Often we are tempted to incorporate the latest technical wizards when we feel we have run out ideas about what a customer needs.This problem is multiplied when we are pressed to design something different for the sake of being different, and we end up designing what we perceive a customer SHOULD want.
Incorporating talking or voice capabilities to our existing products was no exception when voice chips became economically available.We began to hear cars talking to us, saying things like “Door is ajar”, “Close the door.”We began to find some blood pressure monitors start speaking instructions to us; “Sit still and relax”, “Wrap the cuff around your upper arm.”We wondered if we should come up with products that utilized such upcoming chip technology. After a lengthy discussion we concluded that it would be a mere nuisance if one has to hear the same instructions each time he presses the start button.
Then we received a request from the Helen Keller Foundation in Japan to develop a monitor for vision-impaired people.We jumped on it as we realized that there was a need for such a product, and that it would be the best use of the latest voice chip technology. After completing a model for the Japanese market, where the unit gave measurement results in Japanese, we started working on an English version. Having seen that voice instructions for automobile doors disappeared quickly, we felt we had made the right decision in not incorporating voice chip technology to voice instructions, but rather to speaking the measurement results, which is exactly what a vision-impaired person needs. However, contrary to our expectations, the UA-767Voice or Talking Model did not generate a sustainable volume as a consumer product in spite of an initial surge of demands from our channel partners when we responded to their demand to lower the price to that of a consumer range.The Talking Model has been endorsed by the Royal National Institute of the Blind in UK and is valued as a special unit to help the handicapped, but it has disappeared from the shelves of the stores in the consumer market, which made us wonder if it was the right product from a business point of view.
A&D Medical, our subsidiary in the States, received a letter on June 24 this year, which began like this: “My quest for an accessible blood pressure monitor began in December 2004, when my doctor prescribed medication to bring down my excessively high pressure. […] I am totally blind, and thus needed a product with speech or Braille output. In the past I relied on my sighted husband to read the results […] but Bob died of lymphoma in November of 2003, leaving me to seek out a solution that does not require sighted assistance.”
She made an extensive survey through the Internet and publications and came across our UA-767T (Voice) in the September 2004 issue of AccessWorld.The FDA approval and the reviewer’s high appraisal of the Unit for its accuracy and ease-of-use persuaded her that that unit was just what she wanted.Her mother phoned our subsidiary in California to purchase one for her as a Christmas gift.Our staff there told her it was available but out of stock then.It must have provoked a chain of actions that reached us in Japan to expedite its shipment. Unfortunately the volume of sales did not justify keeping stock, thus we had to push for production.We had to have her wait for three months.Her letter continues, “I received my UA-767T on April 18, 2005.One co-worker helped me unpack it, while another (a nursing student) helped me learn to use it correctly. I ran into a few glitches before I was up and running the unit, all related to the lack of accessible documentation.When I first pushed the start button I heard a helpful error message “Replace batteries”.I did, and the next set was fine.
“I heard another helpful error message when I pressed the start button without first having the cuff around my upper arm.The message said, “Error: remeasure”.No error occurred when I tightened the cuff first before pressing start.”
She explained her first experience and the difficulties she faced, and some of the important aspects of blood pressure measurement that she learned from two experienced users of home blood pressure monitors. In fact, her comments about her experience of learning how to place the cuff and use the monitor properly have taught me what it means to be truly user-friendly.Our unit, which I believed was most user-friendly, has room for improvement!
Some more from her letter:“Now that I know how to use the UA-767T, I find it very easy to operate.To the right of the volume switch is a headphone jack for private listening; I am very grateful for that feature!”
“I discovered that my pressure went up to its borderline when I stopped my meds! When I take the time to begin a serious exercise routine, and/or lose weight, I will be able to watch my pressure go down.If I do decide to see if I can once again live without medication, the UA-767T will help me determine whether I can safely do so.”
“There are no words to adequately express how good it feels to be able to monitor this aspect of my health with independence and privacy, with consultation only from my doctor. I applaud A&D Medical for making this product available and hope they will continue to do so. Thank you!” Beverly Whiteside Wieland, June 23, 2005
I have been moved to learn the fact that there are people who go to great trouble to locate our product and that we are appreciated by the mere fact of having produced the product they need.UA-767T (Voice) may not have been a commercially successful model but it is certainly of great value to the people who need it.Her letter has convinced us that we have to keep producing this product so long as it continues to make another customer like her, who really needs a unit that talks to her, happy. Thank you for telling us we are on the right track, Beverly-san.
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