The Wacky Entrance 

​The Wacky Gate is an innovative design that solves the parking problem faced by many households. In addition to providing ease of use to the user, the design is sustainable for any future developments. ​
Overview

​​Parking could be a big problem for any household. Especially if it is not constructed with future developments in perspective. The Wacky Gate is a solution to such a problem. It integrates with old architecture and is capable of adjusting to future developments. The most challenging part of the project was to envision an unconventional solution, after the failure of all the conventional solutions.

This was a product-centered project and was designed around the user requirements. The user research and understanding the requirements was the most crucial part for ideating.

This was a freelance project that was to help a friend of mine. I researched, ideated, and designed the product.
My Role
The only task I was trying to accomplish was to create a design that hasn't been developed yet. For that I had to perform a through research, ideate, and envision the product.
Entrance view from inside
What is the situation?

The house was built before without any thought of parking a car within the fencing around the house. The gate of this house was barely big enough for the car to enter and the yard was just big enough for the car to be parked. Moreover, the authority is planning to expand the road adjacent to the house leading in trimming off one of the corners of the fence.
Frustrations:
  • Varied users
  • Uncharted solution
  • Congested layout
  • Size of the door panel 
  • Inconvenience 
What's the problem?
  • The entrance isn't big enough for the car to enter.
  • The parking spot is barely big enough for the car to be parked.
  • There is no room for any error while parking.
  • One of the corners of the fence is expected to be trimmed off.
  • Not enough space even outside the fence. 
  • Diverse aspects of the users.
Gathering Initial Insights

Taking the problem-centered approach, I tried to understand exactly what the problems are, and why can’t we use conventional solutions?
  • Due to the smaller size of the installed gate, it was needed to be replaced by a bigger gate.
  • It was important to position the new gate at a spot from where the car could enter with ease.
  • Due to narrow roads, the car could only be aligned while parking and not before entering through the gate.
  • Authorities may demand to trim down the corner of the fence in the future.
Original gate layout
Possible Options
Although these conventional designs would have been able to solve the problem by itself, they would have also caused a new problem. So, these designs were not feasible. The possible options that were considered are mentioned below. Listed below the images are the problem associated with respective designs.
Sliding Gate
Hinge Gate
Front sliding panel concept
  • Too heavy to operate for anything other than taking out car.
  • Lacks a futuristic perspective.
  • The car needs to be perfectly aligned before entering the yard.
  • Have to manipulate heavy objects every time you need to operate it.
Front hinge panel concept
  • Too heavy to operate for anything other than taking out car.
  • Lacks a futuristic perspective.
  • The car needs to be perfectly aligned before entering the yard.
  • The big panel covers most of the road.
Changing Parking Location
​Another option to park was in front of the front door, but it blocks the main door, which would cause inconvenience to get in and out of the house.
Side sliding panel concept
Side hinge panel concept
Coming up with a new solution
After considering the problems and personas, it was clear that I had to come up with an innovative solution that was probably never used before. It seemed like there is no one current technique that could be functional and usable by anyone. ​
Breaking down the problem (How Might We)
  • HMW make it easy for the car to enter?
  • HMW provide more clearance for alignment?
  • HMW make the gate light enough for frequent use?
  • HMW make the gate small enough for regular use?
​
We needed an out of the box idea so, I experimented with combining two different patterns of support. What if we combine roller support and hinge support? The idea was to have a hinged panel on one of the sides (shortest side) and have a sliding panel at the other side (longer side) of the fence. 
Concept evolution

This was the initial design for the gate. Although this is a functional design, it still lacks the element of future development. At least in this setup. But, the cool thing about this design is that it could be arranged in a way that it would be able to satisfy the requirements of the future by just changing the setup.
​
The way it could be set up is displayed in the image below.
This design is currently in operation. Although it seems like it lacks a future perspective, another setup of this design is capable of can solve this problem.
Entrance design (shut) 
Modified entrance design
The cool thing about this design is that it can be set in a way that it would easily satisfy the future requirements.

Conclusion:

​From a user experience and a product developer perspective, there were a lot of things to learn from this. The conventional solutions solved one problem and created another. To have a solution using conventional technology and having a reliable solution was very satisfying for me. I enjoyed this project as it wasn't just improving what's already there, but to design a new solution.
I got the perfect solution for all my problems. Totally worth my money. - Mr. Stokes
This gate is definitely one of the topics of conversation whenever someone new visits our house. I don't know how he came up with this idea, but it is THE best thing we could ask for. It is perfectly functional and convenient. - Mrs. Stokes
Images of the final implemented Design
Click to view full size image

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