Ideas that make us feel good

What an amazing time we had last night brainstorming on what will make people feel good and creating products and solutions to improve their lives (and mood), especially under current circumstances.

Impressive effort from all teams! 2 out of 4 ideas: Cast You Gramps and SUNitizer demonstrated a slightly higher potential vs the others. Though all of the ideas need further work.

Let’s look at each idea in a bit more detail.

Cast Your Gramps.

This idea was found most unique. People really liked the heartfelt vibe of it and the whole sentiment of the connection across generations as well as helping elderly people to get their stories heard. It will bring generations closer Male, 58

This seems a great idea as it brings different groups in the community together. It would help to portray a more positive image of each of the groups to the alternative group — creating bonds and relationships. Not only would reputations and relationships improve, but young people would be performing good deeds within the community to help the more vulnerable. Female, 23

What should be improved or reworked: the mechanics of how to bring this idea to live caused some confusion. Concern around whether elderly would be happy and comfortable to be contacted and some reported the way it is explained now feels too intrusive. There are also safety concerns around subjecting the elderly to abuse or to being taken advantage of. Just feels a bit like intrusion Male, 60

Some great suggestions came forward such as connecting children’s and youth organisations to his initiative, for example schools and scouts. "Being good'' points were also challenged.

Though a lovely idea to connect young & old, to have to 'bribe' the younger generation to do this with 'being good' rewards seems a little disheartening Male, 37

To summarise, it is a great heartwarming idea. The mechanics are tricky however. How to make it work and the details related to it need further work.

SUNitize.

Great gems within this idea! It was also found very unique, however, the team would need to work a little bit more on the explanation as for some people it wasn’t clear how it is going to work.

Patch as a format is definitely something that attracted their likes and attention. It’s a great idea no lotion, just a patch. Male, 47

A few welcomed the 2-in-1 idea.

I think if it means you wouldn’t have to put sunscreen on, it would be a good idea. Something that protected you against Covid-19 as well sounds like a good idea. The idea sounds very simple and easy to use. Female, 58

Though the area for improvement is the believability. Many people were confused about how it is going to work and even though the patch sounds like a great idea, it raises even more questions around the feasibility and the mechanism to keep people protected.

It’s like a 2 in 1 deal, although not sure how it can work exactly Female, 26

I feel like it is a good and efficient idea. The only thing is, more clarity is needed on how it works and how effective it is against UV rays and antibodies. Female, 18

Also, there are calls for simplification: just launch one thing at a time. A protection from the sun as well as from bacteria all in one offer may be unnecessary and making it harder to understand.

To summarise, really impressive idea, though prototyping work and testing would be crucial to enhance the believability factor.

Intelligent Aromatherapy Diffuser.

Clearly described, relatively unique and believable, the key drawback of this idea is relevance. As we tested on the mass market, the idea polarized the opinions between those who were really keen to try it and those who said they didn’t see the need for this sort of device.

I like it a lot. It has a very interesting set of different actions depending on your mood and need. I like the idea that the diffuser can be used in different ways. Female, 46

Digging a little bit more under the surface of peoples' responses, we can see that the early adopters may be those who already have some aromatherapy or relaxation devices at home.

We use diffusers and aromatherapy diffusers already but they are a pain getting set up and remembering them, so it would be great to be able to switch them on remotely or on a schedule so that we don’t forget about them as while I love them, I do forget to switch them on a lot Female, 32

The biggest barrier to usage of IAD is complexity. Quite a few people who disliked the idea said they would prefer simple 'old-school' devices or candles. I tend not to rely on technology for relaxation. There is a particular pleasure in selecting these things manually
Female, 53

This just feels completely unnecessary. Why do I need an app to control aromatherapy int he home. I can just do it myself. Male, 41

To summarise, great idea — just probably not for everyone. Still, has good viable business potential: just need to find the right people to target to increase relevance.

Happiness in your pocket.

The idea was found to be clear and very unique. However, as well as with the diffuser, it is only relevant for certain people, which is not a bad thing though it needs to be communicated to the relevant target and also the size of this target needs to be measured. Interestingly, that people with mental health issues found this idea appealing and meeting their needs and a great way to help with low mood and anxiety I have mental health issue and think i would really benefit from something like that Male, 49

Something new to give people more optimism about life. Female, 62

Sounds interesting as my daughter and I both suffer with anxiety and PTSD Female, 47

Though there are a few things that might need improvement. People need more clarity on how it is going to work. I don’t understand the idea and not very detailed. How will the app know my mood and what would that have to do with the apps? Bit Confused. Male, 19

I am not sure what it is meant to do or how it would improve my life Female, 56

There are also privacy concerns and some people find it very intrusive too. I have serious privacy concerns Male, 22

I don’t need it and I don’t want something on my phone looking at everything else on my phone; I know what makes me miserable (and what makes me happy) — not getting out on my bike, not having a holiday to look forward to, not getting into Snowdonia for a walk, no football or cricket, work! And doing all of these = happiness! Male, 56

To summarise: There are a few good nuggets in this idea and it definitely can be beneficial to some people, especially those with low mood or anxiety. Perhaps, taking the idea forward, it makes sense to think about the channels for activation: whether it would work via NHS to enhance trust?