Redesigning Wrapster
Opening this thread to correspond with my blog post which can be found here
Free-For-All
General discussions about anything and everything
Whoops. I just posted this. Sorry Ben D:
Ben,
I appreciate the candid feedback - I do have a question concerning the commitments and sales thus far on this product in its current form.
Since the design will probably be much different than the original - are current orders and commitments going to be reset or refunded?
I only ask because I committed to several Wrapsters because of the current design, pushed Wrapster's social sales on that design and referred many folks to the Quirky site promoting that design.
I'm not upset about it - just would like clarification - money is always a touchy subject for some.
Thanks
This is where it could go. You want something small and pocketable when wrapped. Ease of wrapping and ease of unwrapping are priority. Imagine a small round case that opened in halves, you close it on the center of your cord and you twist to draw in the cable and buds (about 4 seconds of twisting). When you need them you open case and they fall free for use. Im new to the community please let me know where it is appropriate to leave this feedback.
Andy,
Commitments will hold, and the new design will not have to go through pre-sale-- as we are committed to the project.
If people who committed do not complete their order because they don't like the new design, thats fine.
We don't charge people till they confirm their order prior to shipment.
Ben
You didn't test with diverse age groups, or people with different tech levels. I have sent Matt's video to a whole bunch of people and every single one wants to buy one and sell them as well. I planned to put the link directly on the package, if there was no image on it.
Test it at a college campus, a grade school and on the street on a simple folding table near the subway to get a diverse cross section. Your testing process is seriously flawed, which is statistics 101 and product development 101. Twelve people who don't have a set of headphones on is not your market. A minimum test group is 30 diverse people. How many teens or tweens would make that mistake, or people who run or jog, using one of these often. Your feedback is woefully incomplete.
Take a laptop with a quick video clip of several people wrapping in a race to fun music and see how many people want to buy one, on the way to the subway after work. It would make a great commercial if you film it and it flies.
@Ben
Thank you for the clarification.
I await the redesign.
Ann,
With all due respect, this is not about age, race, or education-- this was about knowing how to wrap your cord around the product. Matt did a great job showing people how to do it in his video. People that buy the product off he shelves, however, are not going to see matts video- they need to be able to wrap the cords for themselves. And for a product like this, it should not require instruction.
I can assure you all of these people had earbuds, and were potential customers- this is NYC!
I can understand wanting to make it more intuitive, and I obviously haven't held the product in hand, but it does seem like a very simple instruction booklet in the box (maybe three pictures) would explain it well. If the Wrapster is actually a fast and effective way to wrap up earbuds, then it seems like it would be worth spending two minutes learning. People have been willing to learn the language of Starbucks to make an order there, so they might be willing to learn to wrap up their cord.
From the video it seems that the biggest problem was that they didn't know how to use it right, which could easily be solved by showing a picture of how it is supposed to be used on the packaging, so as soon as someone sees it on a store shelf or online they can easily see what to do with it. I don't think instructions would be required if you had one good photo on the package of the product in use.
I've never seen Matt's video that you are referring to, I wasn't a member of Quirky when this product was being developed. But based off the pictures shown on the Wrapster page, it seems pretty obvious to me how this is supposed to be used. But maybe I'm the exception, and it's not as obvious to others.
Samuel, I would tend to agree-- except for the fact that even when showed/instructed as to how it SHOULD work, we wound up with responses like "well thats too much work" or "that doesn't seem simple enough"
Ben,
Well, it's hard to understand what the complexity is from a video, but I can't argue with the actual experience of using the product. Was there any indication of what about it was too much work or to complicated?
Draw a colored graphic of how it goes and ask 12 more people.
People see one and want one. Less wrapping will lead to the easier choice, wrapster with a graphic, when side by side with a competitor.
Gamers who play video and handheld games have an entirely different method of figuring things out. kids who text at lightening speed won't wrap it the same way a 20 or 30 yr old will. Age + common life experience does matter.
They had to create new methods to train workers in my field all over the world because of this, there is tons of research to support it worldwide. I'm not being opinionated Ben, I'm educated in this field and worked on new product dev at one of the best schools in the world in a short trend cycle industry (textile/fashion). I am trying to save you from trying to fix something that isn't broken.
Bet you 5 bucks, right now.
Ann, Totally agree-- the less wrapping the better.
Problem being, the wrapster, once you click your buds in, pull, roll it around vertically, and click it into the holding slot actually takes more time then rapid fire wrapping around a cylinder.
Samuel- To answer your question, no one got the need for a shirt clip, no one knew where to start/end. No one intuitively wrapped vertically, and when they did, said that the vertical wrapping was too bulky once wrapped
Ben,
Oh, yeah, I never really understood the shirt clip either. Thanks for the answer.
Thanks for the vid. Ben. I can't say I was a super fan of the final design or even the functionality of the clip - but Matt was extremely charismatic and explanatory in his ID videos that everything just seemed right. I am looking forward to the next design round to see how the product can be made more simple and intuitive. Maybe the ideal solution is something that stays attached to the headphone cord at all times - like a cylindirical piece with grooves in it...
Meh...Bring on Wrapster ID #2!
