Second part of Inquiry and Analysis task

After choosing the product (calorie counting wristband), I chose to conduct an interview with a year 9 physical education student of my school. My reason for doing so  is to initially understand the current advantages and disadvantages of the wristband. Then, I will take the information gathered from the interview and analyze them to find out what improvements need to be made to the wristbands. 

This is the interview with Anannya Sivakumar (9AA):

Interviewer: Hello Anannya, I would like to ask you some questions regarding sporting goods.

Anannya: I am open to any and all questions.

Interviewer: Alright great, firstly, do you see it as important to know the amount of calories you are burning during physical education lessons? Do you believe it is beneficial?

Anannya: I've never really thought about it, although now, it seems like a great idea. Many people are trying to become more fit and reduce their excess fat and replace it with muscle. Therefore, I think it would be an amazing idea for them to record this process. Personally, I think it would be a good experience to keep track of the amount of calories I burn as it would help me know how many calories I would need to consume each day, making me a healthier person as an overall result.

Interviewer: Great, so in what form do you think it would be best to keep track?

Anannya: Well, I think using an app would be quite inconvenient when doing exercise, especially when a person wants to check the amount of burnt calories in the middle of a sport. This would be a huge problem if a wifi connection would have been required as well. Therefore, I believe the best way is to have a small attachable comfortable product with you during physical education lessons.

Interviewer: What do you think are the best types of product? Wristbands, armbands, waistbands, anklets or any other suggestions of your choice?

Anannya: All of those options would work for us but I think a wristband would be the best form of this device. My reason for this is that it has the least disadvantages out of all of the options. It would be the most convenient if a person wants to track their progress while they are running or performing anytime of sport. It only requires lifting your hand and checking the screen which would not take a long time. Whereas, the only way to check the armband, anklet of waistband is by moving the device, moving the body drastically or taking the device off. Also, it would be the smallest device and therefore, it would be easy to transport and to carry around.

Interviewer:  What do you think is a problem with the current existing wristbands?

Anannya: First of all, I think the main disadvantage is that there aren't a lot of options on the wristband itself. The screen can only tell you the calories you are burning and if you want more information, you'll need to connect it to an app on a phone. This is a disadvantage as the app may mot exist on all phones and therefore unaccessible for some people and the screen's vague information is inconvenient. Also, the fact that we cannot use it underwater is a problem. One of our units is always swimming so we really need to keep track of that as well.

Interviewer: Who is it a problem for?

Anannya: Really, it is a problem for every consumer of this product.

Interviewer: Where is the problem occurring?

Anannya: Well, the problem is really occurring to anyone who owns one of these calorie counting wristbands. I for one own the Nike one and it is a struggle because as I don't have an iPhone, I need to use the app on my iPad which is really inconvenient to take to P.E lessons with me. 

Interviewer: What is the cause of the problem?

Anannya: As I mentioned before, the main cause of the problem is that the screen is too small, and therefore it cannot display detailed information and more options which is why you need access to the app. So if the display screen was larger and the wristband was in a more suitable shape to support it, an app wouldn't be needed.

Interviewer: What do you think is required for improvement of the wristband?

Anannya: I think that the wristband itself should have a larger screen with many more options that are detailed and do not require the use of an app.

Interviewer: Alright, thank you very much for your cooperation with this project

Anannya: No problem, Im happy to be a help.






My conclusion based on the interview:

• I feel that a solution must be made to the problems of the current wristband as many students like Anannya may not have a phone with the app required for the wristband and therefore, cannot view detailed information. Also, I believe that having more options on the wristband will make the target audience wider as depending on the options, they could suit the needs of teenagers, adults and the elderly. For example, if the wristband could connect to wifi, it would be useful to a very large audience, focused on teenagers and adults.
• The problem is the inconvenience with an app being required and the shape of the wristband to be able to support that. Therefore, I think some improvements would be to include more options, create a larger display screen, create a taller wristband, create it out of waterproof materials and use more flexible materials to be able to support the larger screen.