Assignment 4A: Forming An Opportunity Belief

1. I have a belief that an opportunity exists to improve life.  My belief is that a lot of students wind up missing assignments due to not knowing about their due dates.  I think there should be a system that sends notifications to your phone to tell you about upcoming due dates.

2. The unmet need is that a lot of students find it difficult to keep track of due dates for assignments for certain classes that they are a part of.  Although keeping organized and staying on track in school is part of becoming more mature, it can definitely be made easier to do so.  This unmet need exists because most college students get caught up in smart phones and using/looking at them constantly.  They become aware of this need once they see that their grade decreases due to them missing assignments due to distractions.  What students currently do to meet this need is write down things in planners and whiteboards, but this leaves room for human error, which is very common in college students.  In this day in age, the culture of being addicted to smart phones is part of life, instead of trying to change it, why don't we use it to our advantage?  If there were a system where you could input a canvas course code into an app or software and it would upload all of the due dates of your assignments and when you should start them and send you notifications on your phone in the same way that social media does to motivate/remind you to complete your assignments on time.

3.  The prototypical customer is a busy involved college student that has a lot of things on their plate and sometimes forgets about assignments.

4. Interview

Will, Sophomore, 20 years old

When did you become aware of this need?

Will is currently a 2nd year finance major and is very involved both socially and on campus, he has so many meetings throughout the day that he finds it very hard to keep track of everything he has to do, including school work.  In his freshman spring, he missed an A in a class by just a couple of points because he forgot to complete a couple of homework assignments because he was so caught up in his activities.

How are you currently dealing with this need?

Will deals with this need now by trying to look at canvas once a day which helps him try to remember when his assignments are but sometimes he forgets to do so.  He tries to add dates in a planner but usually forgets to look at it.  He relies on friends to tell him when his assignments are due.

Are you satisfied with your temporary solution?

Will says that he is not satisfied with his temporary solution because despite his efforts, he misses assignments very frequently and knows that the completion of these assignments will help his grades greatly and enable him to do better at UF. 

Jenna, Junior, 21 years old

When did you become aware of this need?

Jenna is a junior and has been here since summer B before her freshman year of college.  She knows that she has to complete assignments by their due date and that for some classes, completion of assignments is the difference between an A and a B.  She became aware of the need to stay on track before college in high school, and knew that the key to being successful in college is staying organized. 

How are you currently dealing with this need?

Jenna currently deals with this need by not only checking canvas for all her classes multiple times in the day but also keeping multiple planners (one for each class) that has due dates color coded and a schedule outlined of when she should start her assignments by.  She leads a very organized and regimented life. 

Are you satisfied with your temporary solution?

She is currently very satisfied with her temporary solution because she doesn't miss any assignments but does mention that she devotes a large amount of time to staying organized and wishes it was easier to do but understands that it is important.  

Jeff, Freshman, 18 years old

When did you become aware of this need?

Jeff is a freshman in his second semester on campus, he hasn't had too much difficulty getting adjusted to life on campus and finds that it isn't too hard to keep up with his work.  However, as he gets more and more involved at UF, he sees how it can definitely be a challenge to remember when your assignments are due when your head is full of dates for so many other things. 

How are you currently dealing with this need?

Jeff, like many of his peers has experienced a fair bit of trial and error when trying to figure out what works for him.  He has tried planners and explained that they were too much work and he sometimes would forget about writing in them.  He tried setting alarms on his phone but that didn't work for him because he had to remember to set the alarm which he would sometimes forget to do.  Right now he checks canvas and tries to do assignments as they come which he said is a good strategy but he's fearful for what will happen once his schedule ramps up.  

Are you satisfied with your temporary solution?

Jeff says that he is currently satisfied with his solution but he understands that it won't work forever.  He knows that as a freshman, his schedule in terms of coursework and involvement is not very tough.  He is worried for what he is going to do once things start to speed up and his life gets far busier than it is now.  

5. Reflect

After interviewing these 3 very different types of students, I was very surprised to hear the different ways that students stay on track or fall off track.  From Will, I learned that a very motivated student might have trouble in some areas such as organization because he is so ambitious and does so many things that crowd both his mind and his schedule.  I learned that very regimented students like Jenna don't really have a problem staying on track with their assignments.  I learned that underclassmen like Jeff try many different things to stay on track before they find something that works well for them.  I was so surprised to see how people adapt to their environments and schedules.  

7. Summarize

I think that my opportunity is definitely still existent.  While it might not work as much for students that are very on top of their schedules, it definitely will work for both unmotivated students that frequently forget about assignments as well as students that are involved in so many things that they become scatterbrained.  It can work for multiple types of students, but not everything works for everyone (as I learned from my interviews).  I believe that my new opportunity is more accurate than when I started because now I know exactly who to target.  I think that there definitely is a tradeoff between adapting and staying firm when it comes to your opportunities.  People change and are very fickle and if we can adapt to their needs as their needs change, it will be beneficial for both sides.  However, it is also sometimes good to stay firm and let people grow around your concept.