The segment that I chose was college students, which was very simple because my application service is based around the need for college students to use this as a communication forum for traveling arrangements. I am in this segment and there are many students here specifically at the University of Florida that are in this segment as well.
After conducting my three thorough interviews, it was very evident that this application that I wanted to develop was realistic and something that can be useful and effective moving forward instead of the current platform in place. All three of my interviews were the exact candidates that I was searching for, my target market. College students at universities in the state of Florida that did not own a vehicle at school. The current issue that these kids are undergoing is the wanting of traveling home or to a city without knowing how to get there due to their lack of available transportation. Each of the kids told me that they used social platforms such as facebook and twitter to try to find transportation from where they were to where they wanted to go. These kids are looking for a safe and easy way to be able to travel and not have to think twice. My application idea of a platform where students can request rides and drivers can request passengers can communicate so everyone is happy. This application serves many purposes and is not complex in any manner. Each of these students, even from different schools, agree that this idea is realistic and would be popular amongst college students and other locals who are in the same need. The idea of having a communication platform app which connects you to other students who are driving would simplify this issue and the unmet need that many of these students currently have. If this is proven to be successful in the state of Florida, this could easily expand to other states, where local schools would be placed in one group and the rest would be solved by the communication. Each of the people that I interviewed agreed that with the right process and doing, this can easily be utilized by any student at any school. That transportation and going home can be that simple and not complex like the current issues that exist today.
These interviews showed me that this idea would fully work in the environment that we are in today and possibly could expand if it works out. A thing that I considered was verifying the drivers and making sure they had a clean background before taking another college student, for safety purposes. Overall, I think this idea can definitely become a reality, just needs to be done correctly and made sure no errors are made.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteYou did an excellent job with your interviews and defining the target market you are going to hit. It is clear that this app could be successful and that it can clearly connect them to methods of transportation to help ease their lives. Now that you have this information, you can easily correct the potential flaws that your interviewees pointed out.
It seems like you received a lot of feedback and guidance from these interviews that have confirmed this product could be developed and do really well in the time we're currently living in. The safety of the service is crucial because one small mishap could be the end of a student-based service as safety is a main concern now-a-days. I'm sure that with a little research into other startups with a similar product, you could find some easy solutions to some of the issues that you're encountering. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI think its awesome that you recieved such great feedback. Knowing that this is something people want is definitely good and also knowing that with the right attitude and service it should be a hit. Many people may have thought of the idea but also never gone thru with it. So, seems like you have the drive to start it. Definitely.
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