Feasibility Studies For Epen

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

In the past when we write notes, we scan or photocopy every page in order to share them with friends and colleagues at work which can be time consuming. Modern technology has changed all that with the invention of e-pens. E-pens are battery-operated writing pens that allows a person to capture handwritten notes or drawings digitally. E-pens are quick, easy and reliable way of sharing information from outside one’s office which means handwritten data can be sent directly from one’s mobile phone or laptop urgently as they are written, without a need to re-type, scan or photocopy. In the forefront of this technology is Logitech, a company focussed on innovation and quality founded in Switzerland in 1981. Logitech develops, manufactures and markets personal interface devices, providing people with easy access to the digital world. Products include keyboards, webcams, mice, microphones etc. Logitech e-pen shares, stores, organise and retrieve handwritten information through optical sensor embedded in the pen (logitech.com).

In this assignment, the task is to write a feasibility report for Logitech on a revised spec for new E-pen product for a global non- technical counselling staff whose clients may consider the use of computers in the therapy rooms as intrusive. It will provide Logitech with answers to a fundamental question, ‘Will modernising 5,000 of existing E-pen for a client be viable and create long lasting business opportunities? On completion of this study, the sponsor will have a clear view on whether or not to proceed with the proposed business ideas.

This feasibility report will include looking at

Technical Feasibility

Market Feasibility

Operational Feasibility

Financial Feasibility

Recommendations

1. Technical Feasibility

These days customers buy products that are appealing, portable, easy to understand and easy to use. To appeal to those customers, it is important that products are designed with such customers in mind. Communication among teams/departments working on the project is very important for it to succeed.

Firstly, the project sponsor will need to discuss with internal Operations and R&D team to develop a blueprint for the product, and then identify technology partners through tender. The blueprint will look at what customers want. Are there features currently not available in the current model that would be of benefit to customers? For now, what is required is an uncomplicated E-pen for non-technical users. Simple modifications in the current E-pen will make a huge difference to users such as

Easy to Use:

Customers prefer products that make their lives easy, the purpose of any e-pen is to do exactly that, any complication in trying to figure out how to use it will be put off for customers. The E-pen should be designed to be very simplistic so that even a grandmother in an African remote village can be able to use one at ease. Most customers do not have the time and patience to read manuals, all they want is ‘plug and play’ so the e-pen should be design to be as simple as plug and play. In modernising the E-pen, it is important that the design team should come up with such product.

Battery Life:

Most E-pen customers are likely to be professionals who are out on the field all day such as medical, legal practitioners, counsellors etc. Because of the delicacy of their jobs, an E-pen with a maximum of 2-3 hours battery life at a time will not worth the trouble. It is important that when the battery is fully charged a user will get at least 12 hours of battery life before charging again. The design team will have to improve on longer lasting batteries.

Portability:

There is a target audience for this pen, people who spend all day writing with normal pens. Getting them to write and get used to a bulky E-pen will be a difficult task. The size of the existing E-pen makes it bulky and unattractive. Though, the pen is not normal pen but it will be more appealing to customers if they can be designed to feel and write like normal pens in terms of size and weight.

Battery Charger:

Most E-pens come with separate docking stations that charge the batteries, this is very normal. To make it more compact it will be better and if the charger can be directly connected to e-pen the same way mobile phones are charged without being docked. If the charger is connected to the phone, it can also be used in writing data or taking notes instead of waiting for it to charge before it can be used again.

Storage Capacity:

Since this is will be used on daily basis and in some cases a user may want to have all written data transferred at on time, it is important to it has a large storage. Having large storage capacity means that a customer will not have worry about running out storage on the field.

Digital-free Paper:

When a user buys an E-pen, he must also buy special papers for it called digital paper. Digital paper is the only place one can write on with an E-pen. We believe that technology has come a long way, E-pen can be designed to write on an ordinary paper. In that case, a user can walk into a corner shop and buy writing papers for the E-pen. We believe that by writing on ordinary paper, user can present his data and at the same time transfer to a PC afterwards, and if there is a need to reproduce it, he can do so stress-free. With digital alone, a user has to wait to reproduce it after transferring it.

