Evaluation
Market Survey:
When making the market survey, the same 10 idea presentation slides from the “Idea Generation Part 2” post were used as they had already been evaluated with the New, Useful, and Feasible criteria in that post. As my ideas have a basis of car phone mounts, I wanted my survey participants to be people that drive. As my dad works in an auto shop, I thought this would be a good place to try and get people to take the survey, as most of the people going in and out of a car shop would likely have, and drive, a car. The shop was willing to have my surveys out for a couple days while customers came in and out, so I printed paper surveys that would be easy to fill out while customers were waiting and had them taken to the shop. However, over two and a half work days, only 3 were filled out, so I also had my mom bring some to work with her and give them to people that didn’t know me, and would ideally have less bias. With these surveys I really tried to get them filled out by people who don’t know me in order to help minimize bias, however it proved hard to get enough people. In the end, I passed some more surveys out to a few neighbors and a couple friends, in order to get more responses.
I chose to have the surveys on paper because I thought it might lead the participants to think a little longer on each idea since they can’t quickly scroll past them, like on an online survey.
One problem I had when going over the returned surveys was that some people only answered select questions, or only responded to a select number of the ideas. I think this is likely due to the length of the survey as people are more likely to loose effort for a survey as it gets longer. However, for this survey since all 10 ideas needed to be addressed the length couldn’t change much. In an effort to limit the length and hold their interest I only had 3 questions per idea: what they thought of the idea, whether or not they could see themselves buying it, and what they would be willing to pay for it. While many surveys had “No”s for whether or not they could see themselves buying many of the ideas, they would comment that they wouldn’t but that they could think of who would. This suggests that it would have been helpful on this survey to ask if they could think of anyone who would buy the product, rather than just if they could see themselves buying it. However, in an attempt to hold their attention and not make the survey even longer, this was kept off.
The most helpful part of this survey was the question asking what they thought of the ideas, as more insight was gained on aspects I missed when working on the ideas in a bit of a bubble. Looking back, I think an online survey might have worked better as it would have forced respondents to address every question, however I thought paper would work better to get people such as those in an auto shop to take it while waiting.
One survey in particular gave off the sense that once seeing the general topic of phones, the respondent was set in an idea that we are too dependent on phones and answered accordingly with what appeared to be very quickly decided answers.
In all, 15 surveys were taken (with only one survey that didn’t respond to every idea). The two main age groups being represented were college students and 50–70 year olds. Shown below is a visual summary of the survey results. A pie chart is shown for the results of each “Could you see yourself buying this?” question, representative quotes are listed for “What do you think of this idea?”, and any prices that were given in the “How much would you be willing to pay for this?” survey question were listed as well. As most people who said they could not see themselves buying a product left the “How much would you be willing to pay for this?” question blank or wrote zero, only the non-zero responses to this question are listed below, and any values that showed up on multiple surveys were only listed once on the visuals below. The final question in the survey that asked the respondents which of the ideas was their favorite of the ten, was not answered by many participants and did not provide enough data to draw any conclusions from that question.
One specific thing that did not occur to me previously, that was brought up in the survey results, was Venmo and mobile wallets, especially as they relate to the credit card swiper phone mount. As I don’t use Venmo or a mobile wallet, these systems had never crossed my mind, yet they do make the credit card swiper seem less and less necessary. However, I think the integrated, bluetooth, or interaction-less payment systems for things such as gas and parking could still be an interesting change in the user experience relating to paying for car related services.
