1.
My name is Brandi Gibbs and I am a psychology
major at UF. I began my bachelor’s degree in May 2016 and I am currently on my
final semester. Since I was young I always dreamt of having big careers like a
chef, news anchor, lawyer, and finally, decided on psychology. I hope to have
my own practice one day, so I can work on my own terms and not have a set
schedule. If my product actually sold and I made a large profit, I may decide
not to further pursue psychology. I would focus more on my product, promoting
it, and overall, helping women feel safer.
2.
My product is designed to help women feel more
protected and actually provide some protection. It is a small device that would
clip to your pocket. When a button is pushed, an alarm would sound, and
emergency services would be contacted. It would be equipped with a microphone,
so the victim could communicate with emergency services, as well as, a location
service, so the police would know exactly where the individual is located. This
device would make women feel safer because they would know that if they were to
be attacked, they could use this to contact police and get help. In addition,
the alarm may startle the attacker and make them flee, or alert others nearby
that could help.
3.
My customers are mainly women ages 16-24. Those
16-year old girls that are just beginning to venture out on their own and maybe
have a job. Also, college-aged women who are going to college or work alone.
The customers would be women who feel the need to have more protection because
they feel scared or worried when they are alone. Especially, those that are out
alone at night. For example, taking night classes, working a night job, leaving
work at night, or simply leaving stores at night.
4.
I believe that the customers will care about
this product because the one thing they all have in common is they feel they
need more protection. A majority of them currently do not have any forms of
protection. The few that do have protection, such as, a weapon would rather use
that as a last resort. Therefore, the device would be beneficial to them, as
well.
5.
Although there is already a key chain device
that sounds an alarm when a button is pushed, it does not offer the comfort of
immediately calling emergency services. Also, iPhone users can call emergency
services if the off button is pushed 5 times quickly. However, users have to
know that this option is available and turn it “on” in settings. Sometimes,
phones are not charged or are not accessible in the event of an attack. My
device puts together these two products and gives women assurance that the
police will be called and able to locate them, as well as, the attacker will be
startled and bystanders will be alerted.
6.
I believe that part of my device would come
together with ease. However, I’m not sure how the location service and calling
emergency services would work. I think that it could work, but I’m unsure of
the costs. One interviewee mentioned that there shouldn’t be additional fees
(other than, the initial payment for the device) to use the device.
Hey Brandi! I would use your psychology resources to understand why exactly women feel safer and how drastically they feel safer having your product, even if they never have to use it. My prototypical customer also includes girls 18-21, so we have a little bit of market overlap. I also was one of the individuals that didn’t know you could call emergency services on the iPhone by pressing the button five times until recently. I feel as though this is very under-marketed feature, but leaves a gap in the market that your product would have the ability to full.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandi,
ReplyDeleteLooking at the age of your segment (16-24), and coinciding with the interview results you mention in item #6, I would agree to think about ways you can maximize the value of the product without additional fees beyond initial transaction. Considering the age, most women of that age range would likely not want to add an additional monthly premium to their bills. I purchased a Ring doorbell not too long ago, and it came with a free month of 'recorded' video, but I need to pay a fee to keep that service beyond that time. It wasn't very clear about that prior to purchase and downloading of the app, and I was a little disappointed in having spent a good investment in the product to only have to continuously pay to it to use it in the way that it's really meant to be utilized. I'm sure I'd opt to just have some quick way to dial for help in an emergency, using my phone, rather than paying a service to be able to alert for help. I do like the idea of the piercing alarm sound to immediately startle, confuse, and deter any attacker, though!