Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

My main goal for this round of interviews was to have a more definitive understanding of who would and would not use my product. Once again, my opportunity is based on creating a product that would fix the issue of getting ones' uniform and sneakers soaked when washing dishes at a restaurant. I interviewed one well-know chain restaurant, one fast food restaurant, two local chain restaurants, and a family-owned restaurant near me. From my interview with the well-know chain restaurant, I can conclude that most chain restaurants have automatic dishwashers and don't have the issue I'm trying to solve. I wanted to interview a fast food restaurant out of curiosity. From that interview, I discovered that they don't have many dishes to worry about since most customers are there to take out food. I interviewed local chain restaurants because I wanted to see if their reason for not having an automatic dishwasher was similar to the previous chains I spoke to. My assumptions were correct; the local chain restaurant did not have the budget for an automatic dishwasher. I also found some time to speak to another family-owned restaurant as well. They informed me that dishes tend to become an issue on weekends since their community will have events and families want to find a place to sit down and eat. Speaking to five more establishments gave me the clarity I needed for this assignment and moving forward. 


Who: Through my interviews with a variety of food establishments, I found that there are a few types of restaurants that fall outside the boundary. On one end, small family-owned restaurants that focus on take-out orders like a pizza place don't feel like they need to fix or change their dishwashing methods. Also, fast food restaurants don't have these needs since most of their food is to go. On the other end, well-know dine-in restaurants fall outside of the boundary because they have automatic dishwashers or roles dedicated to handling dishes. 

What: I believe the need I identified differs from another need because it is based on making the process more convenient to whoever is doing dishes. The need I identified is not a necessity but it does make things a whole lot easier at an establishment. 

Why: The underlying cause of outsiders' need differing from the people who are inside the boundary is due to access to dishwashing resources. The bigger restaurant chains typically have the budget to have an automatic dishwasher and people specifically for that job. Also, more may just be content with their current methods. 

	Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who:	Relatively small dine-in establishments without an automatic dishwasher/dishwasher jobs.	Big chain dine-in restaurants and establishments who mostly do take out/to-go orders.
What:	Employees should be able to continue working a shift and leave a shift without being soaked from doing dishes.	These types of establishments have the appropriate resources for their customer base.
Why:	Smaller restaurants typically do not have the budget to afford an automatic dishwasher or people specifically to do dishes so they make it a duty for their staff.	They have a budget for a dishwasher or they don't have a reason for changing their ways.