This was an unusual engagement in that I’m typically brought in at the concept stage and usually develop everything, but this was a late stage project. Most of the electro-mechanics were in fabrication, but the hardware producer was unable to come up with an appealing enclosure design.

Like all prototypes, the budget was limited and manufacturing cost concerns for future small lot production was an important factor. Most challenging was the existing, bare, bulky core machine that I had to hide by enclosing it.

Working from incomplete 2-D drawings of the chassis and some additional parameters (never seeing the real machine), my goal was to soften and hide the big box inner-structure while creating dimension, appeal, and usability.

UX was very key. The finished product had to be easy and intuitive for people of all sizes—standing and wheelchair users alike.

Shapes and curves were used to create frontal dimensionality while adding little extra footprint to the core machine. The rear, mostly unseen by users was kept clean and minimal, just covering the chassis while providing security and nearly invisible maintenance access.