In response to class feedback following our pitch last week, thank you all for your contributions, here are the things we have discussed and are acting upon:
1) Change of product name from ‘jumpAr’ to ‘Passport2…guides’, as seen here above on our blog title. We brainstormed lots of new names, and came up with some great new ideas. Many of these had already been registered, but we were lucky to get one that we had talked about in a meeting several weeks ago when discussing the format of our publication.
2) Deadlines for first issue: Pinar has prepared a detailed timeline that shows a breakdown of our deadlines for different tasks and who is responsible for them. We are all aware of this information, as it was discussed during our team meeting.
3) Not planning too many issues. This advice is key, as a reality-check designed to help us focus on a step-by-step approach. In our meetings we can get carried away with enthusiasm, big ideas and expansion plans. Whilst we want to maintain our ambitions, this piece of advice will remind us to be vigilant not to bite off more than we can chew.
4) Looking at interactive ways of advertising: coupons/stamps, etc. Our marketing experts in the team are on the case.
JumpAr pitch 6 Nov 09
THE MULTI-TASKING POCKET full of MODULAR INFORMATION
or
THE FLEXIBLE ADAPTABLE WALLET GUIDE BOOK
This video shows where our idea originated:
A person new to UK cannot find basic things without information on where to find them. A guide book would help, but none exists.
Pinar's prototype
Our team came up with 3 business ideas: a guidebook, a designer notebook and a pocket magazine. How did we reach the decision to do 3 things?
First, we identified the unmet need of our cute international student. This gave us a glimpse to a gap in the market.
Second, we researched. We did this in various ways:
1) we looked at our competitors
2) we made dozens of prototypes to test the format of our product
3) we prototyped the content and we are testing it on humans
4) we talked to people in bookshops
5) we talked to international students (further down there is a video showing this)
Third, we looked at our passions and objects that we like to buy, like smart pocket notepads or designer magazines. Most of the people we know carry notebooks, e.g. the MOLESKIN brand, which makes a desirable and popular format.
Our team meetings led us to consider possible drawbacks and solutions:
• Target market for Kingston guidebook is small
• Some people find guidebooks boring and impersonal
• Portability will largely determine the usability
• If we add a personal touch to our guide, we open up a market for people who live locally and would not normally buy a guidebook
And so we came to think of how to cater for multiple needs. The foremost need for wide-ranging and detailed information was in opposition with the need for small and portable. If we made the object modular, we’d gain in 2 ways: 1) we can divide the information into differentiated chapters that will appeal to different customers, and 2) we can then sell and test the first editions before we have researched the wide range of content we want in the long term, making a smaller and cheaper product first, and shortening the initial production time.
The modular format will enable us to offer different products than the guide: we can add notebooks or diaries that many people buy anyway. By buying our product in separate parts, customers will feel that they’re only paying for what they need.
The personal touch we feel is part of our USP will be apparent too in the content. Stories and photos of people, reviews made by the public on our accompanying website and a touch of fun in the presentation blur the boundaries with must-have magazines. In addition, by printing artists contributions, we enhance our creative appeal even more.
To sum up, our little product is desirable in 3 ways:
• Aesthetic quality: handy design and trendy design
• Flexibility: users can mix and match the parts they need, and change or update them regularly
• Personal content: stories, photos and pictures done by real people, customer online submissions of their opinions and other publishable material.
International Student Survey – video by Gin
And here are some of our prototypes:
This is Gin’s felt cover with multiple side pockets.
Cristina’s tryptich version with mini guides in.
Do you have any suggestions, comments, constructive criticism? We appreciate your ideas.
27 Oct. meeting note
Last week our team reached a point where having explored our personas – Nigel, Soonhee and the cyclists, we were slightly unsure about where our product would fit in. The idea of the Kingston tourist guide was one we all were very happy with but the more we began to think about our audience the more we began to feel like we had missed the market- the optimum time being either just before students came to Kingston or during the first week. As a result we thought about more local users or students who had already began to explore Kingston.
These were the ideas we generated-
Yvonne – open up the guide from Kingston to London where we would have more information. Make it user generated with people’s personal views and stories via informal chats and an interactive website.
Pinar- stick to Kingston but make it more personal and liken to a memoir of Kingston.
Cristina- bring in local artists works to make it more viable and worth more than simply a guide.
