Your Turn
Give the New Idea Scorecard a try. On a scale of 1 to 5, rate the two innovations below with respect to
Everett Rogers’ five characteristics of spreadable ideas. Which one do you think is more likely to spread?
1 — “The change is very weak relative to this attribute.”
3 — “The change is okay relative to this attribute.”
5 — “The change is very strong relative to this attribute.”
1. A car-bicycle blend with a small electric
motor and solar panels that can go for
1,800 miles (2,895 kilometers) on the
energy equivalent of a gallon of gas;
price starts around 5,000 USD2
Laura
Andy
Mike
Steph
AVG.
Discussion


Relative
Advantage
5
2
5
1
3.25



Simplicity
2
3
1
1
1.75




Compatibility
2
2
4
1
2.25



Trialability
1
2
1
1
1.25
Observability
4
3
5
5
4.25




It is much less expensive and better for the
environment than a car, but you can’t carry a lot of
people or stuff.
It is much faster than a bike, but it doesn’t provide
exercise.
The functionality is similar to a motorcycle, but it
seems less versatile.
Existing road and parking systems aren’t set up for it,
and you probably couldn’t use it on highways.
You could drive the vehicle in the rain, when you can’t
easily use a bike or motorcycle.
The solar aspect seems complicated.
It seems somewhat difficult to learn.
There would be a lot of legal questions, such as what
roads you can take, where you can park, and what
type of license and/or registration you need.
It is environmentally friendly — which some people
care about a lot.
It doesn’t improve safety, and it might be dangerous.
There are a lot of alternatives, so it isn’t clearly
fulfilling a strong need.
The cost savings on gas would be significant,
especially for daily commuters.
If you gave it to people for free, they could test it out,
but it would be expensive for people to try otherwise.
It would be dangerous without proper training.
It’s brightly colored and you would definitely notice it
driving around.
It wouldn’t be immediately clear what other mode of
transportation someone was replacing.
2. An activity-tracking wristband that can
measure personal data such as steps
walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, and
other health and fitness metrics; price starts
around 130 USD3
Laura
Andy
Mike
Steph
AVG.
Relative
Advantage
5
4
5
5
4.75
Simplicity
4
2
1
5
3
Discussion






Compatibility
Trialability
4
5
5
4
4
3
5
3
4.5
3.75








Observability
2
4
4
5
3.75


It can track a lot of data that would usually require more
complicated equipment.
You can live the same healthy lifestyle without it.
Putting it on would be easy for most people.
It requires downloading programs, which may be
confusing or have bugs.
It would be difficult to explain to someone who isn’t
comfortable with technology.
Interpreting the data would take some getting used to
and could be frustrating to learn.
People care about their health.
Fitness is trendy.
People might not want to wear a wristband all the time
or on certain occasions.
The cost could be a barrier.
It wouldn’t require a lot of training beyond the initial
setup.
It would be easy to distribute to people.
You wouldn’t necessarily see that a person was wearing
it or be able to tie visible results to it.
If you did see someone wearing it, you would probably
ask them about it.
As a user, you could react immediately to the data it
provides.
Users who were inspired to make lifestyle changes
would have visible results.
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