Who: People who share common factors and needs related to my problem are bullet journal users. These people enjoy having the freedom to design and organize information the way they want to, adding a personal touch to a usually plain and generic item. They also find it easy to carry around to class, work, etc.
What: What differs between my target market and bullet journal users is the online aspect and the amount of time they are willing to spend on logging events and due dates.
Why: People who use bullet journals tend to be a hipster type who don't like to be on the internet or starring at a screen for too long, so they use a tangible planner/calendar rather than an online version. The whole point of a bullet journal is to make a plan set of pages into a unique notebook that is completely up to you to customize. Those who use bullet journals are excited and find it relaxing and fun to sit down for hours and hand draw and design pages.
Through the 5 interviews and watching bullet journal videos (called plan with me), bullet journal users are a community of artists and creative people, that build off each other and share their monthly designs and ideas. This is something that cannot be replicated on an online version, but the average student does not have the time nor effort to do this and keep up with it month after month. Bullet journal users are my solutions boundary.
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Inside
the Boundary
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Outside
the Boundary
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Who:
College students, High School Students,
business people (secretaries), planners/managers, etc.
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Who:
Bullet journal users
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What is the need:
An online calendar that can sync with
multiple other calendars to create a one stop shop for people busy schedules.
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What is the need not:
The whole point of my solution is to automatically
sync up with other online calendars and schedules. Those who use bullet
journals don’t want online calendars, as they prefer tangible, and more unique
forms of planning.
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Why the need exists:
Current online calendars cannot sync up with
many websites and calendars students use regularly. Students and other busy
professionals also don’t have time to sit and prepare their calendars on a daily/weekly/monthly
basis.
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Alternative explanations:
Both provide an effective way to plan, but the two give different
advantages to the user. It all depends on what works best for the customer.
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I just spent 5 minutes watching a video about bullet journals. Those people are serious about organizing their lives. I think you are right that it targets a certain group of people. I think they are attracted to the actual process then the benefit of organization. So, I agree these might not be target customers for using online calendars from various websites. I'm not sure if we start planning this in the future but I wonder if your product could evolve to include those outside of the circle by including a more formal process or features that could be utilized by those that look for the symbols or a certain method. Though, this might happen after you have an establish product, with established customers and trying to think of ways to target new markets.
ReplyDeleteAnother boundary that separates your target customers from other people is whether they care enough to organize their time. Some people may be busy students, but just do not spend the time of their day to look through calendars and organize their time. It would be a matter of caring. I, for example, have weeks where I am not really sure what is due and I just rely on my friends to tell me.
ReplyDeleteI use a planner, a white board, a calendar and post-its to organize my life. I think this product would definitely help me organize my ideas and responsibilities. Remember that the outside boundary also includes people that do not care about their time yet, for example middle school students, retired people, kids, teenagers, or elders. These people also organize their time, but with bullets they would be just fine (since they are not as busy as College Students or Employees).
ReplyDelete