"Making a product should be a kind of thinking from the outside in, what the user wants, in order to decide what I need to do." In fact, many innovative companies need to answer the question: Why do users choose me? ”
In the discussion about products and technologies, Mr. Zhang Wendong, General Manager of LIFAair China, replied.
As the general manager of the Finnish air purification brand LIFAair in China, Zhang Wendong has another role that may be better known: the founder of the professional audio equipment company Wanderer. From speakers to empty products, Zhang Wendong laughed and called this a change from beautifying life to saving lives. People can't help but wonder, this time he came to China with LIFAair, what surprises will he bring us?
The 5th Shanghai International Air Fresh Air Exhibition 2019 was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai on June 3-5, and LIFAair also released a series of new air products at the same time as participating in the exhibition, proposing a variety of solutions for home scenarios.
Fresh air system, simply put, is to add a "purification" function to the traditional indoor ventilation system, control the indoor air quality from the source, and ensure that the air flowing into the room is always purified and pollution-free. As a relatively new concept, not many people know about fresh air, so in this area that users have not yet paid close attention to, how does LIFAair consider the product? What problems do these products actually solve for users? After the press conference, we also had the honor to sit down with Mr. Zhang Wendong to talk about the new wind and the future development of the air net. (The following questions and answers have been re-organized and summarized)
Choose a purifier or a fresh air blower?
LiFAair's new products released this time are concentrated in the field of fresh air, rather than the relatively more concerned and popular air purifiers on the market. Why? For users, how to choose or match between the two? As the first question we threw out, Mr. Zhang, who has been deeply involved in the industry for many years, gave professional advice.
Zhang Wendong: When purchasing and installing, the best effect is used together, with a fresh fan in the bedroom and a purifier in the living room. Why? One of the decisive indicators is the carbon dioxide content. When the indoor carbon dioxide content is too high, it will endanger human health and affect normal life and work, which is also the necessity of the existence of fresh fans. Most of our living rooms are next to the door, and the air flow is large when the door is closed and opened, and the carbon dioxide content in the living room is difficult to rise. Carbon dioxide content is really high is the bedroom, at night after closing the door to sleep inside there is no ventilation place, this time carbon dioxide can soar to more than 3000 PPM, the air is very dirty, so it is recommended to install fresh air in the bedroom. The advantage of the purifier in the living room is that it can efficiently purify the sources of pollution such as smog and formaldehyde, so these two are the best.
How do you view the relationship between product research and development?
As a company with independent research and development capabilities, LIFAair's "3G-Filter" technology in the fresh air product is its unique patent, and the triple filtration technology brings purification to the extreme. This technology has also undergone several rounds of update iterations from research and development to practical application. Asked this question, Mr. Zhang also gave an explanation from the two levels of technology itself and application.
Zhang Wendong: In the early stage, we will invest a lot of time in research and development, and in the life cycle management of products, we also call research and development as pre-research. In the pre-research stage, you must first figure out the technology, and the technology is thorough, and it is the product. First, the study of the technology ontology, and then the actual development of the application. For example, our "3G-Filter" technology, originally only existed "filter technology", but how to use 3G-Filter well, including the bag seen today, are optimized after several rounds, and finally form such a patented technology.
"3G-Filter" core technology - filter bag display
What is the way of thinking about making products?
Now there are some enterprises that can be classified as "technology-driven", first have technology, and then think about related user pain points and solutions. Mr. Zhang put forward his own views on this, and further clarified LIFAair's way of thinking in product development.
Zhang Wendong: This is a big topic, and it can be very simple to answer. Often everyone will engage in national entrepreneurship, which is actually a misunderstanding, that is, "what do I have" and then "what do you want". This order is wrong, to ask the other way around, starting from the user's pain points. Making a product should be a kind of thinking from the outside in, and what the user wants can decide what I need to do. In fact, many innovative companies need to answer the question: Why do users choose me? This is where we are different from others.
Designing and optimizing products from the needs of users is LIFAair's way of thinking about products. The newly launched LAF300W windowed bi-directional flow fresh air blower is a good example. In the past, there was only the concept of "window air conditioner", and no one had ever heard of "window fresh air", so what was the significance and rationality of the birth of this product? In fact, from the practical application can be glimpsed one or two, but we still got the most "official" answer from Zhang Zongna.
Zhang Wendong: Why did we think of making a window type fresh fan? Because users hate punching that hole, punching a hole in the house is the same as punching meat. Air conditioning is known to everyone, so even if you want to punch holes, you are happy to accept it. However, because the fresh fan is not widely popularized, users who do not install the fresh fan feel that it does not matter. This is because people do not really feel the fresh air. So is there a way for users to try out windowed fresh fans and realize their necessity? In the past, if you want to try, you have to punch holes, this is one-way, I don't want to do what? But with this window fresh air fan, users can try the benefits of the fresh fan without punching holes, even if they decide not to do it after trying, they can also consider returning, which greatly reduces the cost of trial and error.
Window type two-way flow fresh air blower display
How do you view the development of "intelligence" in the field of air and net?
LIFAair gave its air purifier a concept called "air purification robot". Intelligence is actually the highland that enterprises have competed for in recent years. In the field of air purification, Mr. Zhang believes that the key to "intelligence" lies in "full autonomy", and to achieve full autonomy, it needs the support of technology.
Zhang Wendong: In fact, we put forward the idea of robots, because it is multi-sensor, fully autonomous, and does not require human intervention, just like robots. When it's time to control pollution, you work, and don't fool around when there is no one at home. For example, three sensors are built into our fresh air blower that the user cannot see, but these three sensors sense the recent temperature in the room, the temperature of the outgoing air, and the temperature of the outdoors in real time. In winter, you can monitor these three temperatures to decide whether to open the auxiliary heat, without the user's own judgment and decision.
brief summary
In the interview, we saw LIFAair's dedication to technological innovation and its focus on the product itself. Talking about the reasons why the fresh air market has not yet received widespread attention, Mr. Zhang Wendong attributed it to the product itself, suggesting that the industry should focus on the product. The product makes the user satisfied, there will be a market, and the attention of the industry will rise.
Returning to the technical point of view, fresh air is undoubtedly the key to improving indoor air quality and thus ensuring people's physical health. We also expect more and more companies like LIFAair to appear, using technological innovation to improve people's lives, invisibly giving people the convenience of life, so as to popularize a scientific and technological lifestyle throughout the country.