Team Alarm Clock: Final Report Team Alarm Clock: Final Report

Product Design and Development,December 2, 2007

This presentation will explain…• The design process that helped us reach

our final design• The final design and specifications• Our business plan for marketing and

selling the alarm clock• Our next steps we would take to improve

the design of the product in order to take it to market

OutlineOutline

The Original ConceptThe Original Concept

Selecting a User GroupSelecting a User Group

• Users with uneven schedules– Travellers– College Students – NOT Olin Students

Identifying User ValuesIdentifying User ValuesPacking space

Relationship with Roommate

Self Expression

Saving Money

Enough Sleep

Reliablity

Pinning Down the Real ProblemPinning Down the Real Problem

• Waking up

• Setting interaction

• Trusting that the alarm will go off

IdeationIdeation

Design Evaluation

• Was it a plausible idea?

• Were we as designers excited?

• Did it really fit with user values?

• How well did it address specifically identified values to both the designer and the user such as ease of implementation, and augmentation of trust between the user and alarm?

Evaluating DesignsEvaluating Designs

Idea Down-SelectionIdea Down-Selection

Delving into Design

• Physical Interactions

• Nap Button

• Color Coding to show state

• Modularity

Reviewing Main DesignsReviewing Main Designs

Physical Interactions

Clock Price Alarm Power Display Use

Advance Alarm Clock

$9.93 Beeping Wall/ 9V

Red LED Standard bed stand ; roll through setting

Shake Awake $24 Beep/ Vibrate

2xAA Reflective LCD

For use in pillow case or pocket; travel size

Timex Nature Sounds

$80 CD/ preset sounds/ radio/ beep

Wall/ 3xAAA

Adjustable light LCD

Set multiple alarms with individual sounds

Travel Alarm Clock

$17 Beep 1xAA Analog w/ backlight

Small and portable – knob setting

Flying Alarm Clock

$25 Loud beep – flying propeller

Wall Reflective LCD

Must return propeller to base

Alarm Clock Projector

$20 Beep/ visual Wall/ 9V

LCD/ wall projector

Few button – cycle through; measures temp; M/D/Y

Cell phone $50+ Beep/ music Battery LCD Varies – difficult to set/operate

Clocky $50 Beep/ running

4xAAA LCD 2 button – runs in circles

iHome $50 iPod/ Beep Wall LCD/ iPod Click-wheel setting, radio, weekly alarm

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Final Design and Justifications

Business Plan

Executive Summary

• We have designed a unique modular alarm clock which changes the way people interact with their alarm and solves the annoyances of other alarm clocks.

• The alarm clock has been designed expressly to respond to the needs of our main customer group, college students. In testing it has proved to be engaging to use and to fix former problems that are universal to alarm clocks. Our clock consistently outperforms the competition in feature quality.

• Projected profitability by year 3, with 5-year sales projections of 120,000 clocks and cumulative profits of 3.3 million by year 5.

• Our four point marketing plan will move our sales from the internet to major customers like Target and WalMart while establishing our brand identity and customer trust.

Business Description

• Management and Strengths– Andrew Coats: Engineering experience, design skills and business savvy– Connor Riley: Software and user interface design experience– Avery Anderson: Mechanical engineering and multifaceted design skills

• Goals– Distinguish our alarm clock based on form, interaction, and affordability.– Provide products with the right features rather than the most features.

• Customers, industry– Main customers are college students and their parents doing back-to-school

shopping

Product Description

• Modular alarm clock– Base module displays time, cube module’s faces display alarm times– When the cube is in the base, the alarm is set. To set the alarm time, pick up the

cube and use the sliding switch on each face. To snooze, hit the top of the cube.– Features include: nap timer, multiple alarm sounds, pre-alarm snooze

• Competitive Advantages– Unique interaction from start to finish– Feature-rich yet simple to use– High-end look and feel without high-end cost

Product Features and BenefitsMultiple alarms on individual faces Customers with irregular schedules are freed

from constantly resetting the alarm

Nap timer Taking a nap becomes as simple as setting a timer

Alarm time and current time simultaneously visible

Customer know exactly when alarm will sound and can trust that the alarm is working

Wheel mechanism to set time Customer can easily scroll backward and forward in time

Different sounds for each alarm Alarm variety helps customers awaken fully

Tap the cube at any time to snooze for an additional 10 minutes. Adds up to an hour of extra sleep with multiple taps.

Users can extend the alarm time before the alarm goes off. Longer snoozes lead to more rest, less annoyance.

After tapping Snooze, the new alarm time will display on the cube face.

User is always informed of exactly when the alarm will sound.

The battery in the cube is used as emergency power for the whole clock.

Customer can trust that they will be woken up even in the event of a power outage.

Customers

• College students– 16.5 million people– 50% 16-24 age range, 50% are age 24+– 56% female– Nearly half leave their home state– Diverse backgrounds

This is a large market which is frequently moves house and is in need of housewares, including alarm clocks. Back-to-school shopping is an 8.5 billion dollar industry, and our product is ideally placed to appeal to college students and their parents who are spending that money.

Industry Facts

• Size of potential market: ~2 million incoming freshmen who live out of state

• Percent market captured: ~5%

• Trends in Growth: will follow college growth trends

• Barriers: consumer acceptance/brand recognition, high marketing costs

Competitive Analysis

• Highly segmented

• Low brand loyalty

• Key to success:– Unique features– Packaging/display placement– Promotions

How We Stack Up

• Price - $25 – more affordable than many specialty or novelty alarms

• Power – Wall/battery – the cube’s internal battery is used for emergency power for the base in the event that wall power is cut off when the alarm is set

• Alarm – Various preset sounds – A step up from most budget clocks

• Display – 5 LED screens

Marketing Strategy

• Target young tech-savvy customers through ThinkGeek, BoingBoing and internet sales

• Establish real-world presence at upscale ‘indie’ boutiques

• Advertise at colleges, sell in college bookstores

• Target back-to school shopping ($8.5 bn) at Target, WalMart

• Year 1: Initial sales online• Year 2: Selected roll-out (specialty retail)• Year 3: Initial commercial launch• Year 4: expansion• Year 5: expansion

Next Steps

• Proceed to design the clock for manufacture while maintaining the important pieces of the interaction

• Apply for foundry space and funding

• Deeper analysis of market space

• Continued prototype and user testing