Each semester I assign a project to my students called the Bug Report. The students are required to make a list of things that bug them in life. I don't mean things like 'my wife' or 'my kids'. I mean things like:
- headphones get tangled
- my lip gloss is too sticky
- takes too much time to load toilet paper on the hook
The Bug Report is the first assignment they do in my class. They usually over think it because it's college - it's supposed to be hard and cumbersome. I don't intend for the assignment to be hard, in fact, it's probably the easiest college assignment ever. I just try to spur creativity and the assignment is a great prelude into writing a business plan.
The overall purpose of the assignment is to generate ideas about problems we face in life. Before innovation can occur, problems must be identified. In fact, the entire point of marketing is to solve problems. One of the most difficult things to do in marketing is solve a problem people don't know they have.
I just ran across a website that takes the Bug Report concept and puts legs under it.
http://www.quirky.com/. The website has anything but quirky ideas. The products sold are truly useful products. For example, the
Boil Buoy - floats in the pot, rings when it's hot. Or how about the
Plug Hub - your desk, untangled. My husband is convinced that headphone fairies appear at night and tie our headphones into knots. Some call them headphone fairies, I call them kids. Either way an inventor has invented the
Wrapster, wrangle the tangle.
Not only are all the products actually very cool, they are priced right and would make great gifts! What makes the site even better is it supports local inventors and gives a great sneak peek into the process of turning an idea into a commercialized product. The cost to submit an idea is $10. Ideas are picked and the process begins. Innovative website, we'll watch and see how it progresses.
0 comments:
Post a Comment