User>Driven

on product development

1. Pierre B 9.2.08 / 12am

   I think it’s an excellent idea, but it does take some getting used to; from personal experience in Europe, my first reaction was "cheap-ass bastards!", but then I thought about the environmental consequences, and I was okay with it.If using a room for business, I’d have an issue if I needed to leave my laptop running in the room (downloading files from the office) while I was having dinner, or just wanted to recharge it. Having one plug "always on" would solve that issue for business travellers.For improved convenience, have a reader in the hotel lobby. Swipe in when you enter the hotel, and the climate control in your room starts up, so it’s already a bit cooler/warmer when you get there. It’s more psychological than anything else, but it might be a nice touch!
2. Charlie B 9.2.08 / 12am

   Yes, these devices are all over the place in Europe and Asia, and I’m sure I’ve seen them in the US from time to time. Must make sense to deploy more, as energy prices keep rising.As you say, they’re a bit confusing when you first use them, but fine once you know what they are. A little light marketing should sort the issue.An additional benefit is one of safety – it makes sure that you don’t leave an iron or coffee machine switched on, which could be a fire risk.A few additional requirements:- it’s important that the device is illuminated, so you can find it in the dark- Desk plug sockets should not be switched off, so you can leave your phone/laptop on charge- The TV set-top box ideally needs to be one that remembers what channel it was tuned to
3. Russell Moore 9.2.08 / 4am

   I used to be a hotel manager at a resort in Waikiki. We had a simple one – just the presence of a key (any key or skinny card shaped object) in the slot inside the room would turn on lights & AC. Only controlled outlets, TV, and AC would be switched on this device, so you could leave your laptop plugged in to recharge. From the service-side perspective, you saw a few things: People did get confused & called down a lot. This costs money as well, if you boil it down to man-hours and customer satisfaction. People would leave their keys in the room & come to the desk and request additional keys, so you end up having more keys floating around than you need to. Maids would be instructed to remove cards that were left in the rooms, causing people who had left them there because their room was uncomfortable when they came back to become annoyed & request that just for their room we didn’t follow the policy of removing keys that were left. Generally, for greater than 80% of guests, it worked well, however you need to balance it because if you let the rooms get too warm, it takes time & a lot of cranking the AC on high (least efficient mode) to get back to a comfortable temperature, negating any savings you had. The AC/Heat should probably run at a maintenance temperature rather than just "off".If it became a staple of hotel energy management, I think people would learn to live with the minor inconveniences and embrace it. I like the way most hotels now request that you help them save water by signifying if you would like your towels/linens washed – it leaves an out to get around the default behavior. Perhaps something like that approach would help this effort as well – a master switch that you could put "on" on the console to override the key thing when you needed to, and a note about energy efficiency.
4. Barry C 9.2.08 / 4am

   I’ve used these all over the world. The first time I encountered one I was a little confused by the lack of lights and power. A little education by the front desk would have helped tremendously. Also instructions on the card itself and on the little folder (if the hotel uses those … which I wish they wouldn’t because it is a waste of paper … not very green even if it is made from 90% post consumer product).I’ve usually found that one outlet is "always on" as previously commented, although it isn’t always obvious which one it is … signage is important here.I’ve always had mixed feelings about this idea. Yes, it saves on power, but that doesn’t always seem to reflect itself in the room charge and I have no way of knowing if I’m just being inconvenienced or if it’s actually doing some good. It especially annoys me when I walk past that line of conference rooms sitting empty with all the lights on and the thermostat set to 68degF at 11.30pm on my way to bed from the bar. Most hotels could probably save more money by exercising better power management in these rooms … over which they have complete control.Here’s an idea to make it more accepted: give bonus points to those customers who keep their power consumption under some level, and reduce the points award for those who exceed it by a certain amount. Use a sliding scale so the more you consume the fewer points you get. That way the folks who crank the A/C will not be penalized financially (at least not yet) but by how long it takes them to earn free nights. It reduces the net value of the points they accumulate.
5. claire 9.2.08 / 5am

   It was odd at first, but the advantage is that the system memorizes the lights you had on and would restore your room configuration when the card was inserted again. That’s a nice feature.
6. Guillaume M 9.2.08 / 9am

   As a european living in asia, I’m used to find it in hotels and I like the idea of saving energy…. But I really really hate not being able to charge my laptop when I go out of the room…
7. Phillip K 9.2.08 / 3pm

   I think this is a great idea, although there will always be times when you want to leave a gadget on when you are not in the room — for example, a laptop downloading a large file or just charging up the battery. My hotel in Tokyo used a similar contraption to regulate power usage in my room, but I found that I would leave an extra key card in the slot during the times that I wanted to charge up the lappy when out to dinner or on weekends. As a result I think that the best implementation of this system would have a dedicated "always-on" outlet for charging of battery-driven devices.
8. Troy Davis 9.2.08 / 4pm

   Thanks for all the feedback so far, we typically leave the outlets operating so you can charge anything you need. And we also have the ability to set back the AC temp so the room temperature doesn’t get out of control. Most of what we control are the more energy hungry devices like the TV and the AC. Any other thoughts or concerns? Troy
9. Chris 9.2.08 / 8pm

   It’s great that you leave the outlets running, since that seems to be the most common objection and you’re already on top of it. I think this is a terrific idea.At least during the initial introduction of the device, I think trained hotel staff would be a big help in making it acceptable to guests. There would be a great difference between needing to locate and use a device you’ve never seen before, even if it’s lit or labeled, and having a smiling face say, "Are you familiar with our new system? It’s helping us save a lot of energy and it’s easy to use. All you have to do…." I wouldn’t rely on tired business travelers or harried vacationing parents to notice something on the wall, but I bet they would feel good about it if it’s presented to them in a personal way, as a benefit.
10. Jeff Lash 9.2.08 / 9pm

    I flew overnight from the US to London a few winters ago. The weather was horrible (a rare snow in London), my flight was delayed, I had a cold and was on all sorts of medication, and I barely slept on the flight over. When I finally arrived at my hotel, they didn’t have a room available, so I wandered the streets for hours in the cold, finally returning in the afternoon when I was even more tired and feeling even worse.When I got into my room, all I wanted to do was take a hot shower and go to sleep — except I couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights on. I think I fumbled for a few minutes before walking back down to the front desk (had to walk since I couldn’t find the phone) to ask them for help.I do like the idea, and on subsequent stays at the hotel I was glad to use it — it’s just the "learnability" that needs some work.I’m probably the atypical business traveler who doesn’t need fresh linens for a two-night stay and brings newspapers and magazines home to recycle if the hotel doesn’t offer recycling, though I like this concept because it essentially forces people (nicely) to conserve. Make it more clear how it works, make it "smart" (Charlie B offers some suggestions), and I think it’s a win-win-win.JeffBlog: How To Be a Good Product Manager
11. Thomas 9.18.08 / 10pm

    Hotels in Asia work this way ten years ago. If you want to leave the power on in your room, simply put something else in the slot.

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