Name of Product - Shower To-Go
Designers - Ryan Ethridge, Eric Gwin, Ethan Kalchthaler
Target Consumer
Our product would be marketed towards individual people who participate in outdoors activities. These activities could include camping, attending music festivals, or driving off road. People that participate in these types of activities have the need to transport large amounts of water with them for several different uses. It could be marketed to different truck companies or outdoor companies like Gander Mountain.
Design Specifications (in order of importance)
- Target Cost: We estimated that our product will cost $100 to build (via Home Depot). Therefore, we would price our product at $150 which is still hundreds of dollars cheaper than other products on the market.
- Customer Needs: Our product needs to be able to be easily transported in a vehicle and provide clean water for showering and drinking. The showering water should be warm and the drinking water should be cold. The customer also wants the product at a good cost.
- Size and weight: The product will be two tubes which are 7 inches in diameter and 5 feet long. We don’t want the product too big so it is difficult to transport and really heavy when filled up with water. The two tubes will each hold 10 gallons of water which translates to 166 pounds when completely filled. This weight is less than most adults so it won’t negatively impact car performance.
- Performance: The product should provide warm pressurized water for showering and room temperature or colder water for drinking. The product should also be sealed so no outside elements get into the water.
- Ergonomics: The shower needs to have an attachment so that the shower head can be moved above a person’s head for good showing. The handles and valves for the tubes should fit a hand well also.
- Durability and Maintenance: Our product will be made to be life lasting and very durable. There is no maintenance that needs to be done to our product. If there are broken parts at any time they are very simple and can be replaced by parts at hardware stores.
- Aesthetics: The showering tube will be painted black so that it absorbs heat from the sun and can heat up water. The other tube will be color coded so that the drinking water can be easily distinguished. The shape of the product will be two cylinders which are 7 inches in diameter and 5 feet long.
- Operating environment: Our product will be used in the outdoors so it needs to be weather resistant and non-corrosive. We want to keep the seals tight so outside material doesn’t get into the water.
- Service life: The product will able to be used for many years since camping isn’t an everyday activity. The product will be build strong so that is does not break easily and can be used for a long time.
- Safety and Legal issues: When moving the product, it could be potentially dangerous if it is filled with water because it will be rather heavy and consumers should be careful if moving the product while it is filled with water. Most consumers will use the product with it on their car so this will be avoidable.
- Global Environment: There will be no toxic substances in our product and it can simply be thrown out at the end of its lifetime.
- Product life: Not many companies produce similar products so our product life will be fairly long. We also plan on created an inexpensive alternative to other products so our product will still compete in the market for a long time.
Sources
- https://www.homedepot.com/b/Plumbing-Pipe-Fittings-Pipe-PVC-Pipe/N-5yc1vZ1z18i41
- https://www.amazon.com/Airhead-AHP-F1-AIRHEAD-Foot-Pump/dp/B000FE9CGE/ref=sr_1_19_sspa?keywords=foot+pump+pressurizer&qid=1583935746&sr=8-19-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzT05KTDhRTllKVU5GJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODUxMjg3MkM1RDJNN05WQThDUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzg1NzAwM1RVRFFUUjRPNTE1OCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081TJO72/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=kombilife04-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0081TJO72&linkId=183eab02ae34fbe660bb8d59f281202e&th=1
Individual Summary
We found the target cost to be our most important specifications because similar products that we found on the market were hundreds of dollars. Also, people don't want to break the bank for a product that they are only going to use every once in a while. The customer needs is the next most important because your product will sell if it matches the needs of consumers. Size and weight needs to be emphasized so that our device can be easily transported to campsites, etc. Lastly, ergonomics is important because the shower needs to function for a person of any height. Also, the handle should easily fit a human hand.