Mbodi Board Fitness Tool

Mbodi - a Start-Up Company

The Product Design Challenge

Help an entrepreneur finalize his product’s design of a yoga-like fitness stretching board and navigate around other’s patents.

Bullseye Design Worx Product Design Solutions

Bullseye Design Worx completed the product design of this yoga-like fitness stretching tool, after the client had completed much of the initial development and prototyping on their own. In addition to this work, they had been working with a patent attorney to see what patents existed for similar products. Unfortunately, there were several products already on the market so Bullseye Design Worx helped the client design and develop a fitness stretching tool that did not violate existing patents. Additionally, Bullseye helped this started by creating a simple, functional product with poles that attached to the stretching board with no tools, clasps, or fasteners. Just as easily, the poles can be easily removed for transporting the board to a fitness class. This was accomplished by creating very rough prototypes and conducting fast-track testing of various design options to efficiently identify a working solution. Working with the client, Bullseye Design Worx also conducted ergonomic evaluations to develop the proper length and adjustable range of the poles, along with the degree of angular motion to allow users to safely perform all the exercises.

Throughout the development process, Bullseye Design Worx honored the client’s wish to use natural materials, which supported the brand and product ambiance of this healthy product.

Additionally, Bullseye Design Worx helped the client choose a suitable material for the board, developed CAD models, part drawings and assisted in communications with the manufacture to get the design produced quickly.

Results

As a Start-Up company, the client started with a small first-production run to test the product with a select number of customers. Making the product from wood allows them to do small runs economically with no investment in tooling. Some small changes have been made for the second small production run which already has some customers waiting in line to purchase.

Watch the video:

When bringing a product to market, it’s critical to research competing products and patent limitations. An expert new product designer will be able to help design a product that meets a customer need but does not infringe on patents already in place for similar products.

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