Who: For this exercise, I decided to conduct interviews on people who do not actually use their own car on campus, but would find my opportunity to be helpful for either the future or people that they know. Basically, people who would potentially use a car on campus if parking somehow where to become more efficient on campus.
Interview 1: For the first interview, I found a student who uses the RTS bus system because they find that cars are inefficient. On my way to the gym I struck a conversation with this person on the bus in the morning. They said that they have a car, which they brought to campus last year, but they decided to leave it at home because it was too much of a hassle. They agreed with me in saying that if these new parking spots were to open up, they would definitely bring their car back to campus.
Interview 2: For my second interview, I found a student outside of Broward who was parking their scooter. They said that they had decided to purchase a scooter to be able to get around campus better. They also agreed with the first interviewee in saying that they would bring their car, however, there were not enough good parking spots. They also believe that it was unfortunate because they had to go out of their way and purchase a scooter when it would have been better to just bring their car.
Interview 3: This person I interviewed was a freshman I found walking to the Reitz Union after his class. They currently do not have the unmet need because they did not bother acquiring a car. It is well known, they said, that UF has terrible parking. They also said they probably would not consider living off-campus next year without a car because they would either have to purchase a scooter or take the bus everyday just to get to campus.
Interview 4: I interviewed a person who uses a bike to frequently get around campus. They said that buying a bike was a good option, because they do not have to have to deal with the bad parking situation. They also agreed they would consider getting a car if they did not have to be stressed about finding a parking spot.
Interview 5: For this last interview, I chose somebody who goes to the gym every morning (Southwest Rec) and chooses to run there every morning. It's about 2 miles away from where he lives, and he says that if he had a car and could utilize better parking services, it would make his life so much easier. It would definitely be something he would take advantage of.
What: The point at which the need differs is the point at which people decided to bring their car and people that did not decide to. It seems that a lot of people are missing out on the luxury of having a car for convenient travelling around campus, but they do not. In this way, both groups of interviewers have the same need.
Why: The underlying cause for the people inside and outside of the group are very similar. The people on the inside deal with inconsistent parking which causes them a lot of stress while the people on the outside have decided to utilize other forms of transportation to avoid the stress.
Inside the boundary Outside the boundary
Who: People who have a car but People who decided not
have trouble finding parking on to bring their car and resorted
campus everyday, finding it to other methods of transpor-
quite inconvenient. tation.
What: There is either not enough parking They have to buy scooters or
spaces or they are frequently receiving bikes or use the bus because
tickets because there are so many bringing a car is not efficient
restrictions. for them.
Why: There are parking spaces, but there are Very similar, there are either
so many restrictions on them. not enough spots or too many
restrictions on them.
I believe this post was done very nicely. It took me a little while to understand the hypothesis, but after reading through the interviews I found out that the focus was the difficulties of parking around campus. This was also nicely described in the table where the boundaries were clearly stated. It was clear that there was a need but there are solutions that are being used to deal with the need. Though majority of the participants stated that they would purchase or use a car if the space was provided and properly located.
ReplyDeleteI can completely agree with how some of interviewees are feeling and what they are going through. I had my car my first year and I lived on campus (completely unaware that there were so many parking restrictions) which causes me to accumulate or $400 worth pf parking citations. I was lucky that that was the year president faux presented the April fools challenge to wipe them all out but now I live on campus so I am able to manage my car better.
ReplyDeleteYour interviews do a remarkable job of begging the question of what customers might fit into your business demographic. The campus climate in terms of parking spaces really forces people to border their transportation needs on things such as SNAP and the RTS Bus system meaning it diminishes the market for your parking service.
ReplyDeleteYour interviews did a good job of seeing who would or wouldn't have the need you specified in the who. I do agree with how the parking here at UF isn’t great as my friends have to park 15 min from their dorm and it can be a hassle for them. If the parking was more efficient, I believe people would definitely use it more.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job highlighting the people who are likely outside and inside the boundary. Not everyone is in your customer base and its good that you were able to narrow it down more to who the audience really is, what their issues are – including the parking ticket problem— and why it is such a problem.
ReplyDeleteI think your post is very well organized. I think your randomization of the interviews strengthens your data. It is evident that most students believe parking at UF is an issue, even said by people who don't need transportation. I think your interviews gave a great idea of who is included in your audience and who isn't. I think this opportunity should be dealt with and you coulee easily do something about it!
ReplyDelete