Codesigning a ballistic body armour with an industry partner and local police officers: focused on improving ergonomic fit and comfort

ABSTRACT

We aimed to identify fit and comfort issues associated with the case company’s body armour and suggest recommendations to mitigate the issues, guided by the integrated three-stage process model for codesign. Thirteen collaborators participated in the codesign practice, including eight company employees (ICs) and five local police officers (ECs). This study adopted one-on-one interviews, focus groups, 3D body scanning and occupational task assessment. In Stage 1, we identified the problems with the existing body armour and areas of improvement based on the inputs from the ICs and ECs. The design solutions for the defined needs were sought in Stage 2. In Stage 3, the final outcomes were validated and approved by the collaborators. The results from this study provided the case company practical guidance to improve the body armour design, and further offer a new means of involving diverse stakeholders’ voices and perspectives in the product design and development process.

KEYWORDS:

• Codesign
• ballistic body armour
• police officer
• ergonomic fit and comfort
• industry partnership

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the case company and City of Fort Collins Police Department who provided support through participant recruitment and valuable insight to this research endeavour. We also express our deep gratitude to all collaborators who participated in the codesign process with our research team.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).