Description What resulted from my master's research is a performance shoe designed and made to provide optimal comfort and safety for hikers on rugged terrain. Its integrated system enhances user experience while ensuring trail protection. Designed alongside local hikers, TrailGuard helps reduce pain and discomfort with innovative features that contribute to the overall comfort. It allows for personal alteration of fit and lace tension to alleviate unwanted friction, and to accommodate foot shape and width. It efficiently expels internal water through a passive one-way valve, making it ideal for river-crossings.
Innovation My research process has provided me with a deeper understanding around footwear design requirements to reduce the chance of pain, and how key product componentry contribute to the end-users overall experience. Throughout the design development I learnt the importance of visualising insight led design direction through sketching in accordance with prototyping, and the value of an iterative design process.
Product Detail TrailGuard is a performance shoe for hikers, designed and made to provide optimal comfort and safety when walking on rugged and uneven terrain. This was designed in response to the growing participatory rates of hiking in New Zealand, where research describes 65% of injuries and pain experienced are in the lower extremities of the body. Current traditional hiking footwear contributes to the prevalence of pain and injury through its product characteristics such as rigidity and restriction from natural movement, being unnaturally shaped, and internally trapping water.
Specification TrailGuard allows for the customisability of width and tension of laces through its conforming lateral support panels and tension retaining speed hooks, which will aid in providing a more comfortable fit and reduce unwanted pressure points and friction. The passive deformation valve allows for water to escape a flooded shoe due to the user crossing an unbridged river, reducing the chance of chronic blisters due to moisture and friction. Razor siped tread allows for increased contact surface area on wet surfaces, providing sense of security when walking on slippery surfaces which could result in a slip or fall. Collaboration and engagement with end-users and expert podiatrists enabled the realisation of this design.
