APPROACH CHALLENGES IN NEW WAYS

“Cyclehack showed how design can shape the way in which people experience where they live, how it can create new collaborative communities, and empower them to make their city a better place.”

MARK IRWIN OPEN GLASGOW & GLASGOW FUTURE CITIES

Framing problems and designing solutions

Our background includes working closely with urban planners, government, and local authorities to identify strategies for urban development that centre around how people use places and spaces. We use a human-centered design approach to identify and solve barriers to cycling. We start by framing an issue and defining an approach to tackling it; whether it is overcoming a local, place-based barrier to cycling, developing a new product or re-designing how people experience a service.

We help people and organisations work strategically to transform ideas into implementable solutions with people and place at the centre of our process, along with a mix of design expertise and rapid prototyping.

Using quantitative data mixed with ethnographic research methods to understand people’s behaviours and motivations, we believe our approach gives us a solid foundation for the identification of strategic direction and development of ideas.

“Cyclehack is an exciting, innovative movement that is bringing the principles of design thinking and rapid prototyping to the world of cycling.

Matt MacDonald, Senior Business Development Officer, Sustrans Scotland

Incubating Ideas

Every year, our global event produces innovative ideas for products, service solutions, marketing ideas and new campaigns. We have the ability and ‘know how’ to be able to scale these ideas and take them to market in collaboration with our network of CycleHackers. If you’re interested in working with us to take CycleHacks to market or implementation in your city, talk to us!

Our recent collaboration with a CycleHack born out of Glasgow gained 3.2 million hits online and is now being prototyped for a launch to market in early 2015. Check out Penny in Your Pants and how they went global in under one month.

CycleHackers around the globe

With a central CycleHack Design Tank team, we work closely with our global network of CycleHackers to ensure our design work is relevant to the local community and context. Through our annual global event we are always uncovering the best CycleHack talent around the world and from across the disciplines of design, engineering, making, science, planning and business.

Our Partners

We are partnered with Snook, an award winning design agency specialising in developing brands, campaigns, services and experiences for the public and private sector. Snook works on projects that range from the design of digital platforms, the development of community initiatives, customer research programmes, product and service design and social innovation strategies.

Our technology and prototyping partner is MAKlab, a design and prototyping studio based in Glasgow with a network spread across Scotland, the UK and globally through the Fablab network. Maklab provide CycleHack with the tools and machinary to put making into the hands of citizens.

MAKlab works on projects as far ranging as flat pack houses to supporting disadvantaged young people to learn about technology, engineering and manufacturing.