- The Hypothesis: Friends and family divided by long distances have few opportunities to enjoy board and RPG games like many of them use to play when together.
- Who: Friends and family that enjoyed board/RPG games
- What: Don't have the ability to play these games with each other, losing the connection between each other
- Why: Divided by long distance, and lacking options to fulfill the need
- Testing the Boundaries:
- Who: There are few others that have this need, but not everyone friend group or family that splits apart played board/RPG games together. However, with the ever increasing population playing online games, I feel there is a chance to even market towards divided groups that didn't once play board/RPG games.
- What: Again, not all divided groups used to play these kinds of games with each other. And there are a few alternatives that reach into this opportunity (roll20, online social deduction games, etc.).
- Why: The why remains the same for most every customer, long distance friends and family is a common problem.
- Interviews:
- For each interview, I talked with people I knew had this problem (friends, family, and others), as well as several people where I didn't know if they had the problem.
- Most interviewees had tried and were unsatisfied with the attempts at patching the problem that are out in the market today. An issue that many of them had was a steep learning curve in the software, as well as a lack of communication ability when using the software. Also, many of them seemed to miss the physical aspect of most board/RPG games, presenting the idea that giving customers something physical to interact with while playing online with friends and family might help set us apart from the other products out there.
- Some pros for the online RPG simulators out on the market that I got out of the interviews however: people liked the easy ability to store and retrieve information for RPGs. People also liked the opportunities that technology offered, such as secret messaging between players that could not be done when in the same room together.
- What I Learned
- From the interviews, I learned that many people had been scared away from the issue by difficult and inadequate software, as well as a lack of something physical to interact with. I also learned that, for those that didn't know they had the problem, they could be easily convinced that they had it to some degree with questions such as: do you have younger siblings you wish to interact with more? Do/did you play online games such as Clash of Clans or Pirate/Wizard 101? Many people that had these problems or had played these games agreed that they could possibly enjoy whatever would come from this Opportunity Hypothesis.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
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Hey Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI do like this opportunity that you have posed. Distance does create a separation between loved ones and families and hinders the gathering for fun and exciting times. Your opportunity, however, seems like an effective way to alleviate the distance as an issue and would allow families to recreate a time to have games while being separated. This is a particularly cool opportunity you have thought of. I would have never thought of something as clever as the one you did. I see great potential in an opportunity as this one. Families and friends would take full control of this opportunity to enjoy those times together when they cannot actually be around one another due to the distance.
Hey Kyle,
ReplyDeleteVery good point. People loving playing games together and it brings people together. I think we need to find a way to make this more interactive as well. Maybe you should get in contact with a gaming manufacturer who creates the hardware. They could probably help you create something physical in order to prototype your idea. From that point on, it is just beta testing. Good luck!
Hello Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your hypothesis from your opportunity presented. I believe there is much a place for your opportunity in today's market. Also, the opportunity is very much a noble one by trying to connect families and friends far apart. Given the trends you presented it seems like you have an uphill battle on your hands but the goal is very much achievable.
Hey Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a follow-up from another post where you mentioned a similar opportunity which I thought was great. Now that you are fleshing out that opportunity, I definitely see more of the specifics of what you were suggesting, and still believe there is certainly an opportunity there. Anyways, you did a great job writing out a hypothesis, testing the boundaries, summarizing your interviews, and summarizing what you learned. I think you came to a strong conclusion that could help you improve your opportunity as well. Overall, great job!