Assignment 12- Figuring out Buyer Behavior No. 1

1. Choosing a segment

a. My segment is undergraduate students at the University of Florida with engineering majors who study at Library West. I decided to interview engineering students, because I believe they probably are some of the students on campus who spend the most time at the libraries working on their upper level chemistry and calculus type classes. One was a freshman named Emma, one a sophomore named Abigale, and one a junior named Sam. I chose to do different grade levels because I though time at UF could play into some factors regarding the issue.

2. Interviews (See below for question breakdown)



3. Need Awareness:

a. Do you find that there is a specific time of day or even year that finding a seat in Library West presents an issue for you?

i. Emma: “I can’t really say when it comes to time of year since I’ve only been here for a month and a half now, but I do notice that Saturdays it’s never really too hard to find a seat. But if I come on like a Monday night around 6 it’s almost impossible to find a seat and I kind of just walk around aimlessly.”

ii. Abigale: “Last year I noticed the library seems to be absolutely packed during the middle of October, probably because of midterms, and if you want to come the week before finals in December, you might as well just stay home because you will walk around forever looking for a seat. I also think it gets really crowded around noon every day of the week besides the weekends. “

iii. Sam: “I think the most crowded I have ever seen Library West is on Sunday nights just because everyone starts cramming in their last-minute homework and studying for the week. During the year though, I think it’s pretty much empty syllabus week but around the third or fourth week when everyone is starting to stay on campus all day for classes it picks up because no one wants to go home then back to campus for class later. It’s just easier to stop in the library and get some homework done. “

b. What situations do you find this need most prevalent during?

i. Emma: “I feel like I need a seat immediately most often when I’m stressed about work and am thinking about all of the assignments I want to get done. I just want to start in on them right away and not have to walk around looking for a seat thinking about how much I have to do.”

ii. Abigale: “I want a seat right away the most during the months of August- October because walking from wherever I’m coming from to library west gets so hot. I start sweating, my back gets hot from carrying my backpack and I just want to sit down as soon as I can to cool down.”

iii. Sam: “There have been times where I have circled the same floor of the library twice, passed the same kids and have gotten pretty weird looks from them since they just saw me walk by looking for a seat 10 minutes earlier. I would say this is when I think to myself I have an issue and I need a seat right now.”

c. Is there any other place on campus that you feel you have this same need?

i. Emma: “I feel this exact way when I’m trying to find a seat to study in Newell Hall, it’s always so crowded inside of there too.”

ii. Abigale: “I feel this way about pretty much both of the libraries I go to on campus (Marston Science Library and Library West). They both have a similar set up so the problem is definitely there for both places.

iii. Sam: “I definitely experience this issue at Marston too, and even when I’m trying to find an empty classroom in Turlington to study in I never know which ones are in use or not. “



4. Information Search:

a. When you’re walking around Library West and can’t find a seat what is the first thing you do to solve your problem?

i. Emma: “Honestly, if I can’t find a seat I’ll just leave library west and go to a class building or somewhere else on campus to study.”

ii. Abigale: “I’ll usually text some friends and see if they’re in Lib West studying and if they are, ask them If I can sit with them so I can stop walking around looking for a seat.”

iii. Sam: “I usually will sit in one of those sofa like seats and do some laptop work until someone around me gets up and leaves so that I can take their spot.”

b. Is there anything you look for in particular when trying to see how to solve this problem?

i. Emma: “Before I go into the library I feel like the Library West scooter parking is a moderately good indicator of how crowded the library is going to be so that I know what I’m getting myself into ahead of time.”

ii. Abigale: “When I’m walking around I usually look for people packing up or getting their stuff together to leave so I can stop them and ask and if they are leaving take their table.”

iii. Sam: “Before I even leave to go to the library I’ll track my friends on find my friends to see if they’re there and if they are, ask how busy it is.”



5. Report the findings of your research:

a. From my interviews, I learned that all of my customers have different ways of dealing with this problem (although I’m sure some overlap). None of these temporary solutions are ideal so I believe my software would help all students dealing with this issue. I learned that there are certain cues students use to judge the “business-level”, if you will, of the library prior to going in but none of these are exact. For example, just because there are a lot of scooters parked outside doesn’t mean everyone parked there is necessarily going into the library. I also realized how often students rely on their friends for information. Everyone has different observations for when/why the library is crowded at certain times of year, meaning its unpredictable and there is no way for students to know for sure when a good time to go is. Lastly, I found it interesting that not only does library West have this issue, but other buildings on campus as well.



6. Draw Conclusions



a. I think I chose the perfect segment to interview because, besides Emma who hasn’t had much experience at UF, Abigale and Sam knew exactly what their issues were and how to go about them because of the long hours they spend at the library due to their demanding engineering majors. This segment was definitely aware of their need and would be willing to try an app that could save them time and allow them for more work on their school work. Since they tend to speak to a lot of their friends from within their college to ask for help when solving the problem, I believe they would spread the app idea from class mate to class mate, helping it to become a success.