“People couldn’t see the solution we were offering. Ove changed that.”

- Joan Stevenson, Professor and Coordinator, Ergonomics Research Group

See Through: Sometimes a genuine achievement goes unnoticed because its audience just can’t see through the complexity to the opportunity underneath. Researchers at Queen’s University had created a remarkably effective harness to ease back strain and improve working conditions in physically difficult tasks, but investors couldn’t see the product through the cables, straps and brackets. We immediately recognized the potential benefit to industrial health and safety, but we also knew that complex products lack credibility until design gives them a form that people can understand, and with that understanding comes investment.

Break Through: A thorough appreciation of user needs and expectations drove Ove’s design toward a solution whose use could be quickly understood, purposefully deployed and immediately valued. Our design for PLAD transformed mechanical solutions into wearable ones, and offered them in more attractive and obviously beneficial form. Converted from a complex harness to an easily worn suit, PLAD now impresses everyone who experiences it.

Follow Through: We worked with soft-goods and apparel designers to create a range of sized prototype suits that fit a comprehensive range of test subjects undertaking various tasks. Extensive prototyping and iterative testing by industrial users has led to sequential improvements in both the mechanical and the apparel portions of the product. Value has been added at each step and the final results have impressed investors and users alike.