Gin- combine it with postcards which can be torn out from perforated edges.
General group idea- ADVERTISING! Research into prices etc needed.
Seb- Kingston is not big enough! Links the guide to a USB full of information and possibly access to websites and advertisers information. The USB could also once the information had been used be wiped clean by our user and used for everyday life.
We also spoke about the size of the guide with Cristina suggesting a business card holder full of the information which could then be used a business holder. Gin thought of it as a passport size book, which could just as a passport be very portable. Seb built upon this by suggesting a pouch like design full of offers, such as loyalty cards from local business’.
Overall we restored our positivity in the Kingston guide book and thought of many side ventures which could stem from this- bags, badges and t-shirts.
Aside from the idea of the Kingston guide we discussed the idea of cardboard furniture, which Gin had prototyped. We thought about where we could fit into the existing market and decided to research further into these.
During last week’s meeting, we became aware -reality check!- of the problems our product faced. We talked lots about our target audience and we all actually agreed that our audience is very small and there is not much of a market for our Kingston guide, since it’s a small town that local’s know well, and there’s not enough tourists that visit.
To give ourselves the opportunity to make the best possible business, we had to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. We brainstormed a whole load of new ideas:
Portable mugs to get coffee without wasting paper cups
Greeting cards
Mirrored surfaces
Subscription for a daily emailed joke
Cigarette box covers
and a good few other ideas of an equally ’seen-that-been-done’ type. The plan then was to research the ideas we were most interested in to check viability.
T-shirts with matching paraphernalia
http://typetees.threadless.com/g
Iron-on patches
gggg
Cardboard furniture
Gin made these funky mini-prototypes for stool and tables.
And having gone to all that trouble, we didn’t find any idea struck as much more sellable than our previous one, but we were satisfied that we were more clear of our reasons to go ahead. It re-motivated us and made us do another brainstorm of our original idea and our target audience, and we came up with a lot more ideas. You will see these in due time!
This is our video showing what happens in a book shop when Nigel, Soonhee and two female cyclotourists try to fulfill their unmet needs.
COGNITIVE USER: Nigel is a rational geek who wants precise reviews of restaurants, needs to know how much theatre tickets cost with a senior citizen discount and how long it takes to walk to the post office from the library. Using this method we discovered that there are probably very few Nigels who will need to buy our product, a guide to Kingston, and this helped us focus on more realistic potential users. We need to research if there are trainspotting and bird-watching Nigels that would be interested in our product if it catered to their specific wants, to attract buyers who are already Kingston residents that don’t need a guide to their hometown.
EMOTIONAL USER: Soonhee is a designaholic who has just moved to good old Kingston from Asiatechnopolis. She will not soil her look with uncool products. For her, the appearance of the book, the colour, the streamlining and the visual concept are as important as the content. We discussed what emotional needs are, and looked at style, confidence in a trusted brand or writer, reliability of information to make one feel safe, etc.
PHYSICAL USERS: Our Olympic cyclists have very specific needs about the durability and portability of the guide. Offering them a rainproof cover, a pouch to hang round the neck, a strap to attach it to a bike and maps that can be taken out to put on the front cover are all ideas that benefit these sporty movers. This type of product has to stand up against tough competition from applications on mobile phones, ipods, etc.
This is our 10 minute prototype challenge (conveniently condensed into a 2 minute version of events!)
And this is our 5 minute silent improvement of one prototype (again condensed into a micro version!):
What communication problems did we have?
As you saw, there were virtually none. We had to point a lot and take things from each other to do something to the prototype to show the rest of the group, but it was an activity in which common sense and good old intuition ruled!
In this our first week, our ideas studio has researched two areas to venture into. The initial ideas brainstormed were divided into two camps, so part of the team could research online art sites with a collaborative focus; and part of the team did field work in the tourist information sector.
Pinar is our technical and communications officer, in charge of admin, business ideas and IT and IP development.
Cristina and Sebastian have researched interactive art websites, with the following findings:
Cristina’s research
- www.redvelvetcurtainclub.com – A beautifully designed website that shows mixed artforms, with a special focus on performance art. In contrast to our aim, this site is targeted exclusively to professionals. RATINGS for feasibility, viability and desirability: good marks on all three, but its usability is perhaps decreased because of the niche market it is aimed at. We want a wider audience.
