En park för alla
This Master Thesis is a product development project that has been carried out in cooperation withLappset Sweden AB.The purpose has been to develop a group of products suited for parks andtraditional playground locations. The specific target area has been courtyards of newly builtresidential areas. (These pieces of open land resemble glades that can be found in the forest,which in Swedish is called ?gläntan? and has given name to the product family). Therefore thedesign should match contemporary architecture. The product family should also offer activities toall the people living in the neighbourhood, and by that turn the courtyard into a natural gatheringpoint.Focus during the project has been to develop products that both buyers and people who spendtime in these areas request (whether they know it or not). At the same time manufacturing andselling the products had to be made profitable. To succeed in this a thorough study was made,where amongst other things competing products, customer needs, buyer demands and Lappset?smanufacturing possibilities were examined.The concepts that has been developed is a pétanque course (Gläntan: Boule), a musicalinstrument (Gläntan: Klinka) (a metallophone), a musical fence (Gläntan: Skala) (where theplayable parts are very similar to the musical instrument, but not as complex) as well as a kind ofporch swing (Gläntan: Pendel). Assembly data has been compiled for the three first mentionedconcepts, while the fourth concept needs further work. A simple proof-of-principle prototype hasalso been produced to confirm the acoustical properties of the products.In the future it is proposed that Lappset manufacture prototypes of the three fully developedconcepts, which then need to be evaluated with the support of the project members. The porchswing will possibly get fully developed by the project members and then hopefully follow thesame path as the other concepts. By manufacturing and selling these products the company can filla market gap and thereby strengthen their position as one of the leading companies in its line ofbusiness in Sweden as well as Europe.