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Multifunctional Geocaching-tool


Sinhala

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Dear Geocachers,

I strongly need your help. I'm currently doing my Honours Project, which aims at developing a design for a multifunctional Geocaching-tool. This tool should combine the most used geocaching instruments in one product. But for all that, I need to know which tools these are and this is why I need your help. I prepared a very short survey, which would help me to get this information. Answering the questions would take about 5 minutes, but it would make my project a lot more valuable, if some Geocacher would be willing to fill it.

 

Here is the link that would forward you to the survey:

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LK8H7CY

 

If you have any comments, recommendations or questions about this topic, I'd be very pleased to read or answer them.

Many thanks for your interest and time.

 

~ Sinhala

 

This topic has been approved by Groundspeak. -Cascade Reviewer

Edited by Cascade Reviewer
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I had to look up pincette, and tong. Could not find a definition for tong, but assumed you might have meant tweezers? But when I looked up pincette, it was defined as tweezers!? Since I am sure you were not referring to fireplace, or cooking tongs I skipped that one.

 

Also the price would be quite subjective. The more useful and the more features it had the more I would be willing to spend. Hard to say what I would spend without knowing how useful and how cool the finished product was.

 

Fun survey, hope it helps you.

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I'm sorry for the definition problem, but you were right. A pincette is the same as tweezers. A tong should actually fullfil the same kind of function, but it is larger and might be used for heavier caches or in case, one does not want to touch an object. How useful a tong really is while geocaching, is something I want to find out with this survey. :D

I also agree with your opinion about the price. However, most people do have a certain price range in mind when making a buying decision, although they are not fully aware of every single feature the product has (e.g. smartphones or computer software). It's not only about the features, it's also about the value a product adds to the customer. In this case, it could be the combination of the tools, as people only need to take along one tool instead of collecting five single tools. For some people this might be a real value and worth a higher price. For some, on the other hand, this might be not important at all.

Finally, if I roughly know the price range, I can adjust the costs accordingly while creating the product. In this way, I'm not going to create a tool that nobody can or want to afford. Instead, I would like to provide a product, that might not include every single tool, but more people are interested in it, as it adds true value and meets their price expectations. Therefore, this question is not about how much I could earn with this product. It is about how much costs am I allowed to add (with the features), so people are still interested in it.

 

I hope this explanation helps to understand, why I asked this question. Of course I will ask people again about the price, when I can provide a prototype. This will then be more accurate and answer the questions about the selling price.

 

Thanks a lot uxorious, for sharing your thoughts. It is very interesting to know what people think about this project. I'm so looking forward to analysing the survey.

 

~ Sinhala

Edited by Sinhala
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Interesting concept. I prefer a multitude of single tools over a single multi-tool, mainly because the whole tool has failed if one part breaks. And sometimes you need more than one of the tools at the same time.

 

You may want to offer the survey in both American English and British English. I undervalued Torch because I was thinking Lighter, not Flashlight. Also, since Question 9 only had two choices for each category, it should have radio buttons. Better yet, a sliding scale in case you are between the two extremes.

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I'm sorry for the definition problem, but you were right. A pincette is the same as tweezers. A tong should actually fullfil the same kind of function, but it is larger and might be used for heavier caches or in case, one does not want to touch an object. How useful a tong really is while geocaching, is something I want to find out with this survey. :D

I also agree with your opinion about the price. However, most people do have a certain price range in mind when making a buying decision, although they are not fully aware of every single feature the product has (e.g. smartphones or computer software). It's not only about the features, it's also about the value a product adds to the customer. In this case, it could be the combination of the tools, as people only need to take along one tool instead of collecting five single tools. For some people this might be a real value and worth a higher price. For some, on the other hand, this might be not important at all.

Finally, if I roughly know the price range, I can adjust the costs accordingly while creating the product. In this way, I'm not going to create a tool that nobody can or want to afford. Instead, I would like to provide a product, that might not include every single tool, but more people are interested in it, as it adds true value and meets their price expectations. Therefore, this question is not about how much I could earn with this product. It is about how much costs am I allowed to add (with the features), so people are still interested in it.

 

I hope this explanation helps to understand, why I asked this question. Of course I will ask people again about the price, when I can provide a prototype. This will then be more accurate and answer the questions about the selling price.

 

Thanks a lot uxorious, for sharing your thoughts. It is very interesting to know what people think about this project. I'm so looking forward to analysing the survey.

