Case WiLife,Inc.(B)

Case: WiLife, Inc. (B)18
Think back to the WiLife case (A) at the end of Chapter 10. The clock has rolled forward a few months, the full screen has now been conducted, and the inexpensive digital video surveillance product concept has passed easily. Evan and Andrew are very excited about the prospects so far. They have even come up with a name for the new product: LukWerks, pronounced “look works.”
Here is what is known so far on the technical side. The digital technology is definitely there, and it works. It is possible to make a video camera that can be used for motion detection; in fact, it is possible to put the software required for motion detection, digitization, and data compression right into the camera itself. The data can be transported to any regular PC via Ethernet, thus eliminating the need for a dedicated computer for surveillance purposes as well as the need to drill holes in the walls and feed new wires through them. The user can download LukWerks software on his or her regular computer, and video images would be stored there.
The camera described above could be built relatively easily and could safely be used indoors. A few additional kinks would have to be ironed out to make an outdoor version (as noted before, protection against the elements and infrared capability for nighttime use become concerns for the external camera). These are not insurmountable, but would require
additional technology and possibly some additional development time. Finally, there is issue of price. At the current time, Evan and Andrew think the product they have in mind, if commercialized, could be brought to market at a retail price of about $300 for one camera plus software. They are exploring the idea of selling add-on cameras for the user who wants multiple cameras, at perhaps about $250 each.
First, think about whether the protocol idea would fit the situation of LukWerks. Then, write up five lines of benefits that customers would probably put stress on if they were interviewed. Decide how you would actually measure whether the benefits were being achieved when LukWerks was used.
Second, refer to the list of contents in a protocol and see if there are any other points that could be added to the benefits you just wrote out. There won’t be many in a simple situation like this, but there will probably be some. Look especially at the marketing requirements. Finally, though you are (probably) not in the digital camera video surveillance business, there is enough technical information given in this case for you to try a very basic House of Quality. Take each of the customer benefits, and try to convert it into an engineering characteristic. As a simple example: The customer wants ease of installation. One possible engineering characteristic would be to eliminate any need for special skill or tools to install the camera. If it could be placed on a table,
or hung on a wall like a picture, it would require no skill beyond that needed to hang a picture.。