My prototypical customer is an 18-25-year-old young adult/college student. These individuals are usually either full-time students or are already employed. Their hobbies can range from going out with friends to video games or hitting the gym. If they are on the younger end they will tend to drive used cars while the older end will probably have a brand new car that they have recently bought. Being as young as they are they don't watch much TV as people older them but do rely heavily on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube for entertainment. They are tech-savvy and spend a lot of their free time on the internet either on social media, streaming entertainment content or communicating with other people. Political affiliation is pretty split down the middle with the average person this age leaning more to the center-left/left. These individuals are young and ambitious and are trying to find the balance between school/work and enjoying their late teens/early twenties. They try and spend their money wisely but sometimes do not because they are new to the idea of paying their own bills, rent, etc.
I obviously share a lot in common with the customer avatar because I fall into the target demographic. The description of the customer avatar is a pretty good snapshot of the millennial and Gen Z generations that are the target consumers of my application so I do not think it is a coincidence that I share so much in common. My application solves a problem I myself faced so it makes sense that I should be similar to the customer avatar.
All of my feedback was positive so that was good to see. Everyone seemed to be interested in the product as well as the problem it was solving. The only thing that I received some constructive criticism on was my delivery of the information. The people that commented liked what I had to say but mentioned I should try and be more enthusiastic to grab the customer's attention. I think all the feedback is important and useful as it makes the pitch better in the end.
I tried to change my delivery to be more enthusiastic and involved and also tried to be more relatable to the customer to maintain their attention and interest.
In terms
of human capital, I believe that the following qualities are some of the things
that make me unique and who I am:
1.)I
think I am a very driven person. It is always something that I pride myself in.
I strive to achieve my goals and often drop everything to focus solely on them.
2.)I
believe that I am very approachable and easy to talk to. I am a very friendly
person and have a welcoming personality that makes it easy to strike up a
conversation with me.
3.)I
consider myself to be a good listener. I will often not speak and let the other
person express themselves freely and completely before adding my thoughts or opinions
to the conversation.
4.)I
consider myself to be a very capable and creative problem solver. I find
enjoyment in trying to solve a problem not only in the best way but also in the
most out-of-the-box fashion.
5.)I
believe that I am very detailed orientated. I think that things should be done
as accurately and as completely as possible, so I strive to have even the most
minute detail in order and as close to perfection as possible.
Interview
summaries:
Veronica:
Veronica said that she thinks that I am a very goal-orientated person that
works well under pressure. She also goes on to mention that I am resourceful
and that I am a team-player that tries to get the best out of people in order
to find the best solution to a problem.
Jose: Jose
said that I am an extremely responsible person. He also goes on to mention that
I am a perfectionist that goes the extra mile when it comes to something that I
am focused on.
Ky: Ky
said that she thinks that I am a respectful person that tries to understand
other people’s perspectives. She also mentions that I am a passionate person
that becomes invested in things that really matter to me.
Lynnette:
Lynnette mentioned that I am a very understanding person and that I am a person
you can come to when you need to be heard. She also went on to say that she
thinks that I am a very self-confident person that doesn’t let the opinion of
others get to me.
Sneha:
Sneha said that I am a person that is very easy to talk and easy to keep a
conversation going with. She also mentions that I am someone who is passionate
and that is able to share experiences or information that I am passionate about
with others easily.
Reflection:
I think that I see myself very similarly to how others see me. I try to be very
transparent when it comes to who I am, so it is no surprise that many different
people see me as I see myself. I think the only difference is that I do not
think I am as friendly as I come off. I think people consider me to be way
nicer than I think I am simply because I never think I am nice enough. I think
that all of the interviewees were right about me. What they said about me are
things that people, other than them, have said. They are things I have
recognized about myself. I think the only change I would make is to the 1st
trait about my drive. I would add more about how passionate I can be about
things and how that passion helps me stay focused, and also how I try to share
that passion with others.
