Using Learning Launch as an effective design thinking tool in Automotive Rear  Suspension Development for a Passenger Van modified for Electric Powertrain

By Ratna Kumari (4th Nov 2019)

Challenge

I am working for an Automotive OEM design & manufacturing 4 wheeled vehicles  for passengers. As a member of my organization’s R & D department for  Suspension parts and our challenge is to make and Suspension for existing 7  seater Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) gasoline vehicle to an Electric vehicle for an  Government exhibition which would have   1. Min changes in terms of vehicle-suspension attachment points   2. Should support rear wheel drive.   3. Should support additional weight of Battery Pack  4. Should keep investments to minimum as it was not for sale.

Resources: Project scope includes   1. Electrical Design Department and Body & Brake Design department with whom  we have to work closely.  2. Project is limited to internal resources (i.e budget & employee time)  3. Project should not exceed 18 months from date of initiation including design  and vehicle building.  4. Project should not involve dedicated members but needs to be executed as an  additional task over and above regular model development responsibilities  utilizing common employee Pool.

Selection

Since the standard designs for such is readily available, we need to fit such  template designs fitting in criteria mentioned above in challenges & resources.   So we quickly went from Visualization, Journey/Mind Mapping tools to Learning  Launch as its best suited tool for our case , to conduct an experiment , build a  prototype and test the hypothesis we developed and see if it meets our criteria  within the set of resources specified.

One more important factor to select Learning Launch as a tool as to evaluate  multiple design options in order to understand customer needs effectively.  As Design begins with empathy – establishing a deep understanding   for whom  we are designing, as a Manager thinking like designer would consistently put  ourselves  in our customers’ shoes. Able to test and experiment our idea which  we think would meet customer need there is no better tool than Learning Launch  to find out the truth and would give a metric how much ‘customer centered’ we  automotive design managers are.

Application

For our first learning launch we begin by setting boundary condition, we  document limits on key variables such as time, design iterations, proven raw  materials, minimum tool investments and suppliers we should work with

We were able to build a team who would accommodate few extra hours for this  project at the same time is both disciplined and adaptive. The Least common  denominator in the team was passion for this project. We also managed to get  someone with financial perspective and that has proven valuable , while project  management skills being a default requirement.

As a next step we design with a sharp focus on key assumptions which we made  which will make our design work with the given challenges.  We prepared the prototype drawing with a due check at drawing review stage  that prototype drawing reflects the key assumptions we need to test. We  translated the assumptions we plan to test into specific metrics. Like example , for  Rear wheel drive  we choose the Suspension strokes value such that it does not  cross permissible angle of Drive shaft , construction of De-Dion tube such that it  does not affect underbody layout so that we meet the key challenge of not  undergoing major changes in the vehicle .

We then explicitly defined how we would generate the data , this includes both  objective data (easy part: Component fatigue , Torque curve etc) and subjective  data (difficult part : Like Drive feel, Ride comfort etc). Goes without saying we

were being explicit about the search for disconfirming data and matched the  budget to an affordable loss calculation.

Next Step is when you prepare actual parts , face technical difficulty in terms of  quality defects  , here needed to work in fast feedback cycles. In this phase our  project first makes contact with reality and marks an important phase in Learning  launch.

We had a successful learning launch (we prepared a Mule Vehicle) and seeing the  new type of suspension (De-Dion) along with Constant Velocity Joints Drive shafts  fitted in a exsisting Solid axle type of suspension , was easy for all participants to  suspend their dis belief. It felt complete real and we had a test drive in real world  conditions and it met our criteria.

Its worthwhile to mention that during Learning launch setup we run a Failure  Mode and Effect analysis program which necessitates to create a back up plan for  everything which could possibly be wrong. We created a contingency handling  scenario if design fails what are the back up plans as the target of 18 months  given to us was non negotiable.

Insight

By applying the learning launch tool , our team identified our assumptions and  design launches to test this assumption. For example one of our assumption was  that electric motor should be mounted in vehicle body instead of suspension  unlike benchmarking studies shows motor mounted on suspension cases exist.  We tested our idea and found it meeting end objectives thereby making the  suspension lighter and comfortable. A wrong choice in Choice between Motor  moving with suspension or Motor part of vehicle would have delayed the project,  which we feel ability to use learning launch effectively helped. Although there was  small improvements required and moving forward our team could incorporate   this insights in second mule and built design database for incorporation into  future launch design. Goes without saying incorporation of insight is very  important at this stage as launches comes before limited production of the  vehicle.

Approach

We found the learning launch is the most appropriate tool given our team quickly  went from Visualization, Journey/Mind Mapping tools , so Learning Launch as its  best suited tool for our case , to conduct an experiment , build a prototype and  test the hypothesis we developed and see if it meets our criteria within the set of  resources specified. Making changes to a full-fledged product for our case  converting a gasoline vehicle to electric vehicle , without surety of customer  acceptance  is both difficult and costly.

Instead, we can start small by launching a minimally viable version of a product  like a dry run—test our hypothesis and bring it in front of our target audience. By  doing so, teams can gather numerous insights about usability and product-market  fit and can make critical edits before extensive resources are committed to a final  version. Beyond avoiding costly mistakes, experimenting with prototypes can  bring early awareness of our offering among potential end-consumers

