SCHWINN CITY BICYCLE
A modern bicycle, with homage to classic Schwinn styling, designed for urban riders young and old
Client/Collaborators
Schwinn
Company/Partner(s)
Design Axis
Approach
Competitive Research, Generative Research, Concept Sketching
Methods/Tools
Personas, Cintiq Sketching and 2D Linework (frame construction)
OBJECTIVE
Initially, we were tasked with designing an electric bicycle for commuters. Schwinn’s consumer segment for electric bicycles was limited to ages 40 to 60 – they wanted to widen this market and design an electric bicycle that would be more appealing to younger riders.
Limitations with the battery and electric components during the engineering phase made us pivot to focusing on developing a hybrid bicycle for urban riders who wanted a simple profile, wider tires, and a more comfortable ride than a road bicycle.
OUTCOME
The final City Bicycle (male and female versions) is simple, lightweight, and modern, yet pays homage to classic Schwinn styling.
Elements of the bicycle (drawn from early sketches) include:
Minimally integrated rear rack
A play on thin/thick down tubes
Natural material (leather) integration
PROCESS
Competitive research on existing brands, electric/urban bicycles, and different types of users/use-cases provided enough information to create personas. Personas were used to expand our view of needs/opportunities of new user groups.
4 personas were created: Sustainers (wanting to replace vehicle commuting with bicycling), Adventurers, Pragmatists, and Originators (Young Professionals/Achievers).
Through personas we determined core desires and needs (based on traits like behavior, motivations, environment, demographics, etc.), which informed design requirements.
Multiple concepts, with key design requirements, were explored through sketching. A blend of elements from different sketches were combined to create the final design.
