Who need another bike helmet?

There are multiple reasons for low adoption of helmets by cyclists in the population that I am targeting with my product.

1. Cost: As I mentioned in my elevator pitch the cyclist population that I am targeting buy bicycles for less than $20. They use these cycles for more than 10 years and very often they buy them second hand. Bicycle helmets cost $20. As bicycle helmets are not mandatory, cyclists are unwilling to pay the same price as their cycles for something they perceive as useless.

2. Inaccessible: Bike helmets are available in specialty bike stores that do not cater to the low income working populations. Online stores such as www.bumsonsaddle.com make bikes and related accessories available to a richer clientele.

Through this course I hope to design bike helmets that are low cost, easy accessible and set a trend that will drive this population of cyclists who don't wear helmets to adopt helmets.

Address the accessibility aspect of my venture I want helmets to be available in places that my target customers frequent. This includes local cycle shops show in below in the picture which has traditionally been the place that people go to get their cycles fixed. Simple issues like punctures, new tires etc are handled by these kind of shops across India.

I don't think I will be able to convince people who have never worn helmets to wear helmets by just making it cheap and easy accessible. The Indian audience needs more value out of every rupee it spends. What is the bike helmet offered more than just protection? What if it improved your bicycle commute by reducing the dust and pollution that you inhale? What if your bike helmet made it possible for you to get to work and school no matter what the weather  is like outside? These are ideas that I'm toying with now that I'm getting into designing the helmet. I have below the value that my product will add.

Trying to get people to adopt something new is a little difficult. I have to find a way to easy the process of change from not wearing a helmet to wearing one because the success of my product depends on it.

Image from: http://downtheroad.org/Alaska-Canada-USA/letters/b1_New_Delhi_1india.htm

Problem spot

As a designer I'm hesitant to claim to be able to solve problems without completely immersing myself in the environment that I want to design for. For this course I want to use my design background to solve pressing social issues in India because

1. India is my home and there are many issues that I have faced and seen that I've wanted to tackle.
2. India's growing economy is a great platform for social ventures.

Issues of access to clean drinking water, sanitation, education and waste management I want to eventually want to address. I feel, however, that I am not currently equipped to design for these issues because my distance from my target audience. Also I have no prior background of working in rural India. I've spent the last few weeks brainstorming on areas that I want to look into and I have finally narrowed it down to one area.

Last week's reading "Identifying Venture Opportunities" helped my hone in on my problem definition. As of now, my concept will look at supporting and promoting bicycle riders in Indian cities.

The problem

In my brainstorming session I looked at what the problem is and why I want to address it. From my own experience as a cyclist in a big city in India and from the stories shared with me, I drew out some key points. I also looked at research on bicycle usage in Indian cities.

What is my market?

When we talk about the "urban" population people associate rich urban bicycle riders. On the contrary, a large percentage of bicycle riders fall into lower middle working population who commute short distances daily. Literature even suggests that as literacy increases cycle ridership decreases. There is an emerging market of young professionals in cities who adopt bicycles as their mode of transportation for different reasons from fitness to low carbon footprint.

 What can I do?

 I have not narrowed the scope of my project with a single solution. I am currently exploring everything from services and cheaper safety equipment to policy level changes that need to be implemented. Something interesting I found was that under the JNNURM fund development policy makers want to include cyclists and infrastructure for cyclists as part of urban development. It will take a long time for that to be implemented but that validates my area of focus to some extent.