 

~ Sinhala

 

Interesting idea.

 

You might also include something in your survey about size. From your description of tong(s) it sounds like you were thinking of something like the cooking tongs, or perhaps even larger.

 

If I were to buy a multi tool, I would like it to hopefully fit in a back pocket. If it was a bit bigger, I might buy something that would fit on a belt holster. It would have to be really special if I had to carry it in a back pack.

 

Tongs large enough to lift heavier caches would likely make the tool to large for me to be interested in. Size and weight would make a difference. :)B)

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I now what you are talking about uxorious. For me, the size is one of the most important things when it comes to a multifunctional tool. It must be small enough to be handy and easy to take along but still large enough for ease of use. This is why I also included a question about product attributes like size, colour, material etc.

I'm aware about the fact, that I only asked how important it is and not in which way (whether small or large). At this point I have to admit that, although I really spend a lot of time to prepare the survey, it is very restricted and cannot be taken as representative. However, I tried to do my best to get the most out of it and still not bothering you with a long survey. I think the survey will to its job, as it should only provide me an idea of how geocacher think about this topic. As soon as I know the basic outcomes form this survey, I can start to create the design. And during this process, I also intend to do some personal interviews, where I can ask more precisely and listen carefully to find out about the needs of the respondents. With this method, I won't be restricted by limited answer types (e.g. question about personality in number 9) or number of questions, like I was with this survey. And I can also eliminate the language difficulties, as I can explain or clarify in a better way.

Nevertheless, this survey will provide me a lot of valuable information, which I wouldn't get without the commitment of you Geocachers.

 

Thanks a lot!

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What exactly do you mean by tongs and pincette? And I'd just like to say, that safety oriented, and adventurous are not opposites. I would be both, equally.

 

And I agree weight is very important. Regarding knives, and multi-tools. For the record, I personally prefer heavier tools. Except when I drop them on my feet :laughing:

Edited by T.D.M.22
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Interesting survey. I also wish you luck with the idea.

 

Most probably this multi-tool would be overpriced in our area if produced and delivered. And - as it happens with all multi-tools - implement compromises to put everything in one device.

 

Added scissors to the list of tools I usually have with me.

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Added scissors to the list of tools I usually have with me.

 

I'm surprised how much many cachers have with them. I take my GPS-r (in most cases, not always), a headlamp if I might end up in the dark (when hiking one never knows) and a pen (which I always have with me also outside of the geocaching context).

Once or twice I took an UV light with me for special caches.

 

The tools I needed the most often were tools like a wastebasket to stand on it to be able to reach up higher, but typically I brought along such tools on a second visit to the location.

 

With all these tools: pincettes, mirrors etc I can imagine that some find the types of urban caches that I hate not that much annoying as myself. I would not want to take special equipment along however for whatever I'm doing. So I'm definitely outside of the target group for the planned multifunctional tool. I filled the survey nevertheless to indicate that there are cachers like me.

 

The strongest reason for me against such a quite expensive tool is that I have a tendency to lose objects like pens while geocaching and with the pens I use this is not really an issue. With such a tool that would be different.

 

 

Cezanne

Edited by cezanne
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I like the idea of a multi tool in theory, but like others have said, I'd rather have everything separate. Just doesn't seem as fussy to me. Of course, perhaps it's because I'm a girl ;). I have a mini leatherman on my keychain (it's a gift, and as I said, I like the idea of it), but have never used it. My husband has used it, however! :laughing:

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What is the purpose of the demographic & personality questions? How will that help with tool concept & design?

 

The demographic aspects proivde a rough picture of the "average" geocacher. This might not seem to be related to the design process in the first place, but it surely is. With a picture of the average user behind, you'll be more likely to create a successful tool. For example if the survey states, that the majority of the geocachers are traditional, it might be not a good idea to have a very fancy design. Therefore, it helps to understand how the user of the tool thinks.

Of course, I would need to do a lot more research for having a good picture of the average geocacher. However, since I have a limited timeframe, I need to live with only some basic information.

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I have a Leatherman tool in my geobag. Actually I have a couple of them, along with a flash light. But I don't always have the geobag with me. But what I do almost always have is a small Swiss Army knife on my key chain. It has a small pair of tweezers and small ink pen built into it.

So if you do design a tool, consider having a couple of different designs. Maybe one bigger and one smaller.

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