We conducted market research on our final 10 needs to investigate if existing solutions existed and decide whether it was truly necessary to pursue new solutions. Even if solutions do exist, we intend to further evaluate their benefits and deficiencies to create a competitive advantage.
The main need that we extracted from this problem was a way of removing clothes from the washing machine without touching them, useful when the owner of the clothes is not there to retrieve them. Our team discussed the construction of a box-like object that would contain the clothes outside the washing machine until the owner came back, but still struggled with the device that would be used to retrieve them. However, after further thought we decided that already existing mesh laundry bags fulfilled this need
After further conversation with our professors, we realized that creating a solution to this need would not necessarily address reducing the number of puddles, but would rather address the users encountering these puddles. Trying to find ways to directly solve the puddle problem would involve paving, construction work, and cooperation with school maintenance, rather than something our team can do. Additionally, users already have reliable solutions like rain boots or simply walking around the puddle.
This need by itself is very vague and required further interaction with our survey participants to determine what exactly the problem was. Users reported dissatisfaction with the quality of paths existing around campus, crowding around bus stops and bike lanes, and simply not having more efficient ways than walking to get around. Again, the first two issues are abstract and would not involve us designing a tangible solution. There are already popular, and costly ways on campus to address the third need, such as electric scooters and bicycles, so designing a solution that does better than these would be unnecessarily complicated.
Figure B1: Electric Scooter
Our immediate idea in addressing this need was to design an app or program to guide the user’s organization and guide their day. However, many successful apps like these exist and are used by students we interact with, including Todoist, Timetree, and a more abstract form in the Pomodoro Timer, which members of the team use. An app we created to address this need would not have nearly as much market penetration as these solutions, and would not bring new functionality to users.
Figure B2: Todoist
Figure B3: Timetree
This need involves the deficiencies of the Transloc mobile app for tracking the routes of campus and Evanston buses, namely that the times given for arrival are not precise. Similar to above, a solution to this would require us to devise an entirely new app that uses correct timing software, which would require us to partner with the transit system and replace Transloc on students’ devices, or gain access to Transloc’s database and fix their software. The former’s scope is too large to complete in 10 weeks, and the latter is not viable.
We found many existing solutions that addressed a bike getting wet, from preventing the seat from getting wet, to protecting chains from rusting from water, and preventing kickup of groundwater onto the rider. The need here arises from actually getting the user to adopt these solutions, which is a behavioral problem. Additionally, bike locks, underseat bags, and more exist to prevent theft, again having a behavioral obstacle to their adoption.
Figure B4: Seat Cover
Figure B5: Mudguard
There are many solutions on the market that each address lighting the path near the user when skateboarding, including mountable spotlights on top or under the deck that project forward, headlights, and under deck lights. However, these solutions are not noted to be very durable and require battery replacements, the former especially prevalent due to the rough pavement and weather on campus. We have not found a solution that does not require power replacement, nor takes up less space on the board, and thus gives us space to address those deficiencies.
A similar problem exists for cars, where items from the driver fall between their seat and the console. This problem has been resolved for some time now with car seat gap fillers. When looking at the market, products that prevent pillows from slipping into the headboard gap exist as well. A possible solution to this need could involve the modification of one of these products or our own inflatable filler that is universal for different size gaps.