Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

I believe there is an opportunity for a mobile app/service that allows people to properly track their workouts, get advice from physical trainers, and get exercises customized towards their body type. The fitness craze has only been increasing, and with social media more prominent now more than ever, people want to look good but don’t want to spend the time and money to get a trainer to tell them how to work out.

The Who: Consumers who work out often, specifically college students and young adults

The What: They want to look good and more and more people are exercising while fitness products are rising

The Why: Often not willing to pay or put in the time for a trainer to tell them how to workout and what they should do in for their body

Interview 1: For my first interview I decided to interview a female student who I know works out a lot. She would benefit the most from a product like this, as she would be the prototypical customer. After explaining the product she did agree that it would be useful, however she would not be willing to pay a significant amount for it. This is because she was focused more on cardio and running rather than bodybuilding and strength, which is what most people who require personalized workouts are doing. In addition, she wasn’t trying to lose a ton of weight, rather than just stay at the level she was at. This did limit the scope of consumers a little bit, as its not just simply everyone who work out but rather those who are trying to change their body physique.

Interview 2: For my second interview I emailed one of my friends who works out at southwest everyday. When I explained to him the product he was all for it, as he goes to the gym 5 times a week to put on muscle. The biggest difference between him and the previous interviewee was the fact that he would use a personal trainer if available. He wasn’t exactly sure if they’re are personal trainers at Southwest, but he did mention he would like to have customizable workouts for his body type. He was unwilling to pay a lot of money for someone like that, but he did mention that he would pay cheap or a monthly subscription to get advice on what to workout. This is where the mobile part comes in, as they’re could be an algorithm or a trainer who analyzes the workout and builds custom plans for them for the next month.

Interview 3: The third interviewee I met randomly at Turlington to try to expand my “who.” She was a student at UF who did not workout at all, but was still interested. She thought that it would maybe make it easier to workout because she would have someone building the workout plan for her, and as long as there were instructional videos or something similar with the exercises she would be willing to try. However, it was hard to convince her to pay a fee, as she did not feel the need to change his physique or try to look any different.

Interview 4: The fourth interviewee was a male student who was particularly cheap and not willing to spend money. He works out everyday, and played sports in high school so was a pretty advanced weight lifter. He didn’t feel the need to use this product because was already advanced enough in working out that there was no need for an app to build workouts or seek a special trainers advice.  This limits the scope of the who even more, as people who have a lot of knowledge or training in weight lifting wouldn’t follow this opportunity.

Interview 5: The last person I interviewed was someone who was actively trying to lose weight and take on a more toned physique. He would definitely use this product as he was just getting back into working out after putting on more weight and wants to have someone help him how to best lose weight while also putting on muscle and getting a toned look. He mentioned he didn’t want to see a personal trainer, for both personal and money related reasons, and that this app would be great because he would be able to get workouts best customized for him. His why was significantly different though, as he really focused on the fact that he liked because it was a mobile app and required no face to face interaction with a personal trainer. This expands the customer scope because its more available to customers who want to just go and work out and have little interaction with others.

Overall the interviews told me a decent amount about my product, and I think it would fare pretty well.