Squeaky Knees…and Tail Lightz
If you watched last week’s episode, then you saw the segment with a couple who invented leggings with a built-in squeaker toy for crawling infants. The idea was to be able to monitor the child’s movements by hearing the sound… of constant squeaking as the infant or toddler crawled.
Unfortunately, the presentation didn’t go so well.
The sharks hated the idea of clothing with nonstop audio.
Apparently, no one told the couple beforehand that they had a major flaw in their design…noise.
Testing or surveying others for honest feedback before manufacturing the product was either not done or negative feedback ignored in favor of others who said they “loved” the product.
Tail Lightz
Getting honest, objective feedback from family and friends can sometimes be difficult. For instance, during the early season of Shark Tank a male hopeful appeared on the program with patches that would attach to the back seat of women’s jeans. He was accompanied by two girls who modeled his patches .
The sharks disliked the concept and designs…and apparently…so did the models.
When questioned one reluctantly admitted it on national television.
Lesson
Inadequate product research and falling head over heels in love with an idea can be costly. And sometimes embarrassing. The basic premise of Squeaky Knees might have
had better possibilities with a revamping of the idea…something that ideally should have been done before they maxed out their credit cards to fund the wrong design.
References
Shark Tank
http://sharktanksuccess.blogspot.com/2014/02/squeeky-knees.html
Tail Lightz
http://sharktanksuccess.blogspot.com/2013/08/tail-lightz-update.html
Wisconsin University Innovation Center
http://www.uww.edu/wisc/
Wisconsin University LibraryResearch Guides
http://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/content.php?pid=13984&sid=93978
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