4A-Forming an Opportunity Belief

1.) I believe that there is an opportunity on this campus when it comes to finding power outlets in the libraries.

2.) The University of Florida is a very computer driven school and most students require a laptop to complete their assignments or study information presented by the professor. There are numerous libraries around campus, leading to ample space for every students to have room to study. Being the difficult school that it is, UF material requires students to sit in the library for hours at a time. Most computer batteries will not last this long. It is a hassle to have to walk around and search for an outlet and there is likely not a seat close enough to an available one. I believe this need has become a lot larger in the past few years as UF has become more and more reliant on technology. They have had more classes available online recently than before, creating a larger demand for laptop and outlet use.  To meet this need now, the university is trying to create more study spaces and attempting to renovate current study spaces. Students are filing complaints and demands for more outlets to be installed in libraries as well. I am sure this opportunity exists because I, as a student, have been in many situations at libraries where I needed an outlet that was not available and ended up having to go home in order to charge my laptop.

3.) The ideal prototypical customer is a student who uses computers often.

Iteration #1: Amanda Baker, a junior Biology major

 When I first approached Amanda and brought up this opportunity, she was very eager to tell me her thoughts. Amanda does not take very many online classes because most of the classes required for her major are live lectures. However, the difficulty of her classes and exams require her to study often. She loves the UF libraries because she can focus there and get a lot of work done. When she is studying for exams, she requires the use of her computer. Amanda opted to purchase the online version of her chemistry textbook so she needs her laptop in order to read the chapters and do the end of chapter problem sets. She became aware of the issue during her freshman year. She spent long nights in the library and was unable to find an outlet. She did tell me, however, that the issue of finding available outlets is only really apparent at night time. She credits this to people still having battery life during the days and realizing they need to plug in later at night. To try to combat this issue, Amanda will only study at the libraries at night and stay home, where she has outlets, during the day. She has also filed a request with the Marston Science Library help desk to put more outlets on the 5^th floor.

Reflection:

I learned that this is a real opportunity. Prior to speaking to Amanda, I did not think about the fact that even students without online classes use computers often and have issues with finding outlets to charge their computers. As our society becomes more technology based and ecologically friendly, online textbooks have increased in popularity. It is also easier on a student because they do not have to carry a heavy textbook all the easy to the library.

Iteration #2: Isabella Bond, a freshman computer science major.

I thought this would be an interesting interview because freshman have not been on this campus very long and have probably not experienced this issue. Isabella told me that she has only been to two libraries on UF campus, Marston Science Library and Library West. She feels that the outlet issue is a bigger problem in Marston than in Library West. At Library West though, the issue is more of lack of seating than lack of outlets. Each table has outlets installed on it so as long as you can get a table, you can get an outlet. She feels that there is just no good solution as to where to study due to this issue. Since she is a new student, she doesn’t really know how to solve this issue. She instead just hopes for the best when looking for an outlet and leaves the library when her computer dies.

Reflection:

Isabella taught me that the opportunity is double sided. The lack of seating in Library West enhances the issue of the lack of outlets. In most libraries there is solely a lack of power outlets near desks. In other libraries, the issue is not only just the lack of available outlets, but instead available seating.

Iteration #3: Savannah Nelson, a Junior, double major, aspiring physician.

Savannah is very serious when it comes to her school work. She has to balance a lot between research, volunteering, and studying. Like many other students, Savannah uses her computer to read PowerPoints posted by her professors. However, she has many lab classes that use an online electronic lab notebook instead of a paper one. Her research labs use similar methods. So for this reason, the use of her computer happens pretty much all day long. Savannah also told me that she has a computer with a very short battery life. When she was a freshman, she tried to go to the libraries on campus but found the lack of outlets to be a big turn off. Instead, Savannah began to study in her dorm room and has been doing so ever since. She does not use the libraries on campus because she simply cannot carry out her work without plugging in her computer. Savannah said, “I don’t have a lot of time to waste since I am so busy. Walking around the library in circles until I find an open power outlet is not a good use of my time.” It is very unfortunate that she cannot utilize a campus resource the way she would like to because of this small issue.

Reflection:

I think that this interview was very eye opening. It is unfair that some students, like Savannah, just have to give up on the library system because of the lack of outlets. When I thought about it though, it is unfortunately true. I know I have walked around for 30 minutes or more waiting for somebody to get up and leave an outlet or searching slowly floor by floor for one. I never realized that it could prevent students from visiting libraries all together though. This shows that the opportunity really does exist here.

4.) Summary

My opinion of this opportunity is still solid. However, talking to fellow students did change my mind on some aspects of it. The problem is lack of outlets in libraries. This problem is a big issue. Many students all say that this is probably the most annoying part about going to the library. I do believe that my opportunity is more accurate then when I started. I knew that is was a problem but I did not realize the extent of it. It is such an issue that it even causes some people to not visit the libraries all together. This is also an opportunity that can be fixed. It will be costly but the University could install more outlets at desks throughout many of the libraries present at UF. I think the biggest need for this is the Marston Science Library and the Norman Education Library. I think that entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback to a certain extent. If they truly believe that an opportunity exists, then they should be passionate about it and develop it more. However, when talking to customers, they should take into account what they say and maybe mold their ideas for their opportunity based on what the customers say.