7A Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Smart Closet – includes app

1.     Opportunity: During many people’s morning routines, there are struggles that they face before finally going out. One of the biggest struggles I see an opportunity in is people struggling to style themselves for the day.

·       The who: People of all ages

·       The what: They are unable to style themselves efficiently without being frustrated, delayed, or discouraged to not go out

·       The Why: Challenges to put together outfits that fit the occasion, their mood, or items that match in general

2.     The ‘Hypothesis’

·       Testing the who: The who is not limited to only people in the United States. This applies to people of all ages, ethnicities, and gender. People no matter what will always have to dress themselves every day before going out. I do think that the “who” will be affected the most is the teenagers to young adults (ages 13-30).

·       Testing the what: The what is what type of styles are the most challenging for the “whos”? The style that I think most people struggle with is dressing casually. When you dress up casually, there are numerous options to choose from. Dressing up for work is not that bad because that is a professional environment, which requires a type of attire or specific uniform guidelines.

·       Testing the why: Why do people have challenges with picking out their outfits? There several reasons? They can choose to pick an outfit based on the occasion, their mood, or the items they have already. Some websites do try to help with styling, but you have to pay for a monthly or yearly subscription for a company to pick a style for you and send it to you. I think the hardest challenge is associated with dressing for casual occasions and parties.

3.     The Interviews

·       Interviewee #1 – young girl, 25 years old

-     During this interview, the person stated that their biggest struggle is finding clothes that are appropriate for the day. This is an everyday struggle that gets them frustrated and disappointed to the point that she will not go out because she doesn’t have an outfit that doesn’t make her look good. Usually, she plans her outfits a few days in advance and loves to do this. However, she wishes that could see readily available options making choosing an outfit easy. She believes that everybody except young kids has this same struggle for all types of clothing.

·       Interviewee #2 – middle-age man, 57 years old

-     His biggest struggle for getting ready in the morning was getting out of bed. He, in fact, didn’t struggle much with picking out clothes and if he did it was only like twice a week. Picking out clothes doesn’t make him late or even deter him from going out. If he needs help, he takes his clothes out the day before or asks his wife to do it. He likes his current solutions but would like an app that would matches clothes. He particular looks for help in matching certain styles like casual and dressy. He believes that this a problem that everybody struggles with it, so an app could be tailored to match clothes to style and age group.

·       Interviewee #3 – young girl, 18 years old

-     In this interview, her main struggle was getting out of bed and then choosing a good outfit based on the weather, day, or her mood. This is something she struggles with every other day and doesn’t see it as a problem that makes her late. Not having the right outfit will alter her decision to go to a location because she wants to make sure she looks up to par. She doesn’t prepare ahead because every day is different. Her decision of what outfit to wear varies and is based on the weather, her feeling of wanting to wear a specific item or style, and the mood she is in. She really doesn’t have a solution to her struggle of picking an outfit but wishes there was an app that asks how you are feeling today and gives different options to wear with color schemes. Also, she wishes she had the financial ability and ideas of outfits to expand her closet. She believes this problem applies to everyone with some exceptions. She thinks that it is not a major struggle for people who have certain jobs because of outfit guidelines and to people who attend middle/high school because of uniform. She also added that this struggle really depends on a person’s everyday profession, the type of student, mindset, and concern with how people view you.

·       Interviewee #4 – young man, 24 years old

-     This young man’s first struggle was getting out bed followed by deciding what to wear. He feels that deciding what to wear is important to him because as a black male at a PWI he has to present himself right always. He does struggle with picking out his professional outfits four times a week, but the other three days it doesn’t matter to him because he just wears comfortable clothing. If he does struggle with an outfit, it doesn’t stop him from going out because no matter what he will show up. However, he will show up late because picking out an outfit takes time and presenting himself nicely is his number one concern. To minimize his struggle, he thinks of his outfits ahead of time. However, he wished that he had a tailor to pick out his outfits. He does believe this is a universal problem, but more specifically for people 14-20 years old. He says that people in this age group have to dress to impress because people judge them harder than other age groups.

·       Interviewee #5 – young man, 18 years old

-    This last interviewee didn’t suggest his main problem in the morning was picking outfits. His main problem was his daily routine of getting up and working out. When he does have a problem with outfits, it is usually is an everyday thing and takes him 30 minutes to choose. To help, he takes out the outfit before he goes to sleep or asks his friend whether it looks good. He wishes he had an app that helps pick and organize his outfits for the week. He wants it to provide various combinations that are stylish but under the radar. He didn’t see picking outfits as a problem for everybody, but for black males who are 14-23 years old. For this group, he thinks they struggle because people want to impress others and want to brand themselves a certain way. However, once you are 23 years old, he believes you shouldn’t struggle with outfits because your outfits will be specific to your career.

1. Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before?

·       After the interviews, I have gained more insight into how I should market and tailor my product. I think this product will apply to a younger age group rather than older because with the older interviewees their biggest problem wasn’t picking an outfit but just getting up out the bed. However, I won’t single out the older folks because they did mention that they would need a little aid for outfit help sometimes.

·       The younger people did bring up many good points as to why they had a problem. More of their outfit problems dealt with organizing their outfits for the week and tailoring it to their specific needs. Some organizing they like is color schemes, by type of clothing (top, bottom, dress), and having the outfits prepared in advance. To tailor it to their needs, I will have to come up with some short questions that ask about the occasion, intended style, weather, and their mood.

·       After these interviews, my perspective has changed, and I am surprised that picking out outfits wasn’t a big struggle for others. It is a struggle, but it isn’t as big as I made it seem. Some people don’t really care about what they wear, but some do. I especially noticed that people who do care do it for self-satisfaction, but also to impress others and not be judged.