Co-operative Evaluation: Mrs Fernandez

Day: Thursday, March 12th
Time: 11:45
Weather conditions: Mild and cloudy with occasional light rain.

The session began with Mrs Fernandez’ in high spirits and very keen to participate. The garden, 4m x 8m, appeared well kept but evidently had not been tended for several weeks as requested. Most of the flora that needed attention consisted of rose bushes, holly, geraniums and apple blossom however there was also a ornamental tree, approximately 1m high that needed attention. Mrs Fernandez speculated that it would take her up to 1 hour to complete the work with her normal tools. She also insisted that I used her first name, May.

Before beginning the work, May and I enjoyed some refreshments while she answered a few questions regarding the design of the product. Her initial thoughts were that the tool seemed "well made" and "balanced" but she needed some assurance that the tool was very safe to use.

We entered at the garden at 12:15 and May began work on the small tree. She noted that usually this gives her the most trouble as the branches are “very hard and dry”. She was very pleased at how easily the EasyTrim was able to tackle through them. She noted that her hearing is not so good and the tool is very quiet which made it hard to tell if the blade was spinning up. May was able to perform 10 cuts per minute. The average diameter of each was approximately 5mm.

Following the small tree, May moved on to a rose bush. This presented more of a challenge because the branches were thicker, thorned and significantly more fibrous causing the blade to stick regularly. May had a tendency to squeeze the handles too forcefully, shearing the branches rather than allowing the teeth to cut the fibres. I explained that somewhat unintuitvely, applying less pressure to the handles will make the task easier and prevent damage to the EasyTrim. On this task, May became frustrated and we decided to move on without completing it. On the rose bushes, May was able to perform 2 cuts per minute. The average diameter of the branch was 10mm

At this point it began to drizzle so we went inside while we a waited for the rain to subside. During this time we discussed the robustness of the tool. May was very concerned about water resistance because she occasionally she leaves things out in the rain, she also wanted to know if there was any possibility of getting “electrocuted” if she used it with hands. She also mentioned that she has a tendency to drop things accidentally or knock them off a work surface.

The rain cleared after 5 minutes and May resumed gardening. The remainder of the task consisted of small bushes and shrubs up to 0.5m high. The average branch diameter was 3-7mm. May tackled these with ease using the EasyTrim. By this time May was using the tool with great proficiency and was performing up to 13 cuts per minute. At no point during the exercise did she appear fatigued and she commented that she would normally be "out of breath" by this time. Indeed she was enjoying the activity greatly, a sentiment that she expressed three times during the course of the session. The entire task was completed in 45 minutes, 15 minutes less than anticipated.

May was thanked for her time and participation.

Conclusions:

The results and observations from the co-operative evaluation were largely positive. A number of issues have been raised.

- EasyTrim should incorporate a blade with smaller teeth so that it does not stick.
- EasyTrim should be resilient and robust enough to survive a 1m fall onto a hard surface.
- EasyTrim should be able to resist water damage from rain.
- The aesthetics are pleasing to the user.
- Battery life is more than sufficient for the user’s needs.
- Emphasise that less pressure makes the tool work more efficiently.