Interviewing Customers No. 2

After last week's interviews, there was a general consensus that UF should implement UFBIKE. Instead of just explaining my idea and then asking questions, I decided to use my elevator pitch, to pitch to regular students who live on campus. After I then  asked to receive some feedback. You can find my elevator pitch here->
or you can refer to the script I wrote below:

"Have you ever been running late and began to feverishly hurry to try to make it somewhere on time on campus, and then thought to yourself “Oh man I wish I had a bike right now to use?” Well, think nor further, because UFBIKE has a solution to sprinting across campus. UFBIKE has designed a program that consists of installing bike docking stations all across campus and replacing the normal clutter of dormant bikes racks.  UF bikes would be available 24/7 365 days per year, and would allow service at a quick swipe and touch of a button.  Rather than students having to rent a bike for a whole semester, to hardly ever use it, UFBIKE would give every student the opportunity to use a bike whenever most convenient for them, at a low trip, or semester price. On campus, bikes would be available at every docking station in which they can then be returned to any docking location.  For students, who already have a bike and do not live on campus, additional docking spaces will be available for regular bikes, so students would no longer have to bother with normal bike rack and locks. What are your thoughts?"

In order to combat some arguments against my idea, I changed my questions to cover areas in which the idea could potentially become a reality by covering some of the logistics and the potential benefits that UFBIKE could have on campus. My new questions were as followed:

"1. Should UF implement UFBIKE?
2. How do you think this would impact bike theft?
3. What is a way that UF can actually implement this program?
4. What kind of maintenance team would there need to be so that the bikes do not get destroyed, let us say, after a year?"

Here is what students responded with:

In the beginning of this series, I believed my idea could never actually be a reality. After interviewing customers and seeing how many people supported the idea, I now believe implementing a program similar to UFBIKE could one day be a reality. Talking to people is really not that scary, you just have to have some confidence. SO, here are some tips to interviewing customers:

1. Be CONFIDENT! Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and talk to random people. You never know what may happen, and most of the time, people will understand as long as you tell them you need to do this for a class. 

2. Be RESPECTFUL! Even though you may feel comfortable doing this assignment, not everyone will be comfortable enough to give you feedback. If that is the case, don't be discouraged, just go out and try again! 

3. Be PROACTIVE!. After each interview, you may learn a little something along the way about how to improve your idea. Let your idea remain fluid and take some criticism, adjust to it, and then create something even better.