Footwear

Abstract

This chapter describes the use of the Sustainable Product Evaluation, Engineering, and Design (SPEED) process as it relates to footwear, and how it can be used to refine the typical current footwear development process. It also details the complex anatomy and biomechanics of the foot and the resulting complexity of designing effective footwear products. This includes shoe anatomy from a point of view of the fit and functional aspects, and the methodologies to improve the fit of the footwear by following the design loop and the sizing loop. The issues with establishing an effective concept-of-fit (COF) for footwear and related assessment methods to study the physical interaction between the foot and shoe are also discussed. Finally, examples of how to improve the footwear design and sizing are provided in the form of two case studies.