As discussed in previous assignments, the segment I have chosen to target are individuals 18-25 and more specifically college-aged students. For this assignment, I interviewed three new individuals who fall inside of the segment, two girls and a guy that are students here at UF that are 19-20 years old.
When it came to discussing alternatives to my app, I started by listing other applications that were similar to mine (Groupon, Yelp, Foursquare, etc.) and asking the interviewee’s how much they knew about each alternative and if they considered them to be comparable to my application. All three of them told me that they recognized the names of the applications but not all of them had used them before. The one they had all used was Groupon, which also was the one they deemed not an alternative. One of the girls mentioned that she uses Groupon a lot but does not see it as an alternative to my app because although it does offer deals, they center around group events that are aimed at entertainment and recreation mainly. When asked what sort of qualities they looked for in applications (price, usability, function, accessibility) they all agreed that they will use a free app over a paid one. The guy I interviewed elaborated by saying that he very rarely will pay for an application and will usually gravitate towards apps that have easy to use menus and controls. The consensus among the three was that free or freemium apps were the ones they chose the most and that when it comes to mobile applications being free to use is the most important part.
As my application is completely digital and free, the question of “how/where would they buy” was a bit of an easy one. They all said that they download apps from their phone’s app store and that they were more likely to download an app than go to a website. One of the girls mentioned that she prefers to have an app that she can quickly access than a website she has to remember and that doesn’t work great on mobile web browsers. So, for members of this segment, apps that offer services like mine are more likely to be used as digital applications that are downloaded from an app store than an online website.
Finally, when asked about any post-purchase thoughts all three of the interviewees told me that they did not think a lot after downloading an app. One of the girls explained that if she finds the app useful, she keeps it but if she doesn’t like it or doesn’t use it, she will delete it. Most applications have very short use times so downloading and deleting them is a very risk-free practice that does not garner much post-purchase thoughts or opinions. If it works and is useful, it was a good idea to download it. If it is confusing or not as useful as the user imagined, it is deleted.
In conclusion, I think the fact that my product/service is a software application provides me with a unique situation when it comes to the topics that I questioned the interviewees about. Things like “where to buy” and “post-purchase evaluations” are either completely non-existent or in a different context when compared to physical items or a service provided at a physical location. I think the tech-savviness of this particular segment lends itself to the fact that most consumers in this age range do not think about it too much when downloading an app they are interested in. They will look for the free, easy-to-use, and intuitive option when it comes to applications. As long as it is free and easy to use, that is what matters.
I think that I have developed my time management skills more while taking this class. The volume of assignments each week has forced me to look ahead and plan my whole week out so that I can complete the assignments for this class as well as work for my other classes. Being able to find time to dedicate to this class was not something that was easy when I started this class, but as time has gone on the schedule of this class has forced me to develop my time management skills in order to stay on top of the work and be successful.
There were many times over the past few months where I would have so much going on during the week that I didn't think I would be able to complete the assignments assigned during that week. I had exams coming up or I was working more, so I decided I wouldn't do them and just try and make up the points later. But as the deadline came I convinced myself that it needed to be done and powered through the rest of the work/studying in order to complete the assignments. I think this class gas developed my attitude of tenacity and perseverance to be able to finish the assignments even when I am super busy.
1) Make sure to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to complete the assignments.
2) If you find yourself behind on the weekly assignments, power through and get them done on time.
3)Find time to work on this class. Sacrifice some of your free time to work on the assignments so that you can make progress towards completing them.
I choose to
read the Elon Musk biography written by Ashlee Vance.
This really was a no-brainer for me as I consider Elon to be one of the most
interesting, intelligent and forward-thinking people of our time. It was a great opportunity to be able to sit down and learn more about his life from someone
who was able to really talk to the man and not the person that we see in the
media. I think the biggest thing that surprised me about Elon and his life was
the sheer success he’s had. In a little over twenty years, he was able to get a
world-class education at UPenn and then proceed to head some of the most innovative
and important companies in the world. I think it is surprising and rather
remarkable that he was able to have success at not just one company but at
almost all of them (SpaceX, Tesla, SolarCity, Hyperloop, The Boring Company, OpenAI).
