Testing the Hypothesis
The who: Everybody needs to eat so everyone is a potential customer.
The what: Not everybody knows how to cook. Even something super simple.
The why: Limited time/experience cooking and not having ability to plan meals due to lack of knowledge.
Everybody needs to eat. That is one mutual characteristic everyone shares yet not everybody can cook. As a 21-year-old college student trying to fend for myself, it can be hard to put together meals to cook. I am not a chef or a culinary student and I love to eat healthy and work out. A cooking recipe app that allows you to input ingredients of your choice that you either crave or have readily available and then provides you with multiple healthy recipes would be a huge asset to my life. There cooking apps in existence but I am thinking of something that is crafted specifically o meet the needs of the user only. The app would be interactive in that people could suggest alterations to the recipe, add suggestions, and provide ratings for each recipe. The recipes would be listed starting by most popular. There could be regional searches for types of food recipes given for the specific ingredients listed etc.
Interviewer 1: Young Adult with Limited Cooking Experience
I thought of this unmeet need because as a young adult living alone and with limited experience in the kitchen it is very hard to plan out every meal I eat. My interviewer said she likes to be healthy after a workout and eating out is never the best choice. She doesn’t mind cooking but doesn’t love having to figure out what goes good together. She googles recipes but that is after she gets an idea of something she wants to cook with the supplies she has available. There is nothing she can use as a reference to give her an idea of something to cook with the supplies she has at that specific moment. As a college student this app gives the benefit of being able to use readily available supplies in a creative way.
I completely related to my interviewer who is a fellow college mate. It is hard to be healthy, yummy, and quick at the same time and a service to help provide that unmet need would be really beneficial. It could be marketed by college kids and others to create an awareness and be very extensive in the amount of information it could provide to its users. I learned that the app would have to be very accurate, easy to use, and fun if it were to be successful in this market.
Interviewer 2: Kitchen Staff at a Home
Providing their employers with a menu every week can be hard to do after many years of employment pass. Diversification becomes harder to accomplish and it is hard to appease your employers when you don’t have any ideas. This app I am proposing would allow these house workers to be able to ask their employers what they are in the mood for and decide on a recipe for the day on that suggestion. In this situation it isn’t about what you have available but how you can diversify and satisfy your employers. This can serve any sort of catering service. Including alcoholic beverages.
The house worker I spoke to agreed with everything mentioned above and emphasized the importance of the app being catered towards making the employers happy. It is hard when running house to make everything perfect and am app with this capability would be a huge assist. I learned that ratings and comments suggesting tips to avoid mistakes or burning would be a really big help since you don’t want to make the process overcomplicated. The process should be straightforward and easy.
Interviewer 3: Anyone Who Buys Groceries Regularly
Some people have the means to eat out all the time but most do not. Another target market, or customer, are people that buy groceries regularly. Anybody trying to have a nice, fresh, healthy meal at home that isn’t overcomplicated and doesn’t take to long to make. This app would be detail oriented down to the brand of product being used for exact cooking times and such.
For my interviewer, I tried to stay out of my other two markets but I had to list this as a possibility because it applies to all. I chose a 35-year-old male to interview. I wanted a male’s insight on the idea. He stated that it would definitely be beneficial. It can be exhausting having to come home from work and plan out a meal on a long day. It can also be beneficial when trying to impress a date or just house guests when they are invited over. You don’t always have to cook something super yummy but when you have guests you definitely want to impress. I learned that having a variety of meals from snack like avocado toast to steak entrees would be really beneficial to meeting the needs of every possible user. Whether it’s a meal for guests or a meal before running to a meeting you can always find it.
Interviewer 4 and 5: Cooks and Chefs that Need Inspiration
These aren’t the most in need users but anything to help spark new ideas for chefs can always help. I interviewed a chef from a restaurant and a family friend who is an experienced cook but mostly cooks at home. Both gave positive feedback on how sometimes they like to research new ideas for a spark of creativity. They insinuated how the better the ease of the app worked the more likely they would regularly attempt to use it. Their main attraction to this app would be the extensive collection of cooking data within the app and how well it matches them together.
Reflection:
After speaking to my interviewees, I definitely believe there is a universal unmet need for this app. There is a huge available market and endless possibilities. If anything new ways of innovating my original vision came about from these interviews. My original opportunity is not only still available but also more defined due to my round of interviews. I think customer feedback is invaluable information needed to complete successful innovation within a company or idea. If you don’t listen to those using your product or service how do you know where you excel and where you fall short.
The what: Not everybody knows how to cook. Even something super simple.
The why: Limited time/experience cooking and not having ability to plan meals due to lack of knowledge.
