Market Research
In order to find out whether the envisioned product can reach the customer, it is important to see if there are products that fulfil similar wishes. Since the product would include both digital and physical aspects, both types of products will be analysed. The discussed products either help a mother collect meaningful memories or resemble the physical product in its characteristics.
Figure 1 Page of baby diary( Ouders Van Nu, n.d.)
Figure 2 Digital Photo frame Denver PFF-725B
Digital products
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BackThen
The first product is the app BackThen1. This app allows you to upload milestones and pictures to the app. The user then creates a collection of memories, with pictures, stories, and weight- and height measurements. A large selling point of the app is that other people can gain access to your album. This serves as an easy way to keep your friends and family members up to date on your baby. The app is free up to a certain point, with added features (e.g. extra storage space) locked behind a subscription-based paywall.
FamilyAlbum
The second app, FamilyAlbum, has similar features to BackThen, it requires the user to upload pictures or videos to a timeline. It also allows users to invite family members to add to the collective timeline or to solely spectate so they can stay in the loop. It also allows users to automatically create and order photo albums and other prints based on their collected memories.
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Qeepsake
The last app, Qeepsake, is directed more towards the parents, and documenting their experiences. It is closer to a journal than a photobook. It works by sending the user a text with a question, after which the user responds to it and uploads accompanying pictures. The user can also create separate journal entries, without needing to wait for a new question. This app, however, is behind a strict paywall. The basic version called ‘Plus’ costs $48 a year, with the upgraded version, ‘Premium’, costing $96 annually. The basic version limits the number of questions you receive daily to 2, monthly uploads to 50 pictures, and spontaneous entries to a hard limit of 200. The Premium version either increases these limits or makes them unlimited. The app is also not available in the EU.
Physical Products
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Journals and Diaries
In terms of physical products, the most popular products are journals and diaries that are specifically made to document both the pregnancy and the first year(s) of the baby’s life. These often include pre-determined milestones, allowing the parents to write down their experiences based on the prompts that are in the book. These are often largely text-based and directed more towards the factual aspects of growing up. An example can be seen in Figure 1 which allows the user to fill in the size and weight of their baby every month, and show their progress based on what their baby is able to do (in this example: sitting, crawling, standing, etc.). ​
Digital Photo frames
A physical product that resembles the envisioned product not in its goal but in its characteristics are digital photo frames. There are several different ones on the market, but they generally serve the same purpose. They provide a ‘traditional’ photo frame but replace the physical picture with a screen. They generally function alongside an app, allowing different people to upload pictures to the device. The frame will then go through these pictures in a slideshow.
Conclusion
As can be seen, several existing products aim to fulfil similar desires expressed by mothers. The apps allow you to easily create a collection of memories by manually selecting pictures from your phone's gallery. The physical products aim to bring these elements from the digital world into something you can hold in your hands. However, there is a space in the market for products that combine these two aspects. The participant expressed a desire for a physical product, feeling a disconnect when looking at pictures solely on their phone. However, creating a physical journal, especially with pictures, is time-consuming. Since spare time is not something that mothers with newborns tend to have a lot of, this often ends up collecting dust on a shelve. A product that simplifies this process by decreasing the amount of time spent on selecting pictures while creating a meaningful physical product.
Backthen:
Family Album:
Qeepsake:
Journal and diary:
Denver PFF-725B
https://www.proshop.nl/Digitale-fotolijst/DENVER-FRAMEO-PFF-725B-Black/3249145
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