Market Feasibility

Market feasibility studies involve collecting data about potential market that can be used in deciding how a product or service should be designed, delivered, priced, and marketed. Conducting market feasibility report early in the development cycle provides a reality check on ideas and helps define product development to ensure it appeals to customers. It is used to determine:

How much of a demand is there for the product or service you are considering?

What are your potential customers' needs and price expectations?

Who are your competitors?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors from your potential customers' perspective?

How can you design your product or service most effectively, given the needs of your target market and the competitive environment?

Gathering information about what consultants want with this pen in order to design a product that covers their need in important. Although this is a requirement for an specific company but it doesn’t necessarily have to end there, there are other kind of professionals that would like to take notes in a handwritten fashion that can be targeted. With a proven product, the market is broad with the same product. In addition, this counsellor company will not be the only counsellor company in the world, a new product could fit to other counsellors companies too.

Since technology is modifying a rudimentary human skill that many of us take for granted, the pens must add value in a way that doesn't interfere with the process. In addition, the accompanying software must be practical and easy to use, so anyone can feel comfortable performing basic tasks regardless of computer knowledge.

Opportunities

The E-pen represents an incredible marketing opportunity since the 5000 counsellors could show the product to all of their patients in 100 different countries which are potential customers. These patients may not have used one before, as satisfied and proud owner of the E-pen, it is human nature that the owner will brag about it, flaunt it and sub-consciously advertising it to the patient. This will be an unpaid advertisement that could prompt the patient to buy one and start advertising it again. The best product advertisement is by word of mouth. So, if any of the 5000 counsellors use the product in say 50 sessions with 50 different patients per month, it means that they are exposing the product to 250,000 potential customers around the world, who can later talk about the product to their friends and relatives.

Indirect Advertising

A product with the characteristics of IO is a product that can be attractive for those who want to keep taking notes in the traditional handwriting way but with the possibility of recording the information in a permanent and more secure storage, the possibility of converting the notes to a print calligraphy format and with facility of sharing the notes as with any word document. This group of persons could include: high school and universities students, professionals of many specialities like physicians, engineers, psychologists, graphic designers, architects, musicians and others.

Operational feasibility

Specifications for a new version that satisfies the Counsellor could imply:

a big effort in research and development.

long periods of time for the design, development and testing phases.

a new production line.

negotiation with suppliers.

technical training to the production line workers.

recruitment for specialized skills.

Therefore, making a proposal to the customer without knowing how big and difficult is going to be the project is not recommended. Without having a concrete and clear scenario is not recommended to compromise with datelines and quality.

Financial feasibility

Making a financial proposal to the customer without knowing how much is going to cost the development of a new version, is not recommended since we can underestimate the costs.

Since this is a specific requirement from a customer, this is a good opportunity to finance the entire project through customer’s funds. However, it could imply a big investment for the customer so a typical selling contract could not be appropriate. An alternative could be to establish a joint venture with the customer with a share in the future incomes and patent rights.

Since we could design a product that satisfies consultants’ needs along with other target needs, this opportunity allow us to don’t make a blind jump. It reduces our financial risks.

We don’t have to spend time and money in the marketing and selling activity for this special customer.

Recommendations:

Since the alternative of developing a new version of IO is to fulfil the customer requirements is too risky owing to an unclear or vague idea of the implications of a new product development, we don’t recommend to embrace a new version development project for this specific customer.

Conclusions:

After analysing the alternatives to satisfy the request of the Counsellor company, we recommend to purpose an offer based on our IO current version which can provide to Logitech a return for the initial development investment with low marketing effort, the possibility of learning from the customer experience with IO, as well as the possibility of using the consultants as demonstrators and even evangelists of the product.

Recommendations:

We propose the following recommendations

A competitive price.

Discounts in IO supplies.

Free Technical Support.

An offer of discounts in new versions of the product in order to have them as customer for a long period of time.

An agreement of cooperation to share information about the counsellors’ experience with the product. In change, company customer is going to receive a very special price in the new versions of the product.