I and my classmate design an innovative all-in-one cocktail tool, launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, backed by 276 investors and raising US$ 16,700 around the globe with only US$800 seed money.
Highlight
1. Raising 16,700 USD (88% of the funding goal) with only 800 USD seed money
3. Creating Sha’cup from zero to one
4. Winning 2018 Reddot award
5. Successfully sell the patent to a utensil manufacturers
Introduction
Sha’cup is an all-in-one cocktail shaker, enabling users to make cocktail with only one tool. With Sha’cup, users can measure liquid, filter IceCube, mix everything, and finally get a cup of cocktail.
Timeline
Crowdfunding market research
Brainstorming
At the start of this project, our team conducted case studies on Kickstarter to identify common elements of successful campaigns. We discovered that most successful campaigns could be grouped into four categories: cool tech devices, urban lifestyle products, outdoor activity tools, and creative daily-life tools.
Next, we held a brainstorming workshop based on these four categories and generated over 100 ideas. To narrow down our options, we used three criteria: feasibility, market needs, and profitability to evaluate each concept. From there, we selected the five most promising ideas and conducted interviews with Kickstarter users to gather their feedback.
Narrow down ideas
During the interviews, our team became interested in a particular topic: cool bartending tools. We noticed that many Kickstarter users frequently enjoy drinking cocktails. Typically, they visit a bar to enjoy high-quality cocktails crafted by bartenders who use professional cocktail toolsets. However, these individuals also desire to make cocktails at home, but lack the tools and skills to do so professionally. Therefore, we decided to concentrate on designing a cool cocktail tool for home-drinkers, enabling them to make good cocktails at home with ease.
Segmentation
In our research, we evaluated cocktail tools based on their level of professionalism and simplicity. We discovered that professional tools tend to be more complex, while simple tools are less professional.
Targeting
After analyzing our research results, we concluded that our target market is home-drinking customers who want to make professional-quality cocktails with a simple and easy-to-use tool. We conducted interviews with some home-drinkers and developed a Persona, which will guide our design and advertising strategy in the future.
Positioning statement
Design a simple but professional cocktail tool for home cocktail drinkers, which provides a brand new experience of preparing cocktails at home.
Implement Agile Design method
We conduct agile design method to refine our product, continually iterating through ideation, prototyping, user testing, and manufacturing assessments. This approach enabled us to create a product that not only met user needs but was also feasible to manufacture.
Ideation
During the ideation process, we sketched various ideas for a “simple but professional cocktails tool.” Eventually, we landed on an intriguing concept: an all-in-one cocktail tool. Our design mimicked the way professional bartenders make cocktails, but condensed the entire process into a single tool. To accomplish this, we merged four traditional cocktail tools (shaker, ice filter, jigger, and glasses) into a new and innovative structure.
Prototyping and testing
We utilized Solidworks to create a 3D model and printed it using a 3D printer. After testing the model in real-world scenarios, we identified some issues and made improvements accordingly.
Testing with experts
In addition to testing the prototype ourselves, we also had two professional bartenders try it out. They used our prototype to make various types of cocktails and provided us with feedback. Based on their feedback, we made adjustments to three parts of our design. First, we increased the space in the ice filter to accommodate more ice cubes. Second, we changed the shape of the glasses to improve their ergonomic feel. Third, we reduced the size of the hole in the ice filter, which was said to improve the taste of the cocktails.
Yi Hsiang Huang
Bartender at TCRC
TCRC ranks ” top 50 Bars in Asia” in Taiwan.
Grace Tsai
Bartender at Hotel “The Place Tainan”
Grace Tsai, one of the most talented bartenders in Taiwan, won the first prize in Bacardi Legacy Cocktails Competiton
Adjust for manufacturing
Sha’cup is made up of three materials: silicone, glass, and stainless steel.
The ice filter part of the Sha’cup is made of stainless steel, which posed a significant challenge for us due to the high cost of molds. To mitigate this, we adjusted the shape of our design to minimize the cost of molds.
We opted to purchase glasses instead of manufacturing them ourselves because the Economic Production Quantity is approximately 10,000 units, which is far more than what we required.
While the molds for silicon are relatively cheap, the cost of the material itself is high. As a result, we modified our design to reduce the usage of silicone.
Crowdfunding video making
As a team without any prior experience in video-making, we learned how to create a crowdfunding video by taking online courses. We understood that a crowdfunding video needs to capture the viewer’s attention within a few seconds and demonstrate the product’s features within 30 seconds. Thus, we structured the video in the following way.
1. Hook: showing a cool environment
2. “Before” scenario: showing the complexity of preparing cocktails using professional tools
3. “After” scenario: Showing how simple and cool our sha’cup is
4. How Sha’cup works: Explaining how user can prepare cocktails with Sha’cup step by step
5. Our belief: Branding a creative image, and calling into action to sponsor us
Crowdfunding plans
Crowdfunding outcome
Winning Reddot Award
Media coverage
Yen Lin Huang
Product Designer
Product manager
C. R. Lin
Product Designer
Business Developer
S. J. Wen
Marketing
W. Lee
Product Designer
F. R. Chen
Animation maker
J. H. Lu
Marketing