Page 17 - Customer Needs and Use Assessments (CNUA) of pH Sensors

ACT In Situ pH Sensors Customer Needs and Use Assessment............................................................................ 16
22. How important are the following characteristics to you when deciding which pH sensor to purchase?
Please enter a value between 1-5 for each box, where:
1 = not at all important
5 = very important
The top 12 characteristics are scored, sorted, and shown in descending order in the figure below:
The scores for the remaining 8 categories are:
Sampling interval / frequency, 2.76; Operating pressure / depth range, 2.67; Flow sensitivity, 2.53; Real-time
sensor data display and/or analysis, 2.48; Automatic calibration, 2.39; Input / output interfaces (e.g., computers,
alarms, etc), 2.21; Packaging, 2.21; Off-sensor telemetry, 2.06. As in Question 21, no single category stood out as
“not important at all.” All scores were greater than 2.
Two respondents commented and asked how Question 22 was fundamentally different from Question 21?
Both questions contain a number of categories we ask our participants to attempt to prioritize and somehow
rank. Both questions are clearly exploratory in their primary objectives. We paired the questions to look for
major shifts in point value among identical categories as the respondents prioritized characteristics in what they
actually use versus what they desire. In this survey, cost, predictably, became more of a concern and climbed
0.22 points, but none of the paired categories moved more than a half a point. Note that pH sensor reliability,
data reproducibility, and data uncertainty remain unchanged as the top three most important characteristics
in using or choosing to purchase an in situ pH sensor. It is interesting to note that one respondent felt that this
question was also irrelevant, but for a different reason. As a resource manager, he was required to use specific
pH sensor and did not have a choice, so he did not answer this question.. If you build sensors either as a sensor
developer or as a manufacturer, or you are an administrator gathering recommendations on what to buy, we
hope this data is of value as end users are often not included in the decision process.