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Santa Clara University Case Study
Case Study
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara University was interested in ways of meeting printing challenges of their student population. Their IT department has a clear mission statement: "To help others succeed through the appropriate use of technology." They wanted to make printing more convenient, but weren't sure how.
Law students, like most mobile professionals, regularly face printing challenges when away from their main work place. Laptops enable professionals to work almost anywhere. The ubiquity of wireless connectivity means mobile workers can easily access the Internet and do much of what they do at their home or office: communicate with others, attend virtual meetings, and work on web-based applications. However, one important element of "working on the go" remains elusive—a quick, easy, and reliable way to print.
The IT Department of Santa Clara University learned of the research conducted at Ricoh Innovations and applied as a research candidate. Ricoh Innovations selected Santa Clara University as a research site because the insight into mobile printing sought by Santa Clara was also of interest to Ricoh's product planning. When asked to recall his reasons for wanting to take part in a research study with Ricoh, Santa Clara IT Director, Carl Fussel, stated that Ricoh was a printing leader and could bring a deep understanding of consumer printing needs, issues, and patterns. Second, he understood that Ricoh Innovations, as a purely research organization, shared a common interest in "insights" and was not trying to sell them anything. And lastly, and most importantly, Ricoh's process and prior research demonstrated a serious commitment to solving mobile printing issues in future products.
"We were impressed with the team's balance of user research, business, and engineering skills. We knew Ricoh was serious about gaining insights that would be difficult to discover without this research oriented approach."