Top 5 Ideas Down-selected from the 10 Listed in the Survey based on votes and written responses:
- Portable Hologram
- 3D Printed Car Phone Mount
- Phone Mount For University Auditorium Desks
- Collapsible Car Phone Mount
- Moldable Car Phone Mount Base
Note on Discarded Ideas: While the shopping cart phone mount had the most positive response on the survey, it was also pointed out that it already exists (as also mentioned in “Idea Generation Part 2”), and the craning neck didn’t seem like a significant enough improvement to warrant this idea moving on. Likewise, the credit card swiping mount was eliminated due to Venmo and other such mobile wallets. When it came to the car projecting directions on to the ground many survey respondents commented concerns I had previously had with this idea about it being potentially dangerous if many cars use it while driving near each other. So, despite a few respondents that thought it was cool, in general, the response was that it was too potentially dangerous. The shoes with directions projected were eliminated due to a shear lack of votes of people that could see themselves buying it, only 1 out of 15 people said they could see themselves buying it. Finally, the car phone mount sold with two temperature specific adhesives was eliminated due to it being one of the ideas with the lower amount of votes, as well as the general sentiment about it being that it seems like too much work and that the mounts should only need one adhesive. While it was very practical, it seemed unlikely people would be willing to buy it if it required the additional work to change the adhesive depending on the season.
Benchmarking:
Benchmarking was completed with the top 5 down-selected ideas from the market survey, along with previously benchmarked products from the “Market Research” post. Shown below is the products used for benchmarking, both existing and the new ideas.
When choosing what to put on the 2x2 axes, I thought about what the main concerns of users that I interviewed and surveyed in “User Research” were, the online reviews from “Market Research”, and what problems I attempted to address with my designs. From this, the features decided on were the amount of space taken up in a vehicle, the versatility in placement, and the cost.
From this 2x2 it can be seen that there is opportunities for making a car phone mount that doesn’t take up very much space in the vehicle, and is ideally at a lower cost. As the field of vision is very important for the safety of driving, the size of the car phone mount can be critical as there is limited space in the car. As can be seen in the 2x2, there are some smaller phone mounts that go onto the car vents, however many people have trouble with vent phone mounts falling off, which is a significant problem. Two of my new ideas address this problem well since they are relatively small (or can become small), and they do not attach to the vent: the collapsible car phone mount and the moldable car phone mount base. Additionally, they would likely not be very expensive.
From this 2x2 chart it can be noticed that there are not many phone mounts that offer a lot of versatility when it comes to placement, especially within a car. Most of the existing mounts attach to one specified location, such as a vent or the windshield, or maybe offer two options, such as the windshield and the dash. As I noticed with my user interviews, and personal experience, car layouts can vary immensely, and can lead to some drivers not having a car phone mount that works well for their car. This could be seen especially well in my interview with Kaiya from “User Research” as her mount both fell off in cold temperatures as well as didn’t fit well in any spot in her car. Three of my five ideas address this car layout issue: Portable Hologram, 3D Printed Car Phone Mount, and the Moldable Car Phone Mount Base. Outside of the car, the Phone Mount For University Auditorium Desks also offers versatility in placement as it can be attached to various edged surfaces such as an auditorium desk, or a kitchen table.
Patent Search:
Each of the five ideas were compared with existing patents through Google Patent Search. The most relevant patent related to each idea is described below, with a URL to the Google Patent page also provided.
Idea 1: Portable Hologram
Hologram Pyramid
The most relevant patent found related to the portable hologram idea is the Hologram Pyramid. While it is not an actual hologram, it is the creation of a 3D image from four separate images of the 3D object and therefore appears similar to a hologram. It is made of a structure of four plastic walls that are connected together as can be seen in the figure above. While I am unsure if a map display could be used with this technology, it would be an interesting way to redesign the original idea to use this Hologram Pyramid while driving to display the map since the phone would only need to be mounted horizontally on the dashboard, likely a much simpler challenge than vertically held phones like on current phone mounts.
Idea 2: 3D Printed Car Phone Mount
Adjustable mobile phone holder
This patent is was originally filed in 1994 and is for an adjustable mobile phone holder that can expand or contract in both length and width to fit different sized phones. This is made of up of multiple mechanical components such as pins, screws, knobs, and plates that move to allow for the adjustability. While a 3D printed phone mount would most likely not have all these components since it would probably be as few pieces as possible, this patent is relevant as it is a potential shape the 3D printed phone mount could take and it has the same customization feature that a 3D printed phone mount would offer.
Idea 3: Phone Mount For University Auditorium Desks
mobile phone holder
This patent is a design for a phone holder for a flat surface. It has an adjustable angle for the phone surface. It holds on to the surface with a suction cup.
