Modular Alarm Clock for College Students: Final Product Design Report

1. Team Alarm Clock: Final Report Product Design and Development, December 2, 2007

2. Outline 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

3. The Original Concept

4. Selecting a User Group • Users with uneven schedules • Travellers • College Students • NOT Olin Students

5. Identifying User Values Packing space Self Expression Relationship with Roommate Saving Money Reliablity Enough Sleep

6. Pinning Down the Real Problem Waking up Setting interaction Trusting that the alarm will go off

7. Ideation

8. Evaluating Designs 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?

9. Idea Down-Selection

10. Reviewing Main Designs Delving into Design • Physical Interactions • Nap Button • Color Coding to show state • Modularity

11. Physical Interactions

15. Prior Art: snapshot

16. Final Design and Justifications

17. Business Plan

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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

21. Product Features and Benefits

22. 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.

23. 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

24. Competitive Analysis • Highly segmented • Low brand loyalty • Key to success: • Unique features • Packaging/display placement • Promotions

25. 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

26. 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

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

28. 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