Features I want tested
Role: You are a Stanford student and you have to walk around between classes during the day. It is very hot because we are in California. You have to carry a backpack around to transport books/laptop. Would you like to have a cooling device in your backpack?
Imagine you live in a cold region. Would you like to have heating too?
…
1) Would you pay for the cooling?
2) Would you like to have heating too?
3) Would you include more buttons (would you like to see the temperature)?
4) Would you like the tracking/lock or are you not afraid at all of your backpack getting stolen?
Responses
1) Yes probably. In the summer
2) Yes, for the winter
3) Button for stages (Different stages of heat)
4) It is practical, as long as it is not disturbing the design
1) In the summer
2) Probably not, because you wear a jacket
3) Button for stages
4) Tracking should be available for additional purchase
Additional comments: Look that the temperature doesn’t affect your devices
1) Yeah I would pay for it
2) Yes that would be good. First place I feel cold is on the back
3) Both would be good (at the same time)
4) Lock is inconvenient, but tracking would be good
1) It is nice for hot wheater, especially in hot countries (Sahara, …). If I would only walk for a little bit, I wouldnt need it. (Hiking, tourism, … I would need it)
2) Yes, I would like to have that too
3) Stages (Low, medium, high, …)
4) Yes both would be good. Lock would not disrupt if you make it well
1) I wouldn’t need it, because I like to save money. You could target markets in hot countries.
2) No, because of jacket.
3) Not more buttons. I want the cheapest possible
4) Lock wouldn’t be necessary
Possible improvements
1) Include heating (for cold regions)
2) Make the lock small, so that it doesn’t affect the design of the backpack, or just don’t include a lock. Make the lock convenient to open
3) Make tracking available for additional purchase
4) Include heating/cooling stages
5) Look that the heating/cooling doesn’t affect devices in your backpack
Comment on each improvement
1) Like some people said, heating would only be necessary in the winter, and since you will most likely wear a jacket in the winter, the heating won’t help you that much. Additionally, the heating will make the backpack more expensive. Therefore, heating will not be implemented.
2) Lock would only help if the backpack would be made out of a very resistent material that you can’t cut with a knife. This would make the backpack more expensive. Furthermore, it is very inconvenient to always type a code when you want to open the backpack. You could make it fingerprint, but that would be too unreliable (ex. if it rains or if the backpack is not charged). Therefore, the lock will be removed from the backpack.
3) Tracking is not that expensive to implement, and many people think it is a great feature. I think this feature should be implemented, because if you lose your backpack you still know where it is.
4) Stages are a good way to better know how much cooling you have at the moment. This would only be a small improvement, but one that is definitely worth it. Therefore, stages will be implemented.
5) This is a concern one of the questioned persons had. If the cooling affects the inside of your backpack, then your devices could get damaged over the long run. A solution would be to put a material behind the cooling device that doesn’t transfer temperature. One possible material would be foam. Foam doesn’t transfer heat, so would be a good insulator to keep cold temperatures out. Additionally, foam is cheap and is not very heavy.
Iterated product
Iterated product survey (same questions as first test)
1) Yes I would pay for it
2) No, because the backpack would already act as an insulator
3) Stages are good because the heat level would dictate how much cooling I would want
4) No lock, because I had a backpack with a lock and it was very inconvenient
1) Yes, I would pay for it because it is very helpful in the summer
2) No, because you wear a jacket, so the heat wouldnt really affect you
3) Stages are very helpful to manage coolness
4) Lock would be uncomfortable and unnecessary