- www.cockpitarts.com – This social enterprise helps creatives develop their businesses. This is not exactly what we want to do, but we feel it’s relevant because it showcases a variety of artwork and invites participation. High usability, but website design is not as attractive as it could be.
- www.creativeacts.org – Open platform for creative expression, activism and exchange is the sub- title, and that is exactly what they do. This quirky site has a humourous slant that makes it very accessible. It can attract a breadth of public participation as it is not elitist, and that’s it’s main selling point from our perspective. Design factor rates lower than other values.
Sebastian’s research
Sebastian took a holistic approach to the idea of competition and competitors. Taking into account that our ideas were at the non fixed fledgling stage, he looked at media based websites that ‘worked’ as competitors.
- ithinkmusic.com – A community site where musicians, producers and artists can sell their own work. The initial homepage , and various other factors are poorly designed – yet as with many of the more popular sites this might not have a detrimental effect in terms of traffic/users,, as design is not the main focus. Although at times ithinkmusic.com is a little confusing, in general it is a user-friendly sight. The idea is simple: ‘individual’ ownership in a digital music/internet community. It works as a business. Summary: Poor Design (on the surface, but still desirable); feasible and viable.
- Teepay – Design, buy & sell T-shirts and blog from this site. Teepay.com is a simple to use, well designed website. Here all the three criteria are present: Feasibility, viability and design; as too is the idea of ownership.
Examples of two music stores on ithinkmusic.com & the Teepay.com website (click on image to redirect to site)
Gin and Yvonne did fieldwork to find out about Kingston guides and informative publications.
1. Kingston Tourist Office
–> Situated in the marketplace in the town centre, it offers mostly information about Kingston & the local area, including maps, events, and souvenirs. But there is no complete/comprehensive guide book about Kingston, and it seems that there aren’t many people making use of the Tourist Office.
Technically it provides a large amount of information but it doesn’t seem to be viable & desirable.
maps & brochures from the Tourist Office
2. Websites
- Kingston gov. uk. (information provided by the government upon the borough of kingston)
- Kingston First (a website providing complete information, ranging from business’ to activites and general info)
- Livin’ Kingston (a free magazine for people who live within the borough, focuses on news and events, no longer available)
- Enjoy England ( a website providing information on England with a section on Kingston)
- The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Official guide ( a guide book but no longer in circulation )
–> Our Kingston guide idea doesn’t seem to have any strong competitors, probably because it’s a small city which means there are not many tourists, and the guide is not in great demand, but depending on the target group & the concept, it may be a good product, especially for the increasing amount of international students living in Kingston.
Other successful examples of city guides:
1. Wallpaper City guide
Price : £4.95
Target Group : Design conscious traveller (on a budget)
Strong balance of all 3 Values
- Viability – very clear concept for a specific target group, good marketing (edited by Wallpaper / Published by Phaidon)
- Feasibility – good quality of paper, printing, graphic & layout, good selection of trendy shops, restaurants & hotels.
- Desirability – absolutely desirable with an iconic cover of a vibrant color for each city / easy to carry – small & light with good concise contents.
But,
- most of their suggestions are pricey despite of its good taste.
http://www.phaidon.com/travel/cityguides_english.html
2. Moleskine City Notebook
Price : £12
Target Group : Designers, Artists, Writers, Any travelers who like to draw and write down
Again, strong balance of all 3 Values
- Viability – It’s Moleskine!
- Feasibility – Very well made notebook with precise maps. Useful organiser / planner for city tour
- Desirability /Usability – It’s Moleskine again, timeless classic design, very good maps, translucent stickies to help users mark on the map, blank pages to record the moment.
It’s more like city map + diary than tour guide.
http://www.moleskines.com/klcn001-lo.html
3. Time out London
Price : + – £10
Target Group : Various / Mass public / Local people
Various kinds of guides for various groups. It has maybe the best viability in terms of popularity & accessibility (can be found in any bookstores) but maybe less desirable than other two examples above
http://www.timeout.com/london/
4. Other guides
City guides which are focused on one specific subject.
Price : £10 / £9 / £19 (original price / from left)
Maybe less viable because of the limitation of the target group but maybe more desirable because of the rich content on one subject and specific target group with unfulfilled appetite for those contents.
