Preparing for Elevator Pitch

PITCH STRUCTURE DRAFT

PROBLEM: I get it, Bike helmets, are kind of bulky, sometimes heavy or ugly and warm. Overall: annoying! That’s why some of you don’t wear one or IF you do: You want to get rid of it ASAP after cycling. You don’t want to carry it around all day long, so you just hang it onto your bike and hope for the best. Meaning, that it doesn’t get stolen. THE GRAB: But we all know: Bike helmets are: Important! (click) And important things, must be protected, right? At least, that’s the purpose of a helmet in the first place. So let’s KEEP what’s important and don‘t take any risks here. SOLUTION: That’s the thought behind the TD Lock. For you to stop caring about your helmet and to keep it safe after cycling. And this little T lock is a simple yet game-changing extension of the known D lock.

MODEL: Just grab your Helmet, stick the T through this air hole in your helmet and lock it to the D lock in one movement. Bike and helmet secured, 2 in 1! A tiny and easy solution with maximum effect. OPPORTUNITY: It’s your opportunity to endure these things, only when it’s necessary! For you to stay healthy, happy and overall: worry-free! And that’s what’s important to the brand of TD (”Tee-Dee”)! THE ASK: Let’s protect what’s important! Our head and our helmets! Get yourself a Tee Dee and stay worry - but not helmet- free!

Adoptability

• Convenience and low-barrier implementability is key.
• A new bike lock is needed, this is the main cost. However, when people buy their bikes in a bike shop, they often buy it together with a new lock and helmet. For such new customers, there would be no switching cost.

Pricing Model

• An upfront price would be charged for the TD bike lock that is competitive with traditional bike locks.
• As customers with an existing bike lock would need to switch to a new one, this would be the unsustainable part of the customer journey. Here I would like to offer a price reduction, if the customers return their old bike locks to the bike shop. This material can be collected to eventually produce new TD bike locks.
• Another way to make is easier and cheaper for the customer is to collaborate with helmet producers like POC and offer a package of their helmet and my TD lock for a lower price (compared to if the products would be purchased individually). This might also encourage the behavior to wear helmets or at least think about a helmet, immediately when buying a bike lock.

Sustainability Impact

• The idea addresses and promotes sustainability in multiple dimensions. Firstly, it aligns with SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, as the TD lock encourages cycling as a form of zero-emission transportation and wearing helmets as a form of protection. This fosters well-being of life within cities overall. Simultaneously it adds to SDG 9: Innovation and Infrastructure. In this sense, it also contributes to SDG 3: Good Health. The poster from Stanford campus below raises awareness of the health risks of not wearing a helmet. Therefore an incentive that makes people wear helmets more often, raises the chances for good health. Additionally, I have deliberately ideated and prototyped for a solution that requires minimal resources to produce or implement. I didn’t seek to change anything about bikes or the urban environment, to make this solution accessible for everyone and simultaneously easy and responsible to produce. Especially if a recycling chain for old bike-locks would be set up (to make it circular). Altogether, this aligns with SDG 12: Responsible Consumption.

• The problem behind the idea is big, as only 18% of cyclists wear bike helmets (https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/b_helmetlaws.pdf). Therefore the baseline to compare my idea to is not wearing a helmet in the first place which comes with very high risks for each individual.
• In this sense, my [small] solution can have immense positive impact for the individual, if they then perceive it as more convenient to wear (and lock) a bike helmet, not having to carry it around anymore. An experiment can be made to see, if it would actually chance the behavior of cyclists.

Competitive Advantage

• Currently, cyclists have the following options: A) wearing a bike helmet and enduring the burdens of: (then A.a) Carrying it with them after cycling or: (then A.b) Attaching it to the bike and leaving it rather unsecured. B) not wearing a bike helmet and risking their health.
• There are bike helmet locks out there, however, they only capture the straps of the helmet, which could easily be cut if it is an expensive helmet. This would also be another single product, that is easy to lose or people forget about using it.
• A very simple test would be to simply let cyclist use both solutions for a week and see which one was more convenient for them; Which solution required less hand movements and less thoughts overall.

Use of Design Thinking / Human-Centeredness

• This design directly addresses the need for cyclists to store their helmet in a safe and convenient way after use.
• (Observing > Interviewing > Defining a POV > Ideating > Prototyping > Testing > Interating) The design is inspired by the very common observation that cyclist WANT to get rid of their helmet after cycling (as they just hang it onto their bike). Another observation was that many people don’t wear a helmet, which can be linked to the pain point of having to worry about the helmet. The in-class interviews underscored this problem, as Rowan for example even carried his bike helmet into the class room. Other students also defined this as “annoying”. Defining a POV helped to empathize with cyclists that either wear a helmet or don’t. In the ideation process, I have evaluated multiple possible solutions and decided for the one with the littlest resource and material requirements. And for the one that requires the least hand movements (promising convenience of use). The prototyping was quite straight forward, as many sketches beforehand (in the ideation process) already led to a clear prototyping plan. The physical prototype then really helped to test and communicate the idea, so that potential users could understand and imagine the solution in use. Based on this, they were able to give valuable feedback.

What’s the Roadmap?

• It would be very interesting to see a functional, 3D printed prototype and test it with actual cyclists, to see if it actually changed their behavior of wearing a helmet.
• The solution would have a big effect if younger people that just start forming habits would be introduced to this solution, to develop a new, healthy routine around riding their bikes. For example, the TD bike lock could be specifically marketed towards primary school students and high school students.