Design Project Assignment 4: Problem Definition
Step 0 – Review of Feedback:
Brief feedback:
- Great idea focus and great understanding of industry
- Interesting product ideas
- Great analysis of problems
Things that need to be addressed:
- Price – could be hard to lower it
- Can you make a product that is compatible with all devices?
- How will we prevent larger corporations from making a similar product? Patentability?
Step 1 – Persona:
Tim Devine
Birthday: September 14, 1995 (Age: 24 years old)
From New York, NY
Motivations:
Affordability and compatibility
Easy to use
Portable/ handheld
Frustrations:
Limited amount of options
No controller that allows you to play on multiple devices
Can’t play every game they want
Goals:
Wants to be able to play any game on any platform
Want easy set-up and installation
Needs to be able to order the product easily for a fair price
Images:
Picture Source: https://technisportusa.com/blogs/news/how-to-become-a-pro-gamer
Picture Source: https://gadgetgang.com/5-most-important-items-for-the-perfect-pc-gamer-setup/
Step 2 – Mindmap:
Step 3 – Problem Areas & Solution Goals
Gaming Performance:
Problem Area: Playing video games one-handed with a controller that does not compromise gaming performance.
User Needs: User needs a controller that is lightweight, comfortable to hold, actually handheld and allows for ease of movement – button’s are easily accessible.
Solution Goals: Light-weight, small controller that has a good number of button’s accessible to the one hand being used but not too many to complicate the device.
Compatibility with Devices:
Problem Area: Playing video games one-handled with a controller that is compatible with all devices.
User Needs: User needs a controller that is able to connect to all different types of devices – much in response to the increase in tablet gaming.
Solution Goals: Connection system that allows the controller to connect to different devices.
Price:
Problem Area: All one-handed controllers that meet the users specifications (listed in the two problem areas above and one below) are all on the high end of the price spectrum.
User Needs: Controller that is high quality but not overly expensive.
Solution Goals: Low manufacturing cost, control of supply chain, efficient distribution network/key network of distributors, use of inexpensive but durable materials.
Limited Amount of Product Options and no Customizable Products Available:
Problem Area: Not being able to play video games because of the lack of products available and the lack of customizability for one-handed gamers.
User Needs: A product that widens the product space within the industry that offers customizability.
Solution Goals: Controller that is customizable to the person’s preferred gaming style, product that enables innovation within industry for betterment of consumers.
Step 4 – Problem Statements:
Gaming Performance:
Design a controller that is lightweight, allows you to play anywhere, and easily accessible buttons for disabled people.
Compatibility with Devices:
Create a controller that can be connected to any device through a USB so customers don’t need to buy a controller for every different gaming system.]
Price:
Manufacture a controller that is affordable and high quality so customers can afford the controller.
Limited Amount of Product Options and no Customizable Products Available:
Design a controller that is customizable to all consumers gaming styles and promotes innovation within the underserved industry.
Step 5 – Reflection:
Through this assignment, our team was able to narrow our problems we are trying to find a solution to down to four. With that, we were able to create a persona and in doing such, were able to consider what a consumer like himself would want said solution to accomplish. Summarizing, our four problem topics, in short, are Price, Performance, Compatibility and Customizability.
Creating the persona was very much effective in defining problems for our group. We were having trouble thinking about what an actual customer of said problem looks for and what problems we need to address fully. We had a sense of what they were but did not know fully until we made the persona.
With that, being able to narrow down our problem areas and what our solution goals are was very much helpful in understanding where our group wants to take the project in the next steps. We now know some of the problems that need to be defined and fixed, in a sense, something that we would not have been able to figure out without a persona and the defining process outlined.
Lastly, being able to write out problem statements before thinking about possible solutions was helpful as well. One thing that we have noticed when doing research about said industry is that a lot of the problems are not consumer or problem focused, rather ideas that designers think they would like. Being able to identify the problems specifically through the persona will propel our group into finding beneficial solutions in the next steps.
All in all, the process of defining the problem was very beneficial for our group. The multiple problems at hand are much more clear now since we were able to figure out what the actual consumer, using Tim Devine as a persona, wants in the product.