Who Did You Interview?
- Mom
- 50 y.o.
- Data Analyst/Statistician for Medical Company/products
- What apps do you use (apart from messages, email, games, etc) that impact your day to day life? How do they change your actions (ex. Do you use a GPS every day? etc)
“I use Airbnb and Vrbo quite a bit as we are renting out a beach house in Maine, so I have to constantly be checking for updates, bookings, and be messaging my guests and potential customers. This definitely takes up a lot of my time and makes me interact a lot more. I use Waze as a GPS as well almost everyday; without it I would not be able to get to places efficiently and in the fastest route. I depend on Waze a lot to get me out of traffic and introduce me to other routes!
- Why do you use this app? Do you find it easy to use?
“Yes, all these apps I find convenient! If I didn’t I would probably not continue using them consistently.”
- What problems do those apps address in your life?
“Earning money, finding simple ways to connect with others, renting easily, being social, going places, getting educated.”
- What do the services or apps do very well?
“Very user friendly, easy to learn and navigate/use, hassle free, also free!”
- What don't they do very well that you'd like to improve?
“Wish they could warn me about issues more in my daily life, like “good morning, there’s an issue/everything’s fine!” This type of report is the most direct and would help me the most. If there is an issue then this app could also take me to a site that can help me fix this issue, e.g. if something's wrong with the rental home and a link can be clicked to see how to fix the issue.”
- Do you use any sustainability related apps? If so, what are they?
“No, do not know where they are or what kind of apps are sustainable out there! Definitely need to learn more about them.”
- Can you come up with any ideas of sustainability-related online services or apps you need? What types of apps would be most beneficial to the environment that you think you would actually use?
“Something related to water, maybe tracking how much water people use on the daily at home, e.g washing hands, brushing teeth, have an online app sensor or timer to reduce water waste and usage. Maybe a digital display to show how much water you use every time you turn on a water source.”
Key Findings from the Interview
- There aren't many popular apps related to environmental sustainability out there! Really interesting and I hope my mom can discover more, because she already has ideas for apps herself!
- All services, in order to be successful, need some type of way to make a user's life more convenient, or a certain task easier, etc. I think we as humans always prefer the easy route and convenience more than anything!
- An app that can warn you of an issue and keep you alert of something going wrong is always a very useful thing to have.