Cozy Bleats Crib
Designing a safe and comfortable crib for goats with disabilities.
Overview
Goats of Anarchy (GoA) is a non-profit sanctuary for farmed animals with disabilities based in New Jersey. Led by an executive team of women, GoA have rescued over 240 animals from euthanization and slaughter to give them a second chance at life.
In Fall 2022, my team of five partnered with GoA to design a crib for Fin, one of their goats. Fin relies on his caretakers and a modified wheelchair for mobility. He spends the majority of his days resting in his crib.
Challenge
Building a crib specifically for a farm animal is a novel design challenge. How can we modify Fin’s sleeping crib for long-term durability, compactness, comfort, and ability to drain urine?
My Role
Team representative - led bimonthly meeting calls with our client
Material researcher - conducted expert interviews and secondary research
Documenter - managed written and video recorded documentation (see blog)
Timeline
September 2022 - December 2022
Team
Syeda A.
Simone S.
Maggie M.
Alaa A.
Rainee Y.
Mentors
Results
Our final design was a crib with a PVC frame and trampoline mesh, fastened together with screws and washers. This design included GoA’s solution with the PVC frame and a team effort in selecting the appropriate mesh and attachment method.
The Process
Material Research
Assessing GoA’s previous crib prototypes; conducting research of existing mesh material and subject matter expert interviews.
Rapid Prototyping
Constructing low-fidelity prototypes to assess efficacy of mesh attachment methods.
Final Product
Material Research
Reviewing Previous Cribs
My team and I drove out to New Jersey to visit the sanctuary in person. Leanne, the director of GoA, showed us some of their previous DIY cribs and discussed what worked and didn’t work well.
PVC frame & gutter mesh
Strong frame but mesh tears easily and digs into Fin’s skin
Dog cot
Easy to lift Fin onto, has a strong frame, but urine pools onto fabric overnight
Inflatable pool bed
Easy to get onto and very soft, but urine pools overnight and side seams rub into Fin’s eyes
Design Requirements
We derived the following mesh requirements for our redesign:
Allows a dip so Fin doesn’t roll off by accident
Contains holes that are large enough to drain urine but small enough to prevent hooves or horns from getting caught
Soft, smooth, and flexible against Fin’s skin for extended periods of time
Loose edges must be wrapped around the frame and tihgtly secured, so the goats don’t chew on it
Leanne and our team decided to keep the PVC frame, because it is:
Lightweight for caretakers to carry around the farm
Relatively cheap and available to purchase
Easy to reproduce frame and to make size adjustments
Bears Fin’s weight well
We concentrated our research efforts in mesh material and attachment methods.
Subject Matter Expert Interviews
I spoke with two industrial design experts to uncover additional options from different industries that my team hadn’t thought of. One expert introduced me to a variety of sports netting, which is comfortable to touch and contains sizable holes for urine to filter out. Some sports netting might require additional layers, depending on its thickness.
Competitive Analysis
Considering the novelty of our design challenge, we brainstormed materials from various industries that could fulfill the design requirements. Because GoA is a non-profit organization, our goal was to simplify the reproducibility of these cribs while keeping material costs low.
The team was impressed with trampoline mesh’s properties, as they fit all pour requirements. We purchased a sample from SailRite to create a small prototype prior to investing in a larger purchase.
Rapid Prototyping
Sewing
I used dowels, cotton fabric, and regular hand sewing methods to build a low-fidelity base for the crib. For a full scale project, we would consider heavy duty leather sewing to secure the thicker mesh material onto the frame. While this prototype held some objects well, we are concerned that sewing material will either be too expensive or not sturdy enough to bear Fin’s weight, even if we do wrap the mesh edges around the frame edges.
Wires and Tape
Simone attempted the sewing method with wires and tape instead. It is unclear with the small prototype which of the two would be sturdier. We aren’t confident in the types of industrial tapes available to support a larger prototype. We also think the goats are likely to chew on the wires and digest it by accident.
Rivets and Eyelets
Alaa discovered in alternative method with eyelets and rivets, which are used to secure fabric onto pipe frames of shoe racks. We were similarly uncertain if it would be durable. However, it doesn't seem to cause skin irritation.
Drilling Trampoline Mesh onto PVC Frame
Simone stands on a small prototype of PVC pipe crib and trampoline mesh, fastened with screws and zip ties.
Returning to the dog cot construction, we learned that custom cots could be built by securing tarp-like material to pipes by drilling with small screws. This solution seemed very effective, durable, easy to reproduce, and cost friendly. We decided to go with this attachment technique.
Our lead prototyper, Simone, built a small cuboid frame with the materials we felt the most confident in. Much to our surprise, this tiny bed was able to hold quite a lot of weight - Simone was able to stand on it!
Final Product
Original Design
We revisited the dimensions of GoA’s original ABS gutter mesh-PVC crib, which fit Fit comfortably, and adapted them for our new specifications:
PVC frame: 49″ x 32″ x 12″
Trampoline mesh cutout: 56″ x 40″
3.18mm drilled holes on top frame
Fastened with 2.8mm screws
Although the trampoline mesh bunched around the corners, we chose not to cut it, because we didn’t want the resulting roughness to rub against Fin’s skin.
Testing the Crib
We tested this prototype by having two of our team members sit and move on the frame. It held them both quite well. We were reassured of its ability to hold Fin’s weight, since adult humans weigh more than him (72 pounds).
Refining at the Sanctuary
In order to transport the crib, we had to deconstruct it into flat parts. We planned to rebuild it with one of GoA’s project managers, Alison.
There, we realized several adaptations needed to be made:
Ideally, the width of the frame would be slightly larger. But the current width, as it is, should fit Fin.
The trampoline mesh should have more of a dip.
The screws could be fastened even tighter.
Because we were losing daylight at the barn, we returned to NYU and made the following adjustments:
Keep the frame width the same, as the PVC pipes were already cut.
Add 3-4” more length on the long sides of the trampoline mesh.
Wrap the loose ends around the PVC pipe edges and secure the screws with washers.
Reinforce loose gaps between screws with zip ties. Cut off the long ends of zip ties and rotate the lock bumps underneath the pipe, so the goats don’t accidentally rub against them.
Instructional Guides
In addition to this final crib, we created a written instructional guide and a video to explain our process. We want to make this resource as widely accessible as possible, so other institutions are empowered to build cribs that keep their animals safe and comfortable.
Reflections
Building this crib was an incredibly fulfilling experience. I expanded my arsenal of user research skills. I learned to ask the right questions while working on a novel project in an unfamiliar field. Additionally, I learned the importance of intertwining research with prototyping, as the two are interdependent and allows designers to pinpoint design wins and flaws efficiently.
Having grown up in the city, I really enjoyed working with animals for a change. I deeply value empathizing with users we may not initially know how to communicate with. Participatory design is especially crucial in cases like these, and I encourage other designers to take this approach whenever they can.