Testing the Hypothesis: Part Two
Who: Are there certain people or certain businesses that, although they share a lot in common with the others in your opportunity, nevertheless fall outside the boundary? Why?
No matter the idea you cannot capture everyone in your market. For my specific proposal, the Smartfood app, there are definitely people who fall outside the boundary. For example, even though we all need to eat not everyone can afford variety and difference in their diet on a weekly basis. My first interviewee was a maid at my house and she explains how she puts all her money towards sending her kids to school and giving them everything they need to succeed in the future. In her world food is sustenance and nothing more. She can’t afford to prepare healthy new me
als for her family because she doesn’t have the time or money so the Smartfood app would not make a difference in her life. Interviewee number 2 was a young 23-year-old boy just starting in the work force. His position was that he does not understand the kitchen or how it works and that he only trusts the microwave. This is a very common trait I see among people. The unwillingness to understand how to cook because it isn’t important to them. They view microwaveable food the same as fresh ingredients.
What: At what point does the need you identified differ from another need? (Is thirst the same as hunger? Or is the desire to appear fashionable the same as the desire to be loved by others?)
The need reflected in my Smartfood app is the desire to eat healthy wholesome food without all the trouble of planning out recipes ahead of time. It provides accurate prices and locations for every ingredient listed so it is up to you the user how costly they want to make their meal. This need differs from wanting to learn to cook. My app is not meant to teach techniques and doesn’t involve anything super complicated that way it can be used by any ordinary user all that is needed is a basic kitchen with basic tools. Interviewee number 3 was a friend of mine who had talked to me about his interest in learning to cook and we discussed my Smartfood app and how it wouldn’t be what he was currently interested in since he wanted to truly learn about culinary techniques and I agreed. Later though it was mentioned that he could use my app as a reference for ingredients and inspiration which is something I touched on in part A of this assignment. Interviewee number 4 spoke about how my app wouldn’t interest him due to the fact that he already knows what he likes. This lead to show me that it would be beneficial if I could make the Smartfood app something that inspired creativity and excitement in the kitchen. If I could create that kind of reputation for my app then I would be able to make more people like my interviewee believe in diversity and to try new things.
Why: Is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary?
Sometimes, as I mentioned above, money can be a factor that limits what people can do and I can’t control that underlying cause. I think for both candidates and non-candidates all it takes to be inside my boundary is a willingness to try something new. My goal is to capture every user the first time they use the Smartfood app. So there definitely is a difference in causes between people inside and outside my boundary. I also believe that because everyone needs to eat there is a possibility to move people outside the boundary in. On the most basic level I am providing a service for people that everyone can utilize due to the fact that food is a basic necessity. The last interviewee I spoke to was an old woman of about 70 years old who didn’t fit inside the boundary because, in her words, “I have already done all the fun experimenting in the kitchen I can handle in my life” so that was comical but made sense. Age and money are both factors out of my control that affect the boundaries of my opportunity.
No matter the idea you cannot capture everyone in your market. For my specific proposal, the Smartfood app, there are definitely people who fall outside the boundary. For example, even though we all need to eat not everyone can afford variety and difference in their diet on a weekly basis. My first interviewee was a maid at my house and she explains how she puts all her money towards sending her kids to school and giving them everything they need to succeed in the future. In her world food is sustenance and nothing more. She can’t afford to prepare healthy new me
als for her family because she doesn’t have the time or money so the Smartfood app would not make a difference in her life. Interviewee number 2 was a young 23-year-old boy just starting in the work force. His position was that he does not understand the kitchen or how it works and that he only trusts the microwave. This is a very common trait I see among people. The unwillingness to understand how to cook because it isn’t important to them. They view microwaveable food the same as fresh ingredients.
What: At what point does the need you identified differ from another need? (Is thirst the same as hunger? Or is the desire to appear fashionable the same as the desire to be loved by others?)
The need reflected in my Smartfood app is the desire to eat healthy wholesome food without all the trouble of planning out recipes ahead of time. It provides accurate prices and locations for every ingredient listed so it is up to you the user how costly they want to make their meal. This need differs from wanting to learn to cook. My app is not meant to teach techniques and doesn’t involve anything super complicated that way it can be used by any ordinary user all that is needed is a basic kitchen with basic tools. Interviewee number 3 was a friend of mine who had talked to me about his interest in learning to cook and we discussed my Smartfood app and how it wouldn’t be what he was currently interested in since he wanted to truly learn about culinary techniques and I agreed. Later though it was mentioned that he could use my app as a reference for ingredients and inspiration which is something I touched on in part A of this assignment. Interviewee number 4 spoke about how my app wouldn’t interest him due to the fact that he already knows what he likes. This lead to show me that it would be beneficial if I could make the Smartfood app something that inspired creativity and excitement in the kitchen. If I could create that kind of reputation for my app then I would be able to make more people like my interviewee believe in diversity and to try new things.
Why: Is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary?
Sometimes, as I mentioned above, money can be a factor that limits what people can do and I can’t control that underlying cause. I think for both candidates and non-candidates all it takes to be inside my boundary is a willingness to try something new. My goal is to capture every user the first time they use the Smartfood app. So there definitely is a difference in causes between people inside and outside my boundary. I also believe that because everyone needs to eat there is a possibility to move people outside the boundary in. On the most basic level I am providing a service for people that everyone can utilize due to the fact that food is a basic necessity. The last interviewee I spoke to was an old woman of about 70 years old who didn’t fit inside the boundary because, in her words, “I have already done all the fun experimenting in the kitchen I can handle in my life” so that was comical but made sense. Age and money are both factors out of my control that affect the boundaries of my opportunity.
Great job! Dieting is really important, and I think there could be a need for something that makes eating food simpler. Like Victor said in your last hypothesis, I believe it might already exist. A quick google searched showed me sites like, http://www.supercook.com/#/recipes and https://www.bigoven.com which I think do what you described here.
ReplyDeleteI suppose differentiating your product from there’s could be a second step forward, although I’m not sure. Perhaps even finding the reason why so many people aren’t using these apps. Personally, I’ve had the need for something like this, but never did it because I didn’t think it existed. or perhaps just my laziness.