WHAT
I’ve designed a new boat in collaboration with ”Kruser” to be used in their electric boat pool. The boat was to fit into and also stand out from their existing pool of boats. The goal has been to offer members a new experience in an existing segment of boats called «Comfort». The boat has been designed with a human centered design process, identifying problem areas and designing solutions.
Important aspects has been, ease of use, production with eco-friendly materials at low cost, electric propulsion and seakeeping capabilities. This has been a new experience for me, I have never designed a boat before. I now understand how complex a boat is, and how many functions that need to work together for it to be functional and easy to use.
WHY
Everyone should be able to experience being out on the water as it can have both mental and physical benefits. But boats are often expensive, demands maintenance and is not very accessible for most people. The market has just started to offer sharing-services for people to be able to enjoy and explore the archipelago in a worry-free and affordable way. It’s more important than ever to think about how we can share resources and products to put less strain on the planet.
Norway has a long coast and a unique archipelago. According to ”Statens kartverk” we have over 100,000 km of coastline. Our geography is the basis for a very comprehensive boat life that means a lot to the population, to regions and to businesses. It’s estimated that there are just over 1 million recreational boats in Norway, which is claimed to be one of the largest fleets in the world in relation to population. These boats is contributing to a significant part of Norways greenhouse emissions.
Despite this, there is a huge part of this fleet that are in port, even on the nicest of summer days. We have to utilize our boat resources better and make ”sharing services” more desirable so that more people can experience this activity in a care-free manner.
Growing up close to the sea I’ve developed a strong interest about marine design. Having spent a lot of hours driving boats and spending time by the sea I find it natural to work within this segment for my diploma. I have a lot of experience so it’s time to use that resource to the fullest.
WHO
This boat is mainly aimed towards Krusers members, but it’s not limited to them. Since the goal is to get as many people as possible to use Krusers sharing service I need to assume that anyone interested in exploring the archipelago or just relax out on the water would be a target user. They would typically be active people who likes to spend time outdoors.
Out of Krusers members roughly 84% of them are between 30-60 years old, and the majority is between 50-60, with 40%. Krusers members all have at least one season with experience at this point, but the level of experience is at different stages and this has been taken into account throughout the process.
MOCKUP 1:1
Even though I'm designing a small boat, a boat is pretty big. It can be hard to get the right feeling of size and proportions on screen, I therefore had to build a 1:1 mockup. Over 1 week I built a decent representation of the boats design which would let me to test it. It soon became clear to me that the boat was much bigger than it felt on screen. It is 6,4 meters long and 2,3 meters wide. I got to test out different heights and distances and how my modular design worked.
FINAL DESIGN
This is Kruser C-21. A 21 foot catamaran with electric propulsion specifically designed to be used in Krusers electric boat pool sharing service. With a human centered design process I identified problems and designed solutions. Everything from the hull itself to details such as cupholders has been thoroughly integrated into a holistic design expression that differs from other boats in todays market.
