PUSH Product Design Logored circle push button logo
Bend constraints.
Push farther.
Innovate.
Repeat.
Read the Rampart story >
PUSH has been fortunate to help bend constraints for these great companies: 
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BLOX.png
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Freightliner.png
Gibson.png
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Medtronic.png
Movi.png
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Rheem.png
SEC.png
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While the majority of our work is in research and development and remains confidential, here is a summary of our process and three recent projects.

We start each project by breaking everything into small, manageable parts.

The process follows 4 clear steps:

 

Sketching, research, defining criteria, developing initial concepts

 
 

Making quick prototypes, testing, evaluating concepts to make sure they work

 
 

Refining concepts based on testing and clearer understanding of key criteria

 
 

Finalizing design for tooling, assembly, and full production

Product development is rarely a straight path forward.

But with so many options, how can we know which way to go?

The key is to start.

PUSH follows the Adjacent Possible model. The only available options for progress are steps adjacent to where we are.

The Adjacent Possible can be explained as navigating through the rooms of a house.

You first have to walk through the front door in order to have the option to go into additional rooms.

The solution path is often circuitous. But by taking the first step and rapidly trying alternatives - prototyping - you gain new insights that lead to the best next step and clearest direction in the most efficient manner.

PUSH's core value is the efficiency of our proven process to help you move from project start to a proven solution that meets your exact needs.

Rampart IC

Can you be protected and free at the same time?

Interventional cardiologists were being forced to wear heavy lead aprons while manipulating tiny precision instruments inside the patient’s body.

There had to be a better way.

Challenge

When one of the highest-volume ICs in the country suffered multiple ruptured disks, one of which led to a month-long paralysis in his leg and kept him out of the cath lab for two years, he didn’t need a second opinion to realize the source of his injuries—heavy lead aprons.

Yet radiation-generating fluoroscopic imaging provided the only way to see inside the body in order to perform these life-saving procedures.

Solution

Working closely with the client, and over multiple prototypes, PUSH helped develop a mobile, adjustable wall made of lead acrylic shields.

Instead of forcing the surgeon and their staff to wear lead, the Rampart system creates a protective barrier between the radiation source and their bodies, while providing full access to the patent.

Outcome

“This changes everything. And it's about protecting the whole team. It will change the entire cath lab environment.”

Robert E. Foster, M.D.

Founder, Rampart IC

Follow RampartIC to keep up with their exciting progress, now used in over 50 countries.

"Superman-ing" is the phrase used by first-time Rampart users when they rip off their surgical gowns after a case without having to wear lead aprons!

STANND

All phone grips are not created equal

While there are dozens of product offerings in the case/handle/grip space, few of them were developed based on clear ergonomic principles, use analysis or end user studies.

We wanted a phone grip to improve the experience of taking pictures of our kids during sporting events.

Then we started asking questions.

Could the right grip be safe enough for me to use a phone without a case?

Could the right display angle show us messages and alerts while minimizing the number of times we picked up our phone?

Challenge

Existing phone support grips were not comfortable. They forced your hand into unnatural positions.

The best phone stands that supported the right viewing angles were too large to put in your pocket.

None of the existing solutions seemed to combine the best ergonomics with the best phone stand positioning capability.

Solution

PUSH rapidly developed concepts and then 3D printed prototypes. We assembled a team of co-workers to test. We then used feedback to efficiently run through numerous design cycles to optimize the design.

The result is a multifunctional grip that supports the widest range of commonly used hand positions while providing the most stable and functional portrait and landscape stand positions - all while fitting compactly in your pocket.

Outcome

“Love the way STANND feels natural and secure without having to hold too tight. Perfect for taking pictures at the soccer games.”

Jimmy

Proud Dad

Learn more, or buy STANND at

stannd.com

SEC

Now you see it, now you don't

No one likes to bend over. Referees were being forced to kneel down to see floor monitors every time they wanted to check an instant replay during basketball games.

After not finding any off-the-shelf options, the SEC approached PUSH about designing a custom solution. 

Challenge

One of the SEC’s most historic basketball courts belongs to Vanderbilt. Due to building constraints, court-side TV and radio staff sit below the surface of the court.

Replay monitors sit on the court floor, at desk level for the court-side staff. This required refs to kneel during instant replay reviews.

Solution

PUSH developed a monitor support system that is perfectly balanced based on a counterweight mechanism that fit the existing under court structures.

The ref simply grasps the dual monitor system with one hand and raises it to their viewing preference.

Outcome

“This is so awesome. The sports administrators were blown away. Everyone, including the Commissioner is excited to finally have a solution.”

Randall Malone

Director of Video Operations/Basketball SEC

Learning from history

 

While we wonder where the next breakthroughs will come from in our future, what can we learn from our past?

The Normandy invasion was almost shut down by a problem no one had anticipated. The solution came from an unexpected source.

 

Challenge

In 28 days the American forces moved less than 20 miles off those beaches. Operation Overlord - the most sophisticated and planned out military invasion in history - didn’t anticipate the problem they faced.

The problem actually started hundreds of years ago, when the Normans planted rows of trees to separate their fields called hedgerows. Our tanks could not drive through these walls. We could only go around them on a small number of roads. The Germans knew this and simply knocked out the lead tanks and created roadblocks.

Solution

An all hands on deck meeting was called - from military leaders at the top, including Patton himself, all the way to combat soldiers - for suggestions.

A young combat soldier named Cullen came up with the idea to place a special tool on the fronts of our tanks - modeled after what he had seen as a boy growing up on a farm.

A small team was assembled to design and build these devices in record time. They were prototyped, tested and mass produced from materials that no one would have imagined.

Outcome

Watch the full story and how this solution approach became the foundation of our process in this TEDx talk.

Contrarian thinkers, craftsmen, artists, makers.

We make things. We are builders. It’s in our nature. We love helping put form to ideas. We use a highly refined process built on the foundation of those who came before us. And we constantly improve.

Design never stops.

 

Watch our TEDx talk on bending constraints.

Lloyd Cooper

Principal, IDSA

My dad was a naval architect and engineer who fought in WWII. My mom studied design at Parsons. I grew up trying to combine left and right brain thinking to create new things.

I love sketching, reading and learning. When I am not designing, I am usually watching our 2 boys playing soccer or building our treehouse/clubhouse (future design studio).

Foster Phillips

Senior Industrial Designer

You might find me in the shop building a prototype, at the computer working on a CAD model, a 3D rendering or animation, programming the CNC router, at the conference table listening to a client describe a design challenge or out in the field conducting user research.  

I'm a big fan of my family, baseball, bicycles, fishing, hats, the violin, and sawdust.

Can we help you bend the constraints of your project?

For all inquiries about working with our team please reach out to [email protected]