1) Belief: Educating college students about health
benefits of a restricted and strict diet.
2) Description
of belief:
a. Unmet need: An understanding that the foods you
eat play a huge role in your dily energy levels and overall health.
b. Who has the need: Almost all Americans, but
especially college students who live a very busy life and do not place their
health as a high priority.
c. Always existed, but people have become more
health conscious over recent years, especially millennials.
d. Buying less processed food and purchasing more
organically grown foods. Food companies have also started to invest in research
and development to put healthier foods on the shelf. Smaller companies that
specialize in healthier foods have also been in the news lately as they are
prime takeover targets by larger corporations.
e. 100% sure that college students do not understand the benefits of
a strict diet on their daily health and energy. College students need to be
made more aware before they would be willing to engage in a healthier
lifestyle.
3) Identify
prototypical customer:
The prototypical customer can be almost any student here at the University of
Florida. Most students are busy all day and do not have time to prioritize
their health. However, I believe that this change in diet can actually save
time and make students more productive and overall successful.
4.1) Customer 1: 3rd year pre-med student
Q: What is the exact
nature of the need?
A: A culture wide
unawareness of the role diet plays in our daily lives. The interviewee said she
never understood the role nutrition that plays in our lives until she started
taking biology classes in college.
Q: When do they become
aware of the need?
A: Only after they
experience some serious health complication.
How long have they had
the need?
A: Probably their whole
life, but especially during college years when they started getting bogged down
in her studies.
Q: When did they first
become aware of their need? Why?
A: After drinking
several cups of coffee a day and still feeling drained
Q: How are they
currently addressing their need?
A: Limiting caffeine
consumption to just two cups of coffee per day
Q: How satisfied are
they with this solution?
A: Still a work in
progress, but happy they have stuck to their plan so far.
4.2) Customer 2: 4th year business student
Q: What is the exact
nature of the need?
A: Going through life
thinking that is it normal to feel tired and stressed out almost daily.
"Everything is okay" mentality.
Q: When do they become
aware of the need?
A: After someone tells
them, they otherwise would not think much of it
How long have they had
the need?
A: After inquiring about
their lifestyle on both high school and college, it appears they have had the
need since teenage years
Q: When did they first
become aware of their need? Why
A: They never became
aware of their need until this interview
Q: How are they
currently addressing their need?
A: Currently not
addressing need, but will be conscious of eating certain foods in excess
Q: How satisfied are
they with this solution?
A: Satisfied since they
do not really have an interest in the need / do not think it exists
4.3) Customer 3: 3rd year mechanical engineering
exchange student from China
Q: What is the exact
nature of the need?
A: Most people do not
place an important on what they put into their bodies. This customer noted
specific different cultural eating habits between Americans and Chinese.
Q: When do they become
aware of the need?
A: After they see others
around them fixing the problem and seeing positive results
Q: How long have they had the need?
A: Usually their whole
lives since they are never educated growing up about nutritional benefits. When
my interviewee came to America in 5th grade, he was shocked at
the quality of the school lunches provided by the government.
Q: When did they first
become aware of their need? Why?
A: When he started
eating a different diet his freshman year at UF when he would eat in the dining
halls everyday. He naturally maintained a healthier diet throughout his whole
life. When he was feeling lethargic most of the time, he pinned it on his
newfound diet.
Q: How are they
currently addressing their need?
A: By being conscious of
what he is putting into his body at all times. Only eating sugary foods on
occasion.
Q: How satisfied are
they with this solution?
A: Very satisfied as he
is now able to be much more productive during the day and complete long study
sessions while still having energy to go to the gym.
5) Reflect (all three iterations):
I learned that while I personally believe the opportunity to be a result of a
population wide need, the opportunity can only manifest if people want to
correct their problems. The most surprising thing to me was that each person I interviewed
had a different perspective on things. Customers ranged from interested but not
experienced to not interested and not experienced. I learned that while people
are beginning to become more health conscious, we are still a long way away
before busy people begin to prioritize it in their schedule.
6) Summarize:
a. How much of opportunity is still there? I think my
original opportunity still exists to a large degree. I still firmly believe
that the majority of college students understand the profound effects of
dieting on their daily energy levels.
b. Do you believe that your new opportunity is more
accurate than when you started? I do not think my opportunity is still as
accurate due simply to the fact that some students just are not interested in
addressing the need. While I believe the need to still be present, it does not
create a new opportunity if those students have a limited desire to take
action.
c. How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their
opportunities based on customer feedback? I think entrepreneurs should be
extremely flexible in the early stages of their idea/business. In the
preliminary stages, there may still be uncertainty whether their need is
accurate and has been tested for legitimacy. However, if an entrepreneurs’
business is in the latter stage and the need has proven to be true to some
degree, I think it is better to stay firm in their original thesis following
customer feedback.
Hey Matt. I definitely think that your opportunity exists on an extremely large scale. Living a healthy lifestyle is crucial to one's everyday life. From personal experience, I can say that when I eat really healthy, I have more energy to last me through the day and I am happier. Sometimes it is hard to eat healthy because I am in such a rush. If people were educated enough on eating better, they can improve their day-to-day life.
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! I think you have identified a problem in the community that affects so many individuals on a daily basis. Recently, UF has released a prepared-meal plan where you pay X dollars per week for a “blue apron” style dinner, and you take the food home and prepare it yourself. I think this is a great idea for UF students. I definitely feel so much more energetic and better about myself when I eat healthy, but sometimes my busy schedule/ cravings take over even though I know better. I think this area is a segment of the market many businesses are trying to tackle.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I really liked your post and definitely agree with you that there is a large need for this. I like how you interviewed three different students from different majors to get various perspectives. What the student from China said really resonated with me. When I moved here I was shocked at the types of food they had in public school dining halls, even here at the University of Florida. That is why it is so important to know more about nutrition because like you said, it makes you feel healthier. When I eat a lot of junk food one week I feel tired and grossed out with my body.
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