Kahaki Bikes – 3D web configurator

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RIOT’s task was to create a solution for a Polish company, which after gaining international popularity, needed to find a way of exploring their clients’ needs in a faster and automatized way.

INTRODUCTION

KAHAKI BIKES is a Polish company which produces custom-made bicycles and bicycle parts. They started in 2009 from customizing and repairing bikes in a garage. Now their company is known all over the world, especially for cruiser and beach cruiser bicycles.

PROBLEM

As their bicycles started gaining international attention, they had to find a solution which would help them automatize and shorten the process of bike configuration. Otherwise they would not be able to offer their services to all interested customers worldwide. We came up with an idea for an interactive configurator, which would allow KAHAKI BIKES' clients to customize their bicycles anytime and anywhere.

PROJECT

Our main task was to create an intuitive and convenient bike configurator. There is a whole variety of parts that could be customized and managing that was the biggest challenge of this project. The other obstacle we encountered was the target group, which consists of people of all age groups – both young and mature.

At one of the first stages of our cooperation, we established the number of customizable parts, the full scope of their configuration and the whole process of purchasing a bike. After gathering all of this information, we decided to implement a side menu, which provides bike configuration and arranges the customization process. Adjusting every single part of the bike, its shape and colour is contextual - that way the configurator does not overburden the user with a multitude of options.

The design was supposed to combine both advanced technology and garage-like style. We did not want the configurator to look too crisp and high-tech, it was supposed to reflect the grunge attitude of the company. We managed to achieve that by merging the side menu with images of bikes in an industrial space, designed by us. It also required us to create two color versions of the interface that would be visible in both light and dark setups.

TECHNOLOGY

In order to control the configurator - main categories, particular parts, their specifications and prices - we implemented it to the client’s website, which is based on Wordpress CMS. The configurator is built on Angular JS, responsible for both API communication and the customization process and the Three.js library, which allows 3D model rendering. The system we created allows buying the assembled bicycle or sharing its image on social media.

The configurator is built on Angular JS and the Three.js library

EFFECTS

A few months of hard work resulted in a very functional and true to KAHAKI’s style configurator. Advanced techniques implemented in this project help KAHAKI BIKES save plenty of time on gathering their clients’ requirements, allowing them to focus on delivering more of their famous cruisers! The configurator also serves as an app which is demonstrated by our client on various bike events all over the world.