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| Life jacket - Storyline |
Seymour Powell want to design a better life jacket that is so simple and intuitive to use that people automatically put it on correctly. They are determined to champion the needs of the user, but executives at Crewsaver are more sceptical, reminding the designers that the ferry companies buy these products in high volumes; the need to have an inexpensive product that meets stringent safety standards and is easy to stow away at sea is paramount. The tensions between commercial and operational constraints and end-user requirements swiftly become apparent in the programme.
The designers set up a creative brainstorming day to address key issues and thrash out new ideas. They gather together a group of engineers, marine experts and safety officials for the purpose. Crewsaver sales director Andrew Richards and Estonia ferry disaster survivor Paul Barney also attend. The group explores ways to make the life jacket more like a piece of recognisable clothing; a concept for a ‘Poncho’ life jacket that you simply slip over your head emerges from the session.
Back at their studio, Seymour Powell recognise the limitations of the ‘Poncho’ - it could break the neck of someone jumping into the water at speed. So they make their life jacket more like a conventional jacket and send their drawings to Crewsaver to make up a prototype. When the sample arrives, both designers struggle to put the jacket on. Frustratingly, it doesn’t work. So they decide to stiffen the back section of the life jacket to make the second armhole easier to reach. But a second prototype reveals that it’s still not right.
Refusing to admit defeat, Seymour Powell cut the neckpiece and trim amounts of foam on the back to make the design hang open properly like a real jacket. Crewsaver makes a third prototype and at last it works. Richard and Dick feel confident that their new design is simpler and better. But will it pass the ferry industry’s user and water trials, going head to head against one of the most advanced life jackets currently on the market? The new life jacket is tested against its rival at the Fleetwood Offshore Survival Centre where 43 volunteers try on each jacket in rigorous scientific conditions. The jackets are presented randomly to provide a true comparison. The results vindicate the fresh creative approach. Seymour Powell’s new life jacket was 20% faster to put on than its rival product and only three people failed to put it on correctly compared with seven who struggled with the current design. Overall, 90% of users preferred the new jacket, giving Richard and Dick a clear edge.
Further buoyancy tests at the Institute for Naval Medicine show that with minor adjustments, the new life jacket could meet international safety standards and Estonia survivor Paul Barney also checks it over. The problem is that the new design would cost around £60 - three times the current price - but Seymour Powell are determined to persuade Crewsaver that they have developed a better solution.
Armed with positive test results, they present the new life jacket to Crewsaver executives who admit that the concept has potential and agree to take it forward. But the programme does not have a successful outcome for the designers: after trials with ferry operators, Crewsaver decides that the benefits of the new jacket do not justify the increased cost and turns down the opportunity to manufacture the new design.
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