Holiday Break Behavior

Now that finals are coming to an end i'm constantly wondering what i'm going to do with five weeks of spare time. I have spent this semester diligently studying and working on various marketing projects. School has consumed my life. I spend more time in Jabs hall than i do in my own house so it is going to be weird to not have deadlines and excess free time on my hands. I hope that I stay active and productive but I notice that I behave very differently based on life events. Honestly with all my old friends coming back into town, I'll probably spend my time at bars and bumming out at home. I need something to nudge me to be more productive. That said, I don't have a tremendous amount of things to accomplish once break gets going. Time to make a list and get a hobby!

I could return all my rented textbooks and apply for some internships, but thats about all I need to get done. This year MSU is giving us about five weeks of break, this is far too much.

I think it's crazy how my friends and myself act over break, almost as if we are unemployed and not even searching for a job. The difference is that I'm planning a Christmas party instead of planning a study session (see image to the right). I always find myself getting incredibly excited when i'm done with the semester but i get so bored after the first week or so. I should just relax and enjoy the time off!

Design Sprint Day 4

During the third group meeting, our group used the time to design a final storyboard as well as starting to mock up a prototype for a presentation pitch to members of the Blackstone Launchpad. This prototype is going to be built displaying the actual pages of the app on an enlarged visual representation of the app. We used a manilla folder to display an enlarged iPhone and construction paper to draw out how navigating the app works.

It was important to keep in mind that we need to keep the app simple, it occurs far too often that I will download an app and soon delete it because of an unfriendly interface. We want our app to be basically as simple as tinder, you see an event, you can click on the picture to see a description, you can like it, and it gets stored on an easily accessible page where you can see the entire event. We also determined that we only want to display the current nights event, this makes people less inclined to make other plans. If you have nothing to do, then this app is a perfect tool to see what is going on and help you make it happen.

Next we will be finishing up our prototype and process journal.

Design Sprint Day 3

The third day of our design sprint was used to meet as a group and discuss the findings from each of our elevator pitches obtained over thanksgiving break and to figure out how to measure some assumptions that we developed from our findings. What we discovered is that a lot of the feedback was very similar. Linking back to my previous blog (Elevator Pitch Findings), the pros were:

1. Good way to inform others about local events
2. Great way to meet people
3. Great way to make plans when you don't have any
4. Helps people get out of the house and interact with others
5. Great way to meet people who share similar interests
6. Encourages people to branch out
7. Could make the living experience in Bozeman more exciting

Other pros consisted of: encourages people to get out of the house, great idea for targeting freshman students, the simplicity makes it attractive, nothing else like it, we have a niche market.

While many questions that were raised are: 

1. How simple should it be
2. Should we include a social feature
3. Should we let others communicate on the app or just see where your friends are going?
4. Should we display something like (XX people are going to this event, XX friends are going)

After discussing our findings we camp up with assumptions:

1. People use apps
2. people want to be social
3. People are unknowledgeable about local events
4. people want to try new things

We will measure these events by:

1. Researching the industry
2. unbiased surveys
3. Personal interviews
4. Observing how people act when presented with two options, 1 being obscure

After meeting for a while, we really developed a solid understanding of the app and started to brainstorm names, we came up with One Night Planned, this name is relevant and funny to our target market. the fact that it is funny could help with brand recall and retention. The name also describes what our product was created to accomplish; help you plan a night and get out of the house.

The next time we meet we will develop a final storyboard and prototype in order to present a final pitch.

Our Marketing Research Group

I had a very interesting experience in my Marketing Research class this semester. My team which consisted of the fellow classmates displayed on the attached image were very unique. We spent most of our group meetings joking around and trying to get work done. Although we messed around quite a bit, we never struggled to get quality work done by the deadlines. We spent our time conducting and analyzing research listening to "Nate Dogg" radio and "Hip-Hop BBQ" radio on pandora. If somebody was to observe us in action, they probably wouldn't think we are a good fit. But this was not the case, each of us knew each other to an extent and shared the same sense of humor. This is important because nobody was kept in their shell, everybody freely spoke their opinion without hesitating being afraid of offending anybody.

This differed greatly from a certain other group this semester. This other group was very different, our schedules conflicted, people butted heads. The difference is that we were not able to pick the group in this class. So I guess what i'm trying to say is that people work better with groups that they choose to work in. I do better in groups with those similar to me, but I guess it is a good idea to practice working with others because that's how it works in the professional field.

