Primary Stakeholders: Home Owners, Engineers
Input Methods: Survey, Conversations, Emails
The three criteria that ensure our product is usable by consumers are: 1) the product is able to produce an electric field large enough to move electrons through a wire and into a storage system - such as a battery or capacitor, 2) the product is safe to use in a residential environment, and 3) the product does follows all local, state, and federal regulations.
We gathered input from homeowners, one of our primary stakeholders, via a survey. We also gathered input from a few engineers through various conversations. The results of the survey and conversations indicated that the biggest problem with existing solutions was the large upfront cost. However, we have been instructed to avoid worrying too much about the cost to buy. Thus, we had two low priority criteria related to price - upfront cost and scalability. By having an easily scalable product, homeowners would be able to buy the number of units they could afford at the time and build onto their existing systems as their income allows. Scalability also ensures that our product is not confined to one size of residence. By having the price-related criteria have a low weight, we avoided worrying too much about cost but by having two criteria we still were able to take into account our customers' concerns. The next largest concern cited in the survey was the reliability of the system. In other words, how consistently the system would be able to supply electricity. Thus, we included consistency/reliability (used interchangeably) as a constraint.
Listed by priority (highest to lowest)
Generates Electricity
the maximum instantaneous electricity output
based on output per use (or instant) at peak performance
Safe to Use
considers safety for the user as well as any potential hazardous build-ups or spontaneous events
measured by asking the following: yes or no, is it probable (>15% chance) that a dangerous event, such as those defined above, will occur in 5% or more of the products?
Fits with Regulations
considers potential issues with height, appearance, and safety standards
measured by asking the following: yes or no, is it probable (>15% chance) that the product will run into problems with local, state, or federal regulations regarding residences?
Consistency/Reliability
the average electricity output per unit time
considers impact of weather or frequency of use on energy output and storage ability
Scalability
the ability to buy multiple units and combine them at a later date
Price
the sum of the cost of the materials used to create the final product