1. I believe there is a need for old people to have a better and safer way of doing tasks like lifting heavy objects or reaching for the top shelf without the fear of injuring themselves. One opportunity may be to create a service where people can come to the elderly person's home and help with these small tasks.
2. This is a need for older people who are not in good shape to do needed tasks around the house that they are physically unable to do. This need has always existed. To meet this need now, older people hire a full time aid which is expensive and a lot of times unnecessary. They also avoid certain tasks like landscaping or cleaning because they are not in the physical shape to do so. Lastly, older people have to ask their family or neighbors to help them out.
3. The prototypical customer is an elderly person (70+) who struggles to live on his/her own but does not want to move in with family or live in a nursing home.
4a. The first person I interviewed was my grandmother who is 77 years old.
What is the exact nature of the need?
Answer: A lot of times I have to lift heavy things in my house and I am scared to do so without getting hurt.
When do you become aware of the need, do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes?
Answer: I mainly become aware when I am cleaning and need to put things away on a high shelf or when I bring in bottles of water.
How long have you had the need?
Answer: Not too long. Me and my husband are starting to age so we are starting to notice little things around the house that are needed but are unsafe for us to do.
When did you first become aware of the need?
Answer: A year or two ago when I would buy packages of water bottles and was unable to lift them to bring them into the house.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Answer: I ask family members to come help me out. They show me how to use my iPhone and smart TV as well as help me move furniture that I can't do on my own.
How satisfied are you with the solution?
Answer: It is not the best solution because I have to wait for my family members to be available to come over and help out.
4b. The second person I interviewed is an 87 year old women named Alice who lives by herself.
What is the exact nature of the need?
Answer: I spend the majority of my time at home which often leads to me cleaning up the house and doing difficult chores that were easy when I was younger.
When do you become aware of the need, do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes?
Answer: I become aware especially when doing yard work. I like to keep my lawn looking nice so I have to lift heavy bags of mulch which often leaves me very sore for the next few days.
How long have you had the need?
Answer: A few years.
When did you first become aware of the need?
Answer: I was chopping firewood and I was thinking to myself that I can get seriously hurt doing this, but I need to do it if I want to have fire in my fireplace over winter.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Answer: I complete most tasks by myself which puts me in danger, but I don't mind. When I really need help I call my son, but he lives 45 minutes away so it is inconvenient for him to come all the way here just to help me lift something.
How satisfied are you with the solution?
Answer: Not completely satisfied, but I do not think it is a big deal. It is part of life when you are older to physically struggle with simple tasks.
4c. The last person I interviewed was my great Aunt Florence who is 95 and lives on her own.
What is the exact nature of the need?
Answer: I am very old and can't do a lot of things by myself.
When do you become aware of the need, do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes?
Answer: Pretty much all the time. It is very hard for me to cook or to pick something up when I drop it.
How long have you had the need?
Answer: I have been old for awhile now so around 10 years I have struggled living on my own, but it beats the alternative of living in a nursing home.
When did you first become aware of the need?
Answer: I could not lift any of the heavy things in my house, which you do not think of as a big problem until you are unable to do it.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Answer: I call my family, but most of them live far away so I neglect activities like gardening and even getting the mail on cold and icy days because I am scared that I will fall.
How satisfied are you with the solution?
Answer: Not satisfied but I do not see an alternative.
5. Reflection: I learned a lot by talking to these three elderly women. Living on your own, especially when in old age, can be very frustrating and dangerous. The most surprising thing is that they all seem to be okay with it. It is not ideal that they can't do all the tasks they need to, but there does not seem to be an alternative. I learned that there definitely is a need, but a solution to the problem will be difficult to figure out.
6. Summary: My original opportunity is still there because the three people I spoke to are frustrated with how they have to live their life. Always in fear that if they lift that heavy box, they can break their back and nobody will be there to help them. I believe I now have a better understanding of the opportunity. This population needs people to come to their house to complete simple tasks, but they are not at the point where they need a full time aid. I think entrepreneurs need to take customer feedback into account. This way they can see flaws in their vision that they had not noticed before. It is also important to not agree with all customer feedback, as there are many types of customers out there and they do not all have the same preferences.
Hey Eric, I really like this opportunity that you found and discussed. I think you can definitely come up with a solution to this problem, but it is definitely prevalent and important. I also really like how in depth your interviews were. Great job!
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