Assignment 9a: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

The Interviews helped me to get useful information about those people who fall out of the market. After I have interviewed five people for the first time I found out that for example people from Florida don’t have the problem with cold bicycle seats. To receive a useful result I interviewed two male and three female persons from different ages.

·         Interview #1: Male, mid 20 from Florida

o   I found out that only a few people ride the bicycle. The Interviewee has a car and he drives it every single day. His friends do the same, because riding the bicycle is not common there and it is more comfortable to drive the car to university for example.

·         Interview #2: Male, mid 30 from Germany

o   The second interviewed male told me that he rides the bike sometimes with his children on the weekend. He enjoys those days with his children because he has to work a lot during the week. He always drives the car to the company where he is working because the distance would be too long to get there by bike. In addition to that riding the bike would be uncomfortable. He has never had the problem of a cold bicycle seat because he only rides the bike when the weather conditions are good.

·         Interview #3: Female, about 30 years old from Chicago

o   This interview helped me to realize that also traffic can influence people by their decision. The interviewee explained that she would be afraid of riding the bike in such a big city. She always takes the train or orders an Uber to her job. There is a lot of traffic in Chicago and she doesn’t want to risk getting injured by an accident with the bike. Furthermore Chicago is quite windy which makes it harder to ride the bike. If she would ride the bicycle she would be happy about the heated bicycle seat cover in winter, because I can be really cold in the city.

·         Interview #4: Female, about 20 years old from Switzerland but living in New York

o   When asking her about riding the bicycle in New York she laughed. She told me that she would never ride the bike in New York, because it would take her too much time and is really dangerous because of the traffic. Most of the people think in the same way as the interviewee. She was quite sure that only a minority of people would buy a heated bicycle seat cover to be prepared for the winter. If there would be less traffic in New York she would definitely ride the bike because she likes to stay healthy and fit.

·         Interview #5: Female, mid 30 exchange student at UF

o   She like the idea of selling heated bicycle seat covers, she would definitely buy one for her home country because it can be really cold there during the winter when riding the bike. It would also be a good way to stay sporty. But she also told me that she would not buy it for her stay at the UF. The reason is that it simply won’t get that cold here so that she won’t need it.

Inside the boundary		Outside the boundary
Who is in?	·         People who usually ride the bike in winter ·         People who live in countries where riding the bike is quite common and is seen as a way to stay sporty and healthy ·         Especially women, students	Who is not?	·         People who usually drive by car or take the train ·         People who live in countries where riding the bike is unusual e.g. America ·         People who live in cities with a lot of traffic ·         People that don’t care about cold bike seats ·         People who live in countries where the winter is not cold
What is the need?	A warm bicycle seat during the winter to protect against the cold weather and getting ill	What is not the need?	To offer those people an option for heating the bicycle seat during cold seasons
Why does it exist?	·         Because it can get really cold in winter ·         People might not have the possibility to park it in the flat ·         People have to ride the bike to get to the job or university	Alternative explanation	·         People who don’t ride the bike don’t have this need ·         There are countries where the winter is not cold, that’s why people don’t have cold bike seats

I found out that it depends a lot on the weather conditions where people live and whether it is common and a way to stay sporty or not. Furthermore the need is also influenced by the traffic conditions in different cities. The more traffic, the more dangerous is riding the bike and the less people will actually ride it. People are searching for alternatives for example: take the train, order an Uber or drive the car.