1)
Problem: Online calendars are unable to sync up with other calendars and schedules that students use to keep organized with classes, work, clubs, hobbies, etc.
2)
Who: Busy/active students (participating in multiple extracurricular along with classes)
What: They are unable to have a single, organized calendar that can be accessed anywhere.
Why: Popular online calendars like Google Calendar don't have the option to sync up information and schedules from Canvas, Proctor U, MyLab, etc.
3)
Testing the Who: Other people could benefit from this product, like professors, business people, managers, coaches, basically anyone that has more than one online calendar that doesn't want to devote a lot of time to logging events and dates one at a time.
Testing the What: There are other options to online calendars, like bullet journals which have risen to popularity or just pre printed pocket planners you can get at target.
Testing the Why: A lot of people would blame the websites themselves, like Canvas, for the inability to sync up to Google Calendars or Outlook or maybe even blame the University for not giving the students an option that is more convenient for them.
4)
Interview #1:
Who: A Sophomore from UF who is a full time student, works a part time job, and participates in one organization.
What: Uses a planner bought from Walmart to log due dates and events.
Why: Finds it cheapest and easiest to use. Can color code and organize as she wishes. Often finds it dissatisfying to whiteout or cross out mistakes and constantly having to double check her online schedules to update the planner.
Interview #2:
Who: A Junior from UF who is a full time student and works at an unpaid internship.
What: Uses a whiteboard calendar and a planner.
Why: Uses the whiteboard for most of her planning and scheduling, but has a planner from when she's at class or internship in case something new pops up or she is asked to change her schedule.
Interview #3:
Who: A Sophomore from UF who is a full time students and is in a sorority.
What: Uses phone calendar to log all events, relies on Canvas calendar every time she logs on.
Why: Claims to be disorganized and doesn't enjoy planning, often completing assignments the night of and finds it works best for her. Her schedule is repetitive, so she doesn't find herself having to log every event in her calendar.
Interview #4:
Who: A Junior from FIU Honors who is a full time student, works as a TA, and participates in two organizations.
What: Uses planner bought from Staples, as well as a printout of his schedule and due dates on his desk.
Why: Is always on the go and needs to have his schedule with him to be organized and on time. Doesn't really mind having to cross out or change dates in his planner, but finds yearly planners a bit wasteful and has been looking into an online option.
Interview #5:
Who: A Freshman from UF who is a full time student and works a part time job.
What: Uses bullet journal created and designed by her.
Why: She likes the creative freedom it gives her, as she not only has a calendar, but memory pages and artwork scattered in the book. Does not find herself wanting to switch to an online version, as that would be boring and gives her less to do.
5)
Overall I found this exercise very insightful to my potential product. I was gland to have found a variety of students that had different means of organizing their schedules. Some seemed to be perfect candidates from my product, and others were fine with what they already have, which was expected as we all have different ways we like to organize things. My who will stay the same, as the busier you are, the less time you want to devote to creating a planner. Same with my what and why, as the main thing is websites we uses constantly cannot be merged into something like Outlook or Google Calendar.
If you ever need another interview let me know! Organizing calendars has been a problem for myself for years. I am tired of transferring between services when one is syncing better than the other. Right now, I have two different gmail calendars, two outlook, and then family who has shared with me. And you are right, it doesn't share with any of my school calendars! I do however only use electronic calendars. I'm assuming most of the people you interviewed are in their early 20s. I was shocked to see how many of them use non-electronic calendars since they probably grew up with access to them. I would have assumed since growing up with phones and computers they would be mostly electronic. Seems you have found a valid problem to solve. Did you have trouble separating the what and why like I did? I had to keep reading over it to make sure I wasn't answering the why in the what place. For example, the student you interviewed who said they use a whiteboard. I'm not sure that student answered the why. Why whiteboards and planners vs other calendars? I think this was the hardest to pull out of people. I always got how they solved the problem but not WHY they chose that.
ReplyDeleteI can personally attest that I have trouble keeping my calendar organized. Usually I just open the calendars up on different tabs to copy and paste the events into my google calendar. Though it not very time consuming, it is a hassle that I could do without. It would be great if there was just a button I could press to and it would sync all my calendars in one.
ReplyDeleteI am going to buy a huge white board where I can record all of my hobbies because I have so many tabs open in my mind that sometimes I lose track of small details. For example, I learn new tips for Golfing every day, and I would be awesome if I could write each one of them down prior playing or to improve my game. Also I can record my job duties and schoolwork. I think you should interview masters graduate program students or full time employers or managers to see how they manage their duties.
ReplyDelete