While this does not look a lot like the drawing for the phone mount for auditorium desks idea, this type of table top mount that doesn’t need a table or desk edge to hook on to could work well as this would require less time for students to set up and attach. Additionally, the mount itself in the idea is essentially the same as a typical car phone mount, instead the idea is more focussed around having an app to stream the whiteboard notes to student’s phones in real time.
Idea 4: Collapsible Car Phone Mount
Foldable front cover for electronic tablet
The most relevant patent found related to the Collapsable Car Phone Mount is the main product that was the inspiration behind it, which is the cover for a tablet device that can be folded into a stand for the device. The cover protects the front screen of the device while it is not being used, and can be used flat, or as a stand when using the device. This product minimizes the need for buying and carrying a separate stand for the device. The front cover is connected to a case that holds the tablet. This exact technology is likely not practical for a phone as people use them so frequently that the users may not want to flip open the front cover every time they want to use their phone. However, the folding mechanism of the case is very relevant to the collapsable phone mount idea.
Idea 5: Moldable Car Phone Mount Base
Room temperature curable silicone elastomer composition
This patent is for a part silicone material with a “high initial uncured plasticity” that can be molded into any shape that will then set, and retain its shape permanently. This material will set in room temperature, rather than needing a high temperature to mold or set as other products require. The product was made for people to customize existing products or repair things. It is listed on its website to have be “Comfortable at high and low temperatures up to 180°C (356°F) and down to -50°C (-58°F).”
Concerns and Unknowns:
Idea 1: Portable Hologram
- Hologram blocks too much of field of vision
- Not sure how close this technology is to being real, whether or not this is doable in the near future
- Drivers won’t be able do anything besides view the phone screen (the hologram won’t act as a touch screen), some drivers could be frustrated by this
- Can’t see hologram well when it isn’t dark out
Idea 2: 3D Printed Car Phone Mount
- Printing tolerances could cause the mount not to fit in the car or the phone to not fit in the mount, and need it to be reprinted
- Part is not as strong as phone mounts made out of other materials
- Potentially only fits one phone type well, unless it can be designed in a way to accommodate multiple
- Would need a team to make the CAD files and do the scans
- Anybody with a 3D printer is a competitor
Idea 3: Phone Mount For University Auditorium Desks
- Students may use their phone to text more than to look at class related material
- Would need to be very quick and easy to use or students may not want to carry it around and attach it to the desk for each class
- Could get in the way of people’s arms while writing notes
Idea 4: Collapsible Car Phone Mount
- Mount is too big for dashboards when laying flat
- Magnets hold too strongly or too weakly to collapse and stand easily
- Phone slides off the sides of the mount on turns
Idea 5: Moldable Car Phone Mount Base
- Moldable glue doesn’t stay stuck and secure in extreme hot or cold temperatures
- Driver is dissatisfied with placement of phone angle and would need to buy a new set of glue to get a new phone angle
- Glue doesn’t stick well to all surfaces in the car
- Base stains or marks the car surface
- Potential use of Sugru Moldable Glue?
Pugh Chart:
I chose the portable hologram idea for the standard in the Pugh Chart since it is arguably the most radical, less incremental idea of the five presented, and it made for the easiest to compare against. Since it’s the furthest from the standard phone mount out there, it’s easier to see where the more incremental ideas stand compared to a radical one, rather than where the incremental ones stand compared to another incremental one. The survey results and existing market prices were used for comparing the estimated costs.
From this Pugh chart it can be seen that the idea that has the largest positive sum is the Moldable Car Phone Mount Base.
