Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

Re the pink thing.....

me too! I am NOT a Pink Lady.

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

Well said AB!

We have 6 or 8 drills on hand, in regular use. I know my crew prefer cordless, lightweight, long battery life. Also good torque as they are drilling 2" holes through a variety of materials. (Yes, we burn out a lot of hole saws!) Milwaukee makes the best for our purposes.

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

Firstly thank you for your thoughts bob!
I appreciate your input, i realised i have worded it in a slightly confusing way, the drill with be corded, and used in this setting most of the time. However if a quick job needs doing, the cable can be removed via a release button and a small 18V Li ion battery in the handle can power the drill for up to 20 minutes. I chose Lithium ion batteries as they have characteristics which are much more suited to this application, they hold charge for a much long time period, so the drill would be usable via the battery power even after a year or more being stored not in use. Also Li-Ion batteries have a constant discharge rate, so the power doesn't decrease as the battery is decharged like normal batteries, it keeps the same power and torque levels right up until the point where there is no charge left. Also Li-Ion batteries are more light weight and can be made smaller without losing any of the benefits of the battery technology.

I realise the chucks are already in production, i am not completely redeveloping "The Drill" as a product, i am not designing the future drill, i am simply applying features that i believe will make the product easier to use for the audience i am aiming it at. I have carried out testing with existing drills, with voluteers whom had never used a drill before and i noted the areas in the use of the product where they were having most trouble and i am trying to over come these issues.

As for construction, after having spoken to customers in B&Q, several people raised concerns about more plastic being used in areas where traditionally the componants would be made of metal. However the increase in plastic componants is all to do with cutting costs, (which is a large portion of all design areas these days) These are preliminary ideas i had for the drill and nothing is yet set in stone, i am looking to make the use of materials a way if instilling confidence in the product.

As for uni sex handles, you are right, majority of drills are not for a specific sex, however the dimensions of the handles of existing drills can pose problems for women users as they have smaller hands, this is something which i have seen and discussed first hand with volunteers in user testing exercises and is backed up with anthropometric data.

By NO means will this drill be pink, i have looked at one other company which does this to "Genderise" products and i personally couldn't think of anything worse, i think it is very patronising and very tacky.
I am looking to use a colour scheme which could be used by B&Q as a brand scheme for other tools they produce, however i have not developed this any further yet, i will be doing this in the coming weeks.

I am still concept sketching for the time being, so i will post sketch work up once i have finalised a few more details.

Thanks again for your inputs, hope this clears up your concerns !
Will

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

Have you really thought about your idea?

It is a drill to be used most of the time with a cord!

Ask yourself what would you do if you had to drill holes in something, would you get the drill and the cord out or would you just get the drill and do the job?
As people are basically out to have more liesure time they will use the drill without the cord unless the battery is flat because it will be quicker and easier, they wont have to unravel the cord and wrap it up again afterwards.
If it is intended to be aimed at people who have not used a drill before how will you convince them that it will be better than a corded/Cordless drill.
I have used drills all of my life and the only time I use a corded drill is when the job is to demanding for a cordless drill, and my cordless drills have a long life and a charge last about two hours using the hammer position.
Ok, that said I do not wish to put you off your project I just want to make sure that you know what you are doing and that you cover every angle.
How much is it going to cost to make and how much will you be able to charge for it, will it be a real viable proposition?
If I was you I would do more market research asking people how they used drills for DIY projects and how much would they be prepared to pay for a corded drill that can be cordless?

When designing something the first thing a person should ask is, Is there a market for it?

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

Yes i have thought about my idea!
Yes if i had a quick job to do, i would use the battery, that is the whole point of the battery. however the corded option is there in case it is needed, ie using the drill for long periods of time, and for heavy use like masonry drilling!

Another reason for this system is through personal experience, having worked as a labourer for a construction firm, i know how annoying battery drills can be when all the batteries are dead, and you need to leave them to charge for several hours before you can do a job, with this method, you could just plug the drill into the mains and away you go, and the battery would be charging at the same time.

You have not put me off in any way, you've actually made me more determined!
As for costs i am looking at retail of between £80 to £110 roughly, however pricing is not part of my brief at the present moment, if B&Q like the idea the costing and tooling will be worked out with them after the presentation of my idea.

I have looked if there is a market for this product, and have identified that there is one, i have had positive feedback from members of the public and my tutors who know have loads of experience about product design and marketing !

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

I really DO hope your tutors have "loads of experience about product design and marketing" out in the real world and not just as tutors.

I have used drills all my life (so far) and find that I am using them less and less. If my cordless unit is discharged and I need an instant drill, the very old corded B & D comes out and still does the job. I have never needed or had a hammer drill and cannot see me ever needing a drill such as yours.

The costings proposed by you do not seem competitive and I feel that aiming at an aged female market, which your explanation indicates, might not have the volume of sales potential to make it a viable proposition.

However, you are a student and this will introduce you into the real world.

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

Thankyou for your input !
Yes all my tutors are proffessional designers working for both consultancies and directly for large multi national companies!
The brief of the project is set directly by B&Q's design department, and is strictly to produce a drill for "non traditional product users", Ie not young men, proffesionals or those whom are avid DIY'ers!
I am just trying to look for different people who may want to use such a product and attempting to apply things i feel would be best suited to them !
Costing is not a main part of the project at the moment, B&Q are just looking to see what we can come up with as a response to the brief.

Cheers for you thoughts !

Re: DIY Drills for the young at heart

William, I think you may have to review your costs again.
There are on the market corded and cordless drills for a fraction of that price so a person could buy one of each and still have a bit of change out of £60.

I am not knocking you I am just putting realistic points in front of you.

I have designed quite a few things and costs are a main concern to the ordinary person and for the 'someone' who you are aiming your product to, £80 will seem a lot of money to buy something that they may only use a couple of times a year.

My advice to you is not to re-design a new drill but look at cordless drills and find a way to attatch a power line to run it as a second option.