Customer Interviews #1

1. Find an opportunity:
My opportunity came from a conversation I had with a co-worker of mine. As we discussed the increase in construction and new buildings around campus, she made a good point - all these buildings are being built on lots that used to house UF parking. With more buildings and even less parking than before, I believe there is an opportunity here.

2. Figure out who may have the unmet need:
Just from my experience in talking to people who go to UF, everybody could use more parking, including faculty members. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone with a UF parking decal who was satisfied with the current amount of parking spots available on campus.

3. Come up with a list of questions: 1. Do you live on campus? 2. Have you ever owned a parking decal? 3. Do you have any experiences with parking on campus? 4. Would you recommend parking on campus to someone else? 5. How much would you pay for a guranteed spot on campus?

4. Go talk to customers: 

5. Tell us what you learned about the opportunity: I learned a few things from talking about this with other students. Even the students who didn't park on campus had experiences or strong opinions formed about parking on campus. I also learned the price someone would pay for a guaranteed spot really depended on their direct involvement with on-campus parking - someone who had never used it before was willing to pay less than someone who had. Also, even though a lot of people hate the parking system, they would still recommend it to a friend because they believe it's a necessity if you own a car. I think there is for sure a need for more parking.

6. Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers: I'm not a particularly shy person, but I found it both easier and harder to talk to strangers while recording them. I found myself constantly looking at them through the video on my phone rather than at their face, which ended up feeling a little awkward. Also, people were a lot more cool with me recording them than I thought they would be, even at night. I also learned that people love to talk about parking.