Airgain
FWA Easy Installation Kit
Simpler Installation, Seamless Connectivity.
Designed with user experience at its core, this innovative outdoor antenna installation solution combines aesthetics, usability, and functionality. Featuring an installation support net and a quick-release structure, it enables effortless operation when searching for the best signal, significantly simplifying the installation process. Crafted with durable materials and optimized for stability, it delivers an intuitive and reliable user experience. Dramatically improving installation efficiency and reducing hassle, especially in complex environments, this product redefines the standards for outdoor antenna installations.
Client
Airgain
Year
2022
Designer
Joel Chang
Contribution
Concept Development
Industrial Design
User Experience
Color, Material and Finish
Prototyping
Design for Manufacture
Design Approach
Design for the moment, not just the product
The brief sounded like a hardware problem: make the antenna easier to install. Watching installers changed the question. The antenna already worked. What failed was the moment of aiming it, when a person on a ladder has more things to hold than hands to hold them.
So I set one principle for the whole project: reduce what the installer has to manage at the hardest moment, and change as little as possible of what already works.
Insight Into the Pain Points
Identifying Issues, Precisely Solving
I chose to watch before asking. Installers rarely describe a workaround as a problem; they have simply learned to live with it, so interviews alone would have missed the most telling moments.
Standing beside them on site, I counted hands instead of features: what is held, what is pocketed, what dangles. That simple lens turned a vague complaint like "installation is slow" into concrete moments I could actually design for.
Field observation
Installer interviews
Touch-point mapping
Workers face numerous inconveniences and potential risks during the installation process.
Problem Definition
Framing the right question
The easy brief would have been "design a better phone holder". I deliberately framed it wider: how might installers see the signal while both hands stay on the unit?
A question without a built-in answer kept the solution space open, from packaging to bags to brackets, and gave every later concept the same yardstick to be judged against.
Customer Journey Mapping
Deconstructing the Operational Stage
Single pain points are easy to patch one by one. The journey map showed they were connected: the same few loose items caused trouble at setup, on the ladder and on the way out. That shifted my goal from fixing individual frustrations to removing their shared cause, and led to one idea: let the unit carry everything the installer needs.
Design Process
Where every trade-off sharpens the final design
My central rule was reversibility: whatever goes on must come off in one move, because the installer leaves the site without it. Secure but slow was a failure, and so was easy but flimsy.
I also borrowed trust instead of inventing it. The rubber phone nets that riders across Asia already rely on gave installers a grip they understand at a glance, and anchoring on the existing bracket respected a housing that was already tooled.
From constraints and inspiration to two dropped proposals and the selected design.
Only the rubber net and hook holder passed every check.
Proof of Concept
Verification
Using 3D-printed mockups and rubber nets, we verified the dimensions and stability of the mounting kit, explored silicone hardness and adhesion, and optimized snap-fit structures for installation and removal.
Worked with suppliers to produce numerous prototypes, exploring different rubber durometers and adhesion properties alongside variations in net dimensions and geometry, to ensure a firm and reliable mount for the phone and power bank.
Worked closely with mechanical engineers to adjust assembly clearances and fine-tune snap-fit tension in real time.
Ensure that the phone and power bank remain secure and do not fall off when shaken, vibrated, or swayed.
Low, mid and high fidelity, each built to answer a single question.
Final Design
Less to manage, more to focus on
The final kit is deliberately modest. It adds no electronics and asks for no change to the antenna, yet it removes the juggling that made installation slow and risky.
For me, this is what industrial design should do in a technical product: notice the person behind the specification, and quietly make their job easier.
Two-orientation Functionality
