Catapult Design and Anza Technologies put our heads together this week to get the ball, or wheel in this case, rolling true on their handcart project. 

Anza’s CEO Drew Durbin and Lead Engineer Alex Surasky-Ysasi came to the Catapult Design Studio for a one week intensive brainstorm and strategy session. We covered as much as possible (including a mile of  whiteboards) from intense stakeholder analysis, existing product reviews, usage cases, contextual issues, business strategy, through to wheel  technologies and concept generation. Catapult involved a wide range of consultants, including the Whirlwind Wheelchair team, a select brainstorm panel, a handcart guru, as well as Zack the tyre guy, and Brian the ‘caster master’, with over 160 years of dealing in carts and wheels between them all!  Thanks to all for sharing your knowledge and investing your time and minds into the success of the project.

Anza’s visit has allowed for a much deeper understanding of the project, enlivened our working relationship, and provided a map to lead our next step. We are now solidly set on designing Anza an low cost handcart frame for rural Tanzanian farming families, and as there is literally a lot riding on these wheels, making sure that they fit the bill is our biggest challenge. Stay tuned for more.