- Prologue -
Before analyzing the service, why
No — because it's novel?
because it is a field of interest?
because there is future promise?
manufacturability, low barrier to entry?
available infrastructure?
Yes — 1. A business with provenance: there is a home base/internal contact for the business.
2. A needs-based approach: Everyone thinks about growing flowers. But most give up—they do not want to kill the plants. But most people, through the experience of repeated failure (learning), have reached a point of no longer distinguishing their needs from their wants. The real reason was elsewhere.
3. Extensibility: existing products in this category, domestic and international, are being mass-produced with services and products focused on the ecology of the plant. Expansion in the current form is possible too, but slapping an additional business platform onto a mass-produced product without considering extension from the start risks a mistake similar to KakaoTalk. (See the difference between KakaoTalk and LINE.)
But if we consider this from the start (without of course telling the consumer at the initial mass-production stage) , from the user's perspective we could approach essential meaning or usability more inclusively than Google's 'Nest,' Apple's 'iBeacon,' or Belkin's 'WEMO.'
Notice
From the standpoint of attracting an early-stage business, what is important is not idea implementation but what meaning the service has for the user, how that meaning is conveyed, and whether there is a risk that the meaning is diluted or distorted in the delivery process. So not only product manufacturing or functional integrity but also a strategy for distribution and A/S must run in parallel.
New BM test product 01 — Parrot
The iOS app for flower-care sensor Parrot works by checking a large database of household plants. You pick your plant, sync its profile with Flower Power, and stick the sensor into the pot. Each sensor monitors the environmental conditions for four plants and compares those conditions against the profile most ideal for the plant in question.
1) Product page at HQ: http://www.parrot.com/flowerpower/us
2) Sales page: http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE454ZM/A/parrot-flower-power-plant-sensor?fnode=0001050701
3) Along with product-specific analysis, we also need to dig deeper into the company Parrot. A visit to their site shows they mass-produce products across many fields. Beyond what is visible, we should first understand the strategy and context that led them to plan each product. Before it is too late.
Pre-selection list for new BM test products
1. Overseas references
http://iotlist.co/posts/parrot-flower-plant-sensor
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1387729422/plant-link-listen-to-your-plants
http://www.koubachi.com/features/sensor
2. Domestic references
3. That said, briefly listing the limits of existing products:
1) Existing products are designed interpreting the use only as growing plants. (Our director also mentioned cases that are more necessary in daily life, such as children's education, experience, or gifting, which we may need to cover as well.)
2) The way data is designed per plant is one-way delivery from the producer, so there is a clear cost and time limit to advancing it. But if we allow users to directly manage and share their records, it may be easier to build back-end data voluntarily. Furthermore, alternatives for distribution strategy and A/S policy and operation must be prepared in advance.
