Week 4- Interview Customers No. 1

Week 4- Interviewing Customers #1

1)      Find an opportunity: So I am a swimmer and I work out often. One of my biggest issues is that part way through a workout I get super hungry because I either did not eat a sufficient meal beforehand or I have already burned the calories. I have had many friends tell me about experiencing the same problem! I want to find out if people think that a snack part way through a workout would fight these hunger pains and help them have a better workout. I will be targeting swimmers because they tend to be the athletes that train for the longest periods of time and that is where, in the past I have seen the most opportunity. 

2)      Questions:

a.       What characteristics do you believe an athlete possesses?

b.      Do you consider yourself an athlete?

c.       If so what is your sport?

d.      What is your training like?

e.       Do you ever find yourself becoming hungry part way through a workout?

f.       Do you think you would enjoy a snack midway through a workout?

3)      Interviews: See attached videos

4)      What I learned about the opportunity?

a.       I made so many mistakes in my interviews, but the biggest one was that I did not ask open enough questions. I did not give people the time to tell me what issues they thought they had. The main things I learned are that athletes do in fact get hungry during workouts, but they don’t always want food during their workout for fear that it will hinder their workout. From my interviews I determined that hunger pains while training can be a real problem, but the question is, is there anything we can do to fix the problem?

5)      What I learned about interviewing customers?

a.       This interviewing process taught me so much. For one, it is really hard to ask open ended questions! I would have questions planned so perfectly in my head, and then out of my mouth came something totally different. Not only that but I would almost stutter when trying to ask the questions; not smooth at all. By the 4^th and 5^th interview I improved slightly, but it was still pretty rough. I also learned, it is really hard to get somebody comfortable with talking with you in the short amount of time that we had. I would catch people coming out of the gym or going into the pool for practice or hanging at a friend’s house. I tried to keep my interviews as short as possible to let people continue on with their lives, but I’m afraid I didn’t get enough information from them. I would make them comfortable, ask them if they want to be interviewed on camera, then I would try to get set up as quick as possible to not waste any time. In hindsight, I should have just relaxed more, in all areas of my interview. I should have relaxed when making people comfortable, and when asking questions. I’m really hoping to improve in the next round of interviews.