9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: After interviewing five people I learned there are individuals who are similar to my target market, but still fall outside the boundary. These people include experienced cooks, college students who buy pre-made meals or have a meal plan, and wealth families. Two of my interviews were with females who have been cooking for a very long time. The first one had been cooking for forty years. She is very experienced in cooking and would not use a machine that dispense perfect spice measurements. She said it would take her longer to find the measurement and spice she wanted on the machine then to just estimate the amount. The second female cooks for her family every night, so estimating spices is not difficult for her. I also interviewed three college students who would not use "The Spicer." The first one would not use the machine because she does not cook often and when she does she does not use multiple spices. She also said the machine would be too expensive for her to purchase. The second one has a meal plan on campus, so she never has to cook meals. This reminded me that people who do not have to cook for themselves would not fit my opportunity. The third student buys pre-packaged meals from the company Hello Fresh. The company provides the student with directions and all the ingredients to make a meal, so there is no measuring of spices needed. This interviewee also pointed out that very rich people would not buy this product because they would be able to eat out all the time or even have a person chef.

What: The need I identified is that cooks are ruining recipes because they are not able to measure precise amount of spices due to the spice themselves. Spices can be difficult to measure. For example, if the spice is old it will clumps together and when poured will come out all at once. This need is different then cooks being impatient or not following instructions well. If a cook is impatient and has a hard time watching over their food, it will still be ruined. Likewise, if a cook does not read instructions well and adds the wrong amount or type of spice, the recipe will be ruined. Purchasing "The Spicer" will not get rid of either of these problems. 

Why: The underlying cause of the outsider's need is not different. They either have adapted and learned from it or avoid the need all together. For example, experienced cooks have learned for their many years of cooking and are satisfied with estimating the amount of spice. Additionally, college student who have a meal plan, order pre-prepared food, or do not cook often avoid having to measure spices.

Inside the boundary                                 Outside the Boundary
Who is In:                                                    Who is Not:       -Inexperienced cooks                                 -Experienced cooks                                             -People who hate washing dishes              -Student who have a meal plan  -Restaurants                                                -People who purchase  -People who cook with many spices           -Pre-made meals                                                                      -People who eat out a lot                                                                       or do not cook
What the Need Is:                                        What the Need Is Not                                    -To reduce cooking time                              -Impatience   -To get perfect measurements of spices      -No following instructions                                                                         carefully
Why the Need Exists:                                    Alternative Explanations -Spices are difficult to measure                     -Experience cooks have -because some come out very fast,                learned how estimate spices  -while others can get clumped together        -Avoid cooking all together  -and then come out all at once.