a "red thread" of design continuity, ensuring that users could easily recognize and connect with the entire product line. This challenge demanded a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing design workshops, engineering prowess, and a deep understanding of user needs in forestry operations.
We tackled the challenge through on-site observation in forest environment, closely examining how professionals interacted with the winch. This in-depth experience provided invaluable insight into pain points and areas that required improvement. We held workshops involving end users and technicians and created a collaborative space to gather feedback on critical components and potential changes. This user-centric approach allowed us to prioritize the elements that were most important to the user experience, while taking into account the wider work environment. By integrating prototyping and rigorous testing, we perfected a design that not only met industry standards, but also exceeded user expectations.
We proposed a trapezoidal winch shape. Thus, we have enabled improved maneuvering of fixed logs in bends by using the bulging side arms of the winch. At the same time, this design enables better use of material, as the front board of the winch is made from one piece of sheet metal which also provides greater strength to the winch.
The safety guards on the sides and top net are designed around the winch, not only to provide essential protection but also feature an enhanced view of the winch in action.
By strategically grouping elements with distinct colors, we've created a clear distinction between user-interactable components and stationary elements, ensuring users can effortlessly identify and utilize the intended functions.
The redesigned winch boasts improved functionality that allows for smoother operation and greater control – not only from the user's point of view, but also better control over the movement of the log during transport. Through thoughtful engineering, we have improved the user interface, enabling operators to have a comprehensive overview of the machine's operation. The implementation of the new design language seamlessly integrated the winch into the product family and offered a cohesive visual identity across the line. In addition, the production process has been optimized, which ensures efficiency, pieces and material savings.