A customized headrest for shampoo units : A study to improve the neck position during hair wash at the salon, for a more comfortable and safer experience

Sammanfattning: A bachelor thesis conducted over the spring term of 2018, the final exam of the Innovation and Design Engineering program at Karlstad University. The contractor of this thesis project was Parfum Lombard AB in Svedala, Sweden, a market leading within the hairdressing equipment industry in Sweden. They provide a high level of innovation and product development to improve its assortment.   The project of this thesis will focus on the frequent used shampoo units at the hair salons in particular. The shampoo units will be analyzed from an ergonomic point of view, because the current sitting position can cause discomfort and pain for customers with neck problems. Today, neck and back pain are amongst the most common chronic pains issues, which requires further development of this type of equipment in order to make it more suited for the end-user. The chosen target group for the project are people with neck-related disabilities as the starting point for formulating the design problem and developing the solution.   The main objective of the project is to develop a concept that offers the customer a more ergonomic position, while washing the hair at the salon. By following a user-centered product development process, the problem will be addressed in the following parts: Pre-study, product specification, idea generation, concept development and finally construction in the layout design phase. The product specification forms a key part, which as a dynamic document links together both customers, clients and professionals perspective of the issue, and underlines the final concept selection.   Key findings: To improve the current washing position the sharp angle between the upper body and the head needs to be reduced. That could be solved in two ways; The backboard of the upper body leans back even further to accomplish a more recumbent position or by an additional support to the neck in order to gain a more up-right position. The last mentioned, which also represent the final concept ensures that not only the neck is supported but also the head. This means that the heavy load that the head’s own weight previously caused has now been drastically reduced.   The presented concept in the report differs from the similar existing product by its support surface. It provides a wider support area to the customer’s neck and head. With a slim design that only depends on a few centimeters of the basin´s geometry, the chances of matching as many models of shampoo units as possible increases. The developed concept are presented in both CAD- and mock-up models.