Hey There
When you see an interesting and unique way of solving a problem, do you wonder where the idea came from?
What was the problem I wanted to solve? As a boater, at the end of a day on the water and you secure your boat in its slip and leave, there's always that sense of wondering what would happen if there was an issue when I wasn't there. Boats spend the majority of their life at the dock and over 70% of boat damage and boat sinkings occur while docked. Small problems can become big problems if not addressed quickly.
Unattended boats, where they spend the majority of their life, and where the majority of problems occur was in need of a simple way for passersby seeing an issue to be able to easily contact the boat owner.
From Idea to Product Launch
The top design criterion was simplicity. It had to work with any smart device with a camera. It had to work without downloading or installing any new apps. A single still image can convey a situation better than a writen description, so in addition to texting, it had to support sending pictures. The solution had to be simple and intuitive to use. Someone wanting to contact a boat owner shouldn't need more than two actions on their phone to contact a boat owner. For both the boat owner and the person contacting them, privacy had to be maintained. Neither party's real phone numbers could be revealed to each other.
Scan. Send. Communicate! The first boatQR Tag is installed on the dock in front of my boat and the initial feedback is very positive.
What's next... because boats aren't always in their home marina, we need to finalize a boatQR Tag sticker that can be applied to your boat so it can be scanned wherever your boat is. Up here in the northeast where we store our boats out of the water for half the year, there is also a boatQR storage tag that can be attached to your boat cradle/winter cover. I've seen many a winter cover rip apart in the winter winds!