9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

After having interviewed five people who had the unmet need targeted by my product, I tried to find five people, who, for whatever reason do not have the same unmet need. I found five people: David, Jenny, Laura, Daniel and Benjamin. My conclusion after the interviews I directed with them was very interesting.



Who doesn’t have this unmet need ( cooking takes too much time/ buying food is too expensive) ?

Well, I would say that there is two categories of people who do not have this unmet need. The first one is what I call “the rich/ Upper middle class” categorie. Both David and Daniel identified themselves with this class of people and said that they do not see the food prices or delivery costs as a real problem. The second half of people who do not share this unmet need is what I call the “cooking-loving people”. Jenny Laura and Benjamin all told me that cooking does not take them too much time because they appreciate the time they spend cooking. Laura even confessed to me that cooking is one of the few things that relaxes her.



What? At what point does the need you identified differ from another need?

The need I identified differs from being completely unable to buy extra food in order to make specific dishes or to have literally no time to cook forcing people to order food delivery every day. The average person stands right in between the two situation. Most people do believe that this modern food system is ineffective but not to the point that it is unbearable for them.



Why: Is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary?

Because different social classes exist in our society and not everyone find prices expensive since it’s a subjective matter and relative to someone’s wealth. Also, people have different hobbies and centers of interest and for some people spending time cooking can be seen as relatively enjoyable.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: Most busy people and moderate income households	Who is Not: People who enjoy cooking, rich people.
What the Need Is: Finding cheaper ingredients and spend less time cooking in the kitchen	What the Need Is Not: Find a solution to food prices
Why the Need Exists: People do not always know what they can cook with what they already have in their fridges.	Alternative Explanations: Some people believe that spending a lot of money on extra food is acceptable. Some people already have a good knowledge on what they can cook with what they buy at the supermarket.