Steven R. Pulskamp – IDSA

Senior Project Industrial Designer - Crown Equipment Corporation

Mr Pulskamp, what inspired you to create this product and what was the intention behind it?

The team drew inspiration from the operators themselves. Visiting 65 warehouse locations worldwide built a foundation of understanding – knowledge not only of facilities and applications, but also about the operators and their real world needs. Our goal throughout was to create the most reliable and multi-functional turret truck on the market that would make the decision to purchase much more clear and simple.

What does being awarded with the “red dot: best of the best” mean to you?

This recognition is very humbling for the entire team. Design excellence is always a common goal at Crown, yet it is truly exciting to be recognized by the Design community. It serves to validate the commitment to implement and follow a consistent design process within product development, one that has been successfully utilized over the past several decades.

What particular challenges do you think designers have to face these days?

As the overall quality of design continues to increase worldwide, designers will face the challenge of our own creation: How do we sustain the high level of results that exceed the progressively elevating levels of design quality and economic success.

As a designer, what would you still like to accomplish in the future?

This is a very big question! To be honest, receiving an award of this magnitude fulfills many professional goals. I think that I simply hope to continue to affect, in a positive fashion, the ‘work lives’ of people who use Crown’s lift trucks. What better tribute can a product designer receive?

What do you think is the economic significance of design?

New product failure rates can be dramatically reduced when Industrial Designers contribute to the development process with the inherent skills of analytical thinking blended with creative problem solving.  Designers have the unique ability to infuse emotional appeal within a product based upon practical business reasoning.