Everybody needs to eat. That is one mutual characteristic everyone shares yet not everybody can cook. As a 21-year-old college student trying to fend for myself, it can be hard to put together meals to cook. I am not a chef or a culinary student and I love to eat healthy and work out. A cooking recipe app that allows you to input ingredients of your choice that you either crave or have readily available and then provides you with multiple healthy recipes would be a huge asset to my life. There cooking apps in existence but I am thinking of something that is crafted specifically o meet the needs of the user only. The app would be interactive in that people could suggest alterations to the recipe, add suggestions, and provide ratings for each recipe. The recipes would be listed starting by most popular. There could be regional searches for types of food recipes given for the specific ingredients listed etc.
Interviewer 1: Young Adult with Limited Cooking Experience
I thought of this unmeet need because as a young adult living alone and with limited experience in the kitchen it is very hard to plan out every meal I eat. My interviewer said she likes to be healthy after a workout and eating out is never the best choice. She doesn’t mind cooking but doesn’t love having to figure out what goes good together. She googles recipes but that is after she gets an idea of something she wants to cook with the supplies she has available. There is nothing she can use as a reference to give her an idea of something to cook with the supplies she has at that specific moment. As a college student this app gives the benefit of being able to use readily available supplies in a creative way.
I completely related to my interviewer who is a fellow college mate. It is hard to be healthy, yummy, and quick at the same time and a service to help provide that unmet need would be really beneficial. It could be marketed by college kids and others to create an awareness and be very extensive in the amount of information it could provide to its users. I learned that the app would have to be very accurate, easy to use, and fun if it were to be successful in this market.
Interviewer 2: Kitchen Staff at a Home
Providing their employers with a menu every week can be hard to do after many years of employment pass. Diversification becomes harder to accomplish and it is hard to appease your employers when you don’t have any ideas. This app I am proposing would allow these house workers to be able to ask their employers what they are in the mood for and decide on a recipe for the day on that suggestion. In this situation it isn’t about what you have available but how you can diversify and satisfy your employers. This can serve any sort of catering service. Including alcoholic beverages.
The house worker I spoke to agreed with everything mentioned above and emphasized the importance of the app being catered towards making the employers happy. It is hard when running house to make everything perfect and am app with this capability would be a huge assist. I learned that ratings and comments suggesting tips to avoid mistakes or burning would be a really big help since you don’t want to make the process overcomplicated. The process should be straightforward and easy.
Interviewer 3: Anyone Who Buys Groceries Regularly
Some people have the means to eat out all the time but most do not. Another target market, or customer, are people that buy groceries regularly. Anybody trying to have a nice, fresh, healthy meal at home that isn’t overcomplicated and doesn’t take to long to make. This app would be detail oriented down to the brand of product being used for exact cooking times and such.
For my interviewer, I tried to stay out of my other two markets but I had to list this as a possibility because it applies to all. I chose a 35-year-old male to interview. I wanted a male’s insight on the idea. He stated that it would definitely be beneficial. It can be exhausting having to come home from work and plan out a meal on a long day. It can also be beneficial when trying to impress a date or just house guests when they are invited over. You don’t always have to cook something super yummy but when you have guests you definitely want to impress. I learned that having a variety of meals from snack like avocado toast to steak entrees would be really beneficial to meeting the needs of every possible user. Whether it’s a meal for guests or a meal before running to a meeting you can always find it.
Interviewer 4 and 5: Cooks and Chefs that Need Inspiration
These aren’t the most in need users but anything to help spark new ideas for chefs can always help. I interviewed a chef from a restaurant and a family friend who is an experienced cook but mostly cooks at home. Both gave positive feedback on how sometimes they like to research new ideas for a spark of creativity. They insinuated how the better the ease of the app worked the more likely they would regularly attempt to use it. Their main attraction to this app would be the extensive collection of cooking data within the app and how well it matches them together.
Reflection:
After speaking to my interviewees, I definitely believe there is a universal unmet need for this app. There is a huge available market and endless possibilities. If anything new ways of innovating my original vision came about from these interviews. My original opportunity is not only still available but also more defined due to my round of interviews. I think customer feedback is invaluable information needed to complete successful innovation within a company or idea. If you don’t listen to those using your product or service how do you know where you excel and where you fall short.
Monica, I love this opportunity idea! Like you, I love eating, but I'm picky about what I eat. When I'm by myself in college, I'm usually pickier about the menu I'm cooking and usually don't know what to buy when I shop for groceries. I love the idea of an app where you can put what you're craving or put ingredients you have in the fridge at the moment and the app will give you recipes!
ReplyDeleteMichelle Lam
Hi Monica,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good opportunity but I'm not sure if your idea doesn't already exist. I love to cook and often find myself looking for recipes online. I do know that many sites give you the option of choosing what type of meat or vegetable you want to start with them it brings up the recipes for what you have chosen. If you then click on a recipe it will most often have comments about it at the bottom of the page. Many times the comments made are about revisions people made to the original recipe. I do like your idea but think it would have to offer more than the existing cooking recipes apps already out there.
Good Post!