7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Indestructible Phones

• Opportunity: People's phones break pretty easily. My friends are always having to buy new phones because of water damage or screen breakages. Phone break so easily as they are not waterproof or shatterproof. Phones need to be built to last for how expensive they are and how important they are in our daily lives.

The who: Every person who owns a phone, which is almost everyone over the age of 10. 

• The what: Phones are weak and break easily. They are not built to withstand much.
• The why: We use phones everyday and need them to get around and contact people. Society has made it almost impossible to survive without one. If our phones are always breaking, we will waste a lot of money on new ones/repairs.
• Testing the who: Mostly millennial/younger people tend to break their phones, so I'd like to focus on them.
• Testing the what: Is it all ages this affects? Or just younger people. Does it happen mostly when people are inebriated or from daily accidents in life? Why are phones built like this? Are cases effective?
• Testing the why: Why don't wealthy phone companies use better material to build their phones? They have the money and knowledge so why haven't they done it? Why are people so careless with their phones? 

Interview 1: 

• In this interview with my 12 year old cousin, I learned that he is actually extremely delicate and careful with his phone, which surprised me. He said that his parents were very strict about how much he used his phone and limited his phone time and made sure he was always careful with it. He said he gets in trouble if he puts it down to hard or is careless with his phone. Also, he is not allowed to bring it out to places when he is with his family. He said his friends who have phones have lots of cracks on the screens because they are careless with their phones and always drop them and don't care. I learned that my cousins phone is in perfect condition, but I believe he is a outlier, because the reason his phone is so nice is because he is never on it and his parents are strict about it. Younger children definitely tend to be careless and not understanding of money, so it is clear to see that phones do not meet the needs for careless children who throw their phones around all the time.

Interview 2:

• This time I interviewed my friend, a girl who is a sophomore in college. She told me about how her phone and all her friends' phones had some flaw to them. She didn't know one friend who didn't have a phone that wasn't messed up. Her phone was cracked and the camera didn't work well. She said her friends usually had a crack, dimmed screens, cracked cameras, chips on the sides, or defective screens from water damage. She told me that she thinks this is due to how busy college students are, and how they have to juggle so much int their days that their phones are prone to being dropped or getting damaged. 

Interview 3:

• This time I interviewed a male sophomore college student. His phone was in good condition, however it did have some spots on the screen from dropping it. He said that he hated how phones always seem to be having problems from small mishaps in life. Whether it be dropping it when you're drinking, dropping it in the toilet and having to get a new one, etc. He thinks phones need to be built better and that they should be waterproof because he knows too many people who get water damage on their phone.            

Interview 4:

• This time I interviewed a 50 year old mother. She said that she knew that people my age were pretty careless with their phones, and she thought that phones should be built to withstand water and drops on the floor. She said people have to spend so much money just to get a phone, and then additional costs when their phones break. With people paying so much money, she believes phones should be of better quality. 

Interview 5:

• This time I interviewed a 40 year old professor. He said that he believes phones need to be built better. With today's technology, knowledge, and materials available, he thinks that phone companies could definitely build phones that were completely resistible to damage. However, he thinks that phone companies will never release phones like this because damaged phones bring them so much revenue. 

Learnings from interviews:

• These interviews reaffirmed the need for phones that are built to last. Every person I interviewed recognized the problem of phones breaking easily and knew of people who had damaged phones. Even the most careful people can still damage their phones since we always have them with us and they are prone to breaking at some point from dropping it or getting it wet. I did learn that if people limit their time with their phones and try to be extremely careful with them, they can stay in really good condition, but of course this is not something you can ask all consumers to do. Basically, phone companies need to build phones that can last. Even if they will miss out on revenue from damaged phones, I think they should just increase the price of phones. Phones are essential for living in today's society, and without one someone can get in dangerous situations fast.