4A – Forming An Opportunity Belief

4A – Forming An Opportunity Belief

1) Your beginning point. Do you have a belief, supposition, or feeling than an opportunity exists? This belief may have come from your completion of prior exercises. Only select one belief.

I believe there is an opportunity in replacing or improving on the Canvas digital Platform. 

2) Describe your belief. Be sure to include a few things. First, what is the unmet need? Second, who has the need? Third, where did the need come from (is it new, or has it always existed)? Four, what are people doing to meet this need now? (These four elements are important -- we'll come back to these.) At this point, how sure are you (say, in percent terms) that this opportunity exists?

The unmet need is all the time wasted on Canvas every semester in trying to figure out every Professor’s way in which they arrange his dashboard concerning finding assignments, lectures, quizzes, etc. Not to mention connecting to digital books and outside sources. Lastly, improvement should be met concerning Canvas reliability issues. Canvas was down just yesterday and I lost my appropriated time between work etc.. to get some assignments done. Professors and mainly students who are the largest and main users have the most to gain when addressing this need. This need is nothing new, stemming from past digital platforms such as Blackboard which also had the same problems. On the other hand, I believe as well as my 3 prototypical customers that Canvas is an improvement over Blackboard Canvas still has quite a ways to go as an organized and reliable interface. Students don't have much of a say when it comes to choice of the schools digital platforms. Additionally, all 3 of my customers seem to bring up the fact that some of the changes could be more towards the professors themselves. Andrew brought up streamlining and regulating organizational skills for professors, especially to the less tech savvy who seem to be less organized and had unnecessarily busier dashboards.

3) Identify the prototypical customer. 

Schools would be the primary buyers, although professors and students would be the core users. My questions will be addressed to the student users themselves.

Tara - Colorado State University student and Canvas User

Andrew - Full Sail University student and Canvas User

Brandon - Valencia Community College student and Canvas user.

4) Iteration No. 1: Go talk to a prototypical customer. Ask questions related to the four criteria above. Questions can (should) include: 

What is the exact nature of the need?

The exact nature of the need is to find and complete assignments in a timely manner while avoiding wasted time searching for Lectures, quizzes, and homework etc.. 

When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes? 

Students are made aware of the need immediately at the start of each semester. Starting the semester is stressful enough without having to search for the syllabus and getting started on the required assignments. Additionally, most students take 3 or more classes a semester which means jumping from different classes/professors and having to remember where that professors puts such and such. All my customers agreed that hunting for a certain task with multiple professors is a semester long challenge in itself.

How long have they had the need?

As most schools are now using a digital platform, the need is availed at the initial start of school semester. 

When did they first become aware of their need? Why?

Again, the need is availed at the initial start of school, as most schools are now using a digital platform. 

How are they currently addressing their need?

Students deal with the problem as they have no choice in the matter. Tara recommended writing down organized notes on each professor and attaching the syllabus and scheduled deadlines. Although effective, definitely an extra step in a digital world.

How satisfied are they with this solution? (This is not a 30-second interview -- these interviews should be lengthy enough to help you capture rich information.)

All 3 students agreed that Improving on Canvas or replacing the system would be a welcomed solution. Although professor coordination concerning organization was a topic that all 3 customers brought up strongly. Brandan stated “even with a new platform if professors aren’t willing to compromise on making organizational changes schools will continue to waste time, energy, and especially funds.” 

5) Reflect. What did you learn about your opportunity? What was the most surprising thing you learned about your opportunity? (You may reflect after each iteration or you may simply include a single reflection that captures all three iterations.)

I would not use the word “surprising” but the most consistent thing I learned is the shared frustration amongst students. I would have liked to hear the professors side of their “Canvas experience as well,” but being an online student makes it a bit difficult. On the other hand, my guesstimation is that most professors are not strong supporters of Canvas either. I seem to hear professors complain about Canvas quite frequently while watching their lectures. 

6) Repeat twice more steps 3, 4, and 5. Please be explicit with each step in your blog post.

7) Summarize. It's very likely that your opportunity belief changed between the outset and as a consequence of your customer interactions. Three questions:How much of your original opportunity is still there?Do you believe that your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started?How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback? (In other words, is there a trade-off between adapting and staying firm?)

We live in the “golden age of tech” especially concerning the creating, writing of software, and the user experience. The opportunity for a software company to improve on Canvas would be the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Every day software is improved by faster speeds and more importantly easier user friendly interfaces. Decreasing the learning curve is always at the top of the list when software companies are designing programs. With higher learning curves comes less use, which relates to smaller profits, hence the use of more touch screens and talk to text in improved workflow. The software business is an extremely competitive market, Canvas needs to get with the program, pun intended!