With all his success aside, I think the thing I ended up admiring most about
Elon was the fact that he does not see himself as the billionaire businessman the
world sees him as. He very much still considers himself an engineer first and
foremost. He frequently would work side-by-side with the engineers at SpaceX
and Tesla just as if he was just another employee and not the CEO. I think this
is admirable, not only because it shows humility but also shows what he considers
to be his main function. He may be the co-founder and CEO, but he also still wants
to work on the nitty-gritty like any good engineer. I’d say the thing I least
admire is his somewhat stubborn attitude when it comes to developing products
for his companies or dealing with the outside media. Elon faced many failures
throughout his career, more recently the failed launches and landings of
rockets launched by SpaceX. Elon and many of his head engineers were quoted as
saying that they took the crashes as a way to collect more data and hopefully
improve for future launches.
Elon Musk is known for setting very ambitious goals for his
companies/projects to achieve. Goal setting is a competency that all good entrepreneurs’
practice. He has not always met his goals in the timeframe set out in the beginning
(Tesla’s vehicle rollout dates in particular) but he uses them as a means to show
the big picture of what he hopes to accomplish.
It was confusing to understand how Elon failed many times
to get financial backing for his first company Zip2. He met with many venture
capitalists and had a strong idea that was new at the time but was turned down
countless times. He was a young and hungry entrepreneur but the VC’s turned him
down anyway which was a little confusing and hard to believe.
Elon’s vision for Mars and AI are some of the topics covered
in the book and therefore the topics of my two questions. My first question would
be to ask how realistic he sees the possibility of terraforming Mars. He “jokingly”
said it could be done by detonating thermonuclear weapons above the surface,
but I am curious if he has an outline or plan as to how to achieve what would be
a monstrous feat. And secondly, I’d ask if he feels humanity is ready to accept
the fact that merging with AI might be the only way to avoid being destroyed
by it. He has claimed this so I would be curious to hear him elaborate on it
more.
I think that Elon looks at hard work and perseverance as
many of us do. In the biography, the author claims that the only reason she was
probably given the chance by him to write the book was that she never gave up
after being told no and constantly bugged Elon to reconsider. Elon saw that she
wanted to write the book and that she didn’t give up so I think he values hard
work and really striving to achieve something even when stuff stands in your
way.
Findings: The segment I chose to focus on was people aged 18-25, specifically college-aged kids here in Gainesville. From this segment, I chose to interview two girls and a guy that fit inside this specific demographic. While speaking to these three people they all agreed that they all have the problem of wanting to go out but not finding cheap places that are a better value. When speaking to them individually I saw that all three of them described similar situations where they encountered this problem. As all three of them are socially active they all had the need when they go out with friends. They each described nights where they wanted to go out but weren’t sure how much they should spend or were worried about spending too much. When faced with this problem they all tried to look up as much information as they could on the restaurant or bar they planned on going to, but they could never find all the information they needed. Things like prices, menu items, and specials can be inconsistent across locations. The young man mentioned that if he could not find information on a specific bar online he would often ask his friends if they knew anything about it. While this could result in some information that isn’t online, he said it was not the quickest way. This shows that there is a need for the information to be accessible and accurate to better help the user save money while still having a good time out with friends.
Conclusion: This segment, 18-25-year-olds, is the true target of my application. Not only are they the most active and concurrent users of mobile applications, but they are also the demographic that stands to benefit the most from the service provided. They are the most aware of the problem as many do not have the disposable income of individuals who are older and thus need to budget their money more. This demographic is also more likely to take the time to use an application to find this information where others would just end their search after finding just the price or operating hours.
