Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

The unmet need or problem that I found is dealing with unexpected traffic. People can predict that there will be traffic during some hours of the day and they are able to plan for traffic like this. The traffic that is unexpected like traffic due to an accident, or someone with a flat tire is the kind of traffic that I think can be avoided.

I interviewed more than 5 people because I kept getting similar responses to my questions. I found that people with this need usually live in bigger cities than Gainesville. One interviewee told me they lived in Starke, Florida their whole life and that traffic was never a problem by them. The traffic that is usually dealt with in this area is traffic on the nearby highways including the Florida Turnpike and I-75.

Who:  There are certain people that fall outside the unmet need. These people live in small cities and don’t live around any major cities. Though these people do deal with occasional traffic on the nearby highways, the inner-city streets are usually clear. People that don’t own a car and commute using a different mode of transportation to work or school are people that do not deal with this problem.

What: I think this need differs from other needs is because this is a problem that is hard to avoid and is dealt with by most people who drive a car. Traffic that is due to rush hour is unavoidable but the reason that there is so much traffic is because there are too many people commuting to and from work. The need I identified is traffic that is due an accident or a car malfunction that blocks the road.

Why: The people who end up outside the need are usually people who live in less populated areas. For these people, even when there is an accident or something happens that blocks the roads unexpectedly, there aren’t enough cars in the area to cause a traffic jam.

Inside the boundary

Who is in: People that own a car and live in or around a major city.

What the need is: Unexpected traffic that cost millions of people money and time. It is also bad for the environment.

Why the need exists: People have accidents or car malfunctions and will block up multiple lanes and can cause hours of traffic. If it were dealt with quickly and efficiently then can be avoided and save people money and time.

Outside the boundary:

Who is not: People that live in smaller less populated cities and don’t deal with traffic often.

What the need is not: It is not necessary to implement a solution for these people because it isn’t a big enough problem for them.

Alternative Explanations: Not enough people in an area will not create huge traffic jams and therefor there is not real problem in those areas that needs to be resolved.

I think that the service I thought of would only work in certain areas. The areas need to be very populated and have traffic throughout the day for several reasons. If the area isn’t populated or never has traffic jams then the service would not be necessary in these areas.