Product ยท New product development
Optimising the Fourth-Generation Litter Robot with Whisker
1-week
beta community
200
beta units
Pre-launch
real-home trial
The challenge
Testing high-tech performance in the wild
Whisker had developed a beta version of their fourth automated cat litter tray and needed to see how it performed in a real home environment before the official launch.
They were looking for a way to observe potential customers and their pets interacting with the device to identify bugs, usability quirks, or simple likes and dislikes.
Project context
- Industry Pet tech
- Solution New product development
- Format Beta-tester community
- Participants Owners among 200 trial units
- Methods Photo and video, longitudinal usage
The approach
A direct, real-time feedback loop with beta testers
We facilitated a one-week online community specifically for beta testers who had received one of the 200 units sent out for trial.
Moment-of-truth capture
Using our mobile platform features, participants documented the unboxing and initial setup process through photos and videos.
Longitudinal usage
As participants and their cats used the product throughout the week, they shared in-the-moment feedback on the functional performance of both the device and the app.
Technical troubleshooting
The Whisker development team was able to engage directly with participants on our community platform, digging into technical issues as they emerged.
The result
Issues found while there was still time to fix them
The community gave Whisker clear, actionable guidance on necessary improvements to both the physical hardware and the app interface before launch. By identifying and fixing issues in the wild, we helped Whisker ensure a significantly more reliable experience for their wider customer base from day one.
Ready to see incling in action?
Talk to the team about your research challenge and we will show you what is possible.