Cycling Helmet

For voluminous hairstyles.

Project Prompt

Cyclists of color are a growing and vibrant part of the cycling community, yet most helmet designs fail to accommodate the unique needs of individuals with natural Black hair or voluminous hairstyles.

This lack of inclusivity not only limits comfort and accessibility but also compromises safety, as a properly fitting helmet is crucial for preventing serious head injuries. This project's aim is to design a safe and high-performing road cycling helmet that comfortably accommodates riders with voluminous hair.

Understanding the Problem

I engaged in a variety of user research methods to build a sense of empathy and understanding of how this problem impacts people's lives. It was clear from interviewing people who've faced this issue that an ideal solution would need to be not only safe, but also aesthetically similar to existing helmets - people, especially kids, don't want a big, goofy helmet that would make them stick out.

Market research showed that current helmets are made to fit a close as possible around the entire head, meaning most helmet designs simply don't accommodate the extra hair volume many individuals have, forcing those with voluminous hair to choose between wearing an ill-fitting helmet, such as below, or not wearing one at all.

A safe helmet is a well-fitting helmet, so addressing this issue would mean finding a way to accommodate the hair rather than assuming it won't be there.

Ideation

I brainstormed ways to modify existing helmets to accommodate larger volumes of hair in a safe and comfortable way.

I down-selected to a concept that involved designing the rear part of the helmet around the hair, rather than over it.

Prototyping

Once I was confident in the concept, I created a CAD model in Fusion360 and 3d printed a physical prototype to test the form.

The first prototype showed that the rear cage wasn't long enough, so I tweaked the design to provide more coverage and to be a bit more comfortable.

Next I used Vizcom to to ideate on a design language for the helmet. The goal was to ensure wearers wouldn't feel like they were compromising on style when choosing this helmet.