Fantasy Football Consumer Behavior

Fantasy Football is a great way to connect with friends and it takes such a small amount of time to set a lineup. When I started playing years ago, it was a friendly endeavor we didn't bet any money, it was just a tool to talk trash to friends... And then it got popular, people obsess over winning, winning money, betting, it ruins the game for me.

Not only do I dislike where Fantasy Football is headed, It is having an effect on casual football fans. Fantasy takes over people's lives, one of my roommates obsesses over the waiver wire and it is the only thing I ever hear him talk about, hours and hours and hours are consumed on a simple little insignificant game.

Last year there was a huge increase in the popularity of betting sites, Draft Kings and Fanduel, this is almost more ridiculous. They are claiming that it isn't gambling but Montana and many other states are saying otherwise. This is important because it causes people to behave differently I have a friend who actually drove down to Idaho one weekend just to play on Draft Kings. This dependance on Fantasy Football is a little bit ridiculous. Also, if you ever watch a sporting event, get ready to be bombarded with what it feels like thousands of Draft Kingd ads. Fantasy Football is officially ruined for me, now I need to stop writing this blog because i need to set my lineup for the games this weekend.

Dead Week Student Behavior

It is absolutely astounding how most students, at least those in the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship completely change their day to day lives during the last two weeks of the semester. Not just studying habits, but eating, sleeping and socializing and I believe that I can speak for the students in the marketing department when I say, there is almost nothing we can do about it. Yes, I admit that during my freshmen and sophomore years, I didn't put in all that much effort to school. But as students advance through their years of college, the curriculum gets more comprehensive and requires more effort from each student.

After years of putting in the bare minimum and being unsatisfied with the results, I have changed the way I study for exams and the overall effort I put into my education. I read all the chapters and required articles, I participate in classes and it has been proven to work. However, no matter how much work I put in during the semester, I still can't do anything about my groups having different schedules. It often happens where group members are not able to meet until everybody takes work off and starts to skip class because deadlines are a necessity.

I think the huge problem of procrastination arises because many projects are all due at the same time, but sometimes the curriculum required for each project isn't covered in class until it's almost too late. I have so much time during the week that I could be spending on school work that is wasted because we havent reached a certain point in a class. I believe that standards based education is going to take over at some point in American education. This is basically that once you are competent and meet standards, you could potentially be done with a class and move on with your education. My father works for an education research firm and is implementing standards based education in schools across america. Below are notes taken from a teacher at a high school in Denver after one of his presentations.

Elevator Pitch Findings

I created somewhat of an updated storyboard about our product mentioned in my last blog and pitched the idea to five people, both male and female, ranging from ages 21 to 27, and my father who is 52. They all seemed to like the idea. Resulting from these pitches, what people liked most about our possible product are as follows

1. Good way to inform others about local events
2. Great way to meet people
3. Great way to make plans when you don't have any
4. Helps people get out of the house and interact with others
5. Great way to meet people who share similar interests
6. Encourages people to branch out
7. Could make the living experience in Bozeman more exciting

The things that were listed above definitely show that this product does in fact address a solution to the problem that 20 year olds have a hard time communicating although they have an immense ability to connect with others. Some problems or questions that arose from my pitches include:

1. We don't have a name.
2. How can we expand to other locations? How do we decide which locations to target?
3. How can this be profitable?
4. How can you make this app popular?
5. We never addressed including a feature of seeing what event your friends are going to, maybe connect it with Facebook? 
6. Do we want people to see what their friends are doing if this app is designed to meet new people?
7. How do you get local businesses to participate?
8. Is this something people need?
9. How can we make this fun?
10. Will this end up just be bars promoting themselves?
11. Add filters such as "Under 21" "Music" "Game night" "Religious Gatherings" "Low Key" and so on
12. Can it make recommendations based on what type of events you have gone to in the past? Kind of how you like a song on pandora and it plays similar music based on that.
13. Should it be anonymous? should you be able to create a profile and be able to connect with those who you meet?
14. Will people actually follow through and go to these events?
15. Links to purchase tickets for concerts or directions to the events?

I believe that the feedback i received from my peers is incredibly useful and can help make this app a possibility