4A Forming an Opportunity Belief

Belief: You should be able to choose whether you want to gather your groceries or to have all your groceries gathered for you and ready to go so you can just pick them up.

Description:

What: Going to the grocery store to get the things you need can take a chunk of time out of your day.

Who: People that have a busy day usually don’t have time to spend an hour at the grocery store. This could be college students or parents getting the supplies they need for their week.

Where: There has always been a problem with waiting in long lines or having a packed grocery store. Some days are busier than others unless you go at an abnormal hour.

Meet the Need: Some places like Walmart are delivering groceries to homes. But for this you have to pay extra on your total bill.

Percent: I would believe that 50 to 75% of people would have this belief. Their days are getting busier and they have more things to do in their everyday life where they don’t have as much time to spend at the store.

Prototypical Customer:

1). College Student- The nature of the need is that it will allow for more time to get other things done. You also don’t have to wait in lines and walk around the store looking for items. This need is not all the time because you have more available time some weeks than you do others. The need has been desirable for over a year. They were aware that they noticed this when they got to college because they needed to be dependent. The way that they are addressing it is through going with another person and splitting up the list so they will be done in half the time. They are not super satisfied with their current method because they still search for goods and supplies. Also, they have to wait in the checkout lines.

Reflection: I was surprised to see that they have similar ideas as me and want the same goal. I would say that it was similar to mine because of both being college students and facing the same problems. The thing that probably surprised me the most was that they would then split up the total amount of goods they have so then they can go through the ten items or less line so they don’t have to wait in the cashier line.

2). A Mother- The nature of the need was all dependent on the amount of time for that week. If they had ample time it would be no big deal to go out to the store but if they were going to be super busy then it would be a huge time saver. This need was only experiences sometimes and not all of the time. They haven’t had the need for a long time but more recently when other things come up like taking care of others. They are addressing the need by having a premade list so they can get their items and not forget anything. With their situation, it is not too bad because sometimes they are not in a hurry but other times they would really like having this option.

Reflection: Moms are very good at managing their time and can get their items very efficiently. They usually don’t need this because they have more time. One thing that surprised me is that it might not always be beneficial because when they are shopping they can remember something by seeing it they can pick it up.

3). Someone Just Out of College- The nature of the need is to help save time to allow for other needs. They experience this a fair amount because they have so many things going on. Work, maintenance, and social life are the main focuses and they don’t want to spend a lot of time shopping for groceries. They have had the need for a few years because of also being in college. The need first became aware while in college. Addressing this need it through getting small amounts of things they need so they can go in the express line and get out quicker. With this solution, they are not very satisfied because if they do this method they will forget things or if they get a lot then there will be a long line to wait in.

Reflection: When looking at the information you can see that people just out of college really don’t have that much time. Constantly focusing on things and other work really limits their time. When choosing things to do this is not a high priority for them. It seems though that the biggest factor is the amount of time that you have. One thing that surprised me is that when they shop they don’t do it with someone to make it go quicker that they do it by themselves.

Summary: After interviewing the different prototypical customers I could see that majority of my initial opportunity was still there. After learning and hearing the different viewpoints there would need to be changes to my first opportunity so the new one would be more accurate. When adapting your opportunities for your customers you should not give them everything they want. It should be a 50 to 50 ratio where all needs are met and others are changed to meet those specifications already in place.