T
“You are given a teaspoon as an object. Now apply each one of the SCAMPER techniques to it and give a brief explanation of what new product comes of this and how it can be marketed.”
S – Substitute
Substituting the material with something more environmentally friendly; possibly bamboo or a recycled bio-degradable polymer. Anything environmentally friendly can be marketed to a broad selection of people, especially younger generations.
C – Combine
Making a tea spoon from a sugar material, or preferably a non calorie alternative such as Stevia, that dissolves in hot liquid could be useful, both for coffee and tea. This could be marketed and sold at any grocery store.
A – Adapt/Adjust
Using a material that changes color depending on the temperature of the drink or food might be useful for both babies/children and elderly people. This could be marketed towards nursing homes, hospitals, kindergartens and to families of both young children og elderly people.
M – Modify / Magnify / Minify
Modifying the length of the handle, adding a non-slip material would make a teaspoon easier to handle for someone who had problems with holding on to something small, elderly people or others with physical disabilities. It could also be useful to make a teaspoon with a bend at the end of the handle, to stop the spoon from slipping into the drink. These could be marketed and sold at any store selling kitchenware.
E – Eliminate
Eliminating the use of plastic teaspoons (and anything else made of plastic) would be a great gift to future generations. This is already widely known, but let’s keep “marketing” this to everyone.
R – Rearrange / Reverse
Making a teaspoon with two different sizes of spoons, one in each end, might be useful. The handle should be of some length so one doesn’t have to hold on to the spoon-part of the teaspoon. This teaspoon could be marketed and sold at any store selling kitchenware.
Many, if not all of these ideas are already out there, and can be bought in stores all over the internet. As I was researching for this assignment I found that many of my fellow students have had similar ideas also, and to not be completely discouraged I decided not to look too much at what others had done before me on this assignment. It is still early days, and there is a lot to learn when it comes to coming up with new and creative ideas.
Randis Reflective Journal 