The idea that will be chosen to moved on to the sketch model is the Moldable Car Phone Mount Base. This idea had one of the most favorable responses in the user survey, along with one of the highest amounts of “Yes” votes for whether the respondents could see themselves buying this product. Additionally, survey respondents could see themselves being willing to pay anywhere from $10-$50 which is about on par with the current phone mount prices, and reasonable for the product to be made with a profit at this price range. For comparison, a 15g pack of Sugru (the mouldable glue in the patent section) costs about $10. A typical thought on this idea from survey respondents was that they liked how you could make use of unique places in a car with it. From the benchmarking section it can be seen that this idea both takes up a relatively small amount of space, that is comparable to current magnetic dashboard mounts, while also being able to be placed in almost any location, and still being estimated at a roughly average price, and potentially lower than average price. The most relevant patent found for this idea was for Sugru mouldable glue that works in a wide range of temperatures and sets permanently in its shape, and comes in multiple colors. This is a very close fit to what would ideally be used for this product, however the added guarantee that a stain or mark wouldn’t be left on the car would also be an important feature. One big concern would be that the driver does not like the angle they chose for the mount, and that they would then need to put more glue to mold a new angle for their phone. Finally, the Moldable Car Phone Mount Base had the highest sum on the Pugh Chart.
Sketch Model + Feedback:
To make the sketch model I got together Play-Doh, hot glue, cardboard, popsicle sticks, straws, rubber bands, scissors, wire cutters (they work well to score and break popsicle sticks), pieces of a magnet, and a washer. The main feature that needed to be built was the magnet holder that is held by the base. Popsicle sticks and straws were originally grabbed to try making rod holding the two circular ends together, but popsicle sticks were chosen in the end as they were stronger and work better with the hot glue. Some scrap magnets and a washer were used to imitate current car phone mount magnet phone attachment methods. The washer was glued onto cardboard and rubber banded around the device to model the magnet sticker that would actually be put on the back of the phone. Both a real device and a cardboard one were used, but due to the magnets not being strong enough for a real device at most angles, a cardboard “device” is used primarily. In the actual product, strong enough magnets would be used, and the moldable base would strong enough so that a heavier-than-cardboard phone would not pull the base apart (like it did with Play-Doh that isn’t meant to stay together when a force is acting on it).
As my sketch model was made from Play-Doh and could therefore potentially leave unwanted putty or stains in a car, I did not have my potential user test it in their car and put the car’s interior at risk. However, the prototype could still be evaluated regarding its main task without testing it in a car: being a phone mount that can attach and be used in unique locations, without the use of a car.
When getting feedback from a potential user I asked a classmate, Morgan, to test out the prototype. I gave her the prototype (comes in multiple pieces), showed her the sketch of it that is shown throughout this post, and had her try to use it with multiple locations in Anderson Labs where she tested it out. I thought this would be a good place to test out the prototype because the lab is especially focussed on prototyping and has lots of different places and spaces that it could be tested on.
When she tried out the prototype, it proved to be a quick process that took less than half a minute to adjust and set the putty base of the mount as wished, and then quickly connect the magnets on the phone and mount.
Morgan’s Thoughts Regarding the Prototype and Potential Product
- Concern: Might be problems when it comes to cars shared between more than one driver. If the drivers have different preferences for where they would like their phone and the angle it is at, it would be very hard to accommodate this with the current product.
- Concern: Heat or cold may warp the base.
- Liked: Ability to place the phone on the magnet either horizontal or vertical, and the ability to spin the phone on the magnet while it’s already on the mount.
- Liked: Ability to place the mount nearly anywhere.
- Opportunity: Add a gyroscope type mechanism on the mount so that the phone stays flat while driving. Potentially do this with ball bearings.
- Overall: She would buy this mount if made available.
While this moldable base car phone mount was designed specifically with cars in mind, having the prototype tested in such a varying and different environment, showed that its applications could possibly be beyond just a car. Potentially the putty to be used could be redefined to be strong enough to hold a phone without having to set, while also being soft enough to remold to a new location.
Despite not having my potential user test the product in their car, I did try it out in three different vehicles (1980 truck, 2004 car, and 2014 crossover) at my house to see how it could look in a driving context.
While the same amount of Play-Doh (1 can) was used when building and testing out the prototype, less would likely be needed for the actual product. As can be seen in the two different settings where it was tested, depending on the location, varying amounts of putty were needed. Additionally, while the prototype is purple, the real product would ideally come in more car-matching colors such as black and gray and would then make it easier for the mount to blend in to it’s environment, as current phone mounts do.
