Problem: Stress
Who: College students, professionals, everyone
Why: Humans neglect to manage factors associated with stress; such as finances, academics, health, family, and lack of sleep. This creates an imbalance of stressors in their life which can lead to underperformance and
other mental challenges.
There is a current unmet need in regards to awareness of
mental health and managing stress. Today’s society forces various external
pressures in regards to perfectionism and living go-go-go life. Despite one’s
current mental state, everyone is dealing with hardships and different
stressors. The diversity of people who deal with stress ranges from young girls
in high school, to males in college, and even to mothers in the workforce and their
children. With stress, there is a physical and emotional connection between the
mind and body. I believe I can provide a
product which can help manage one’s unique set of stressors in relation to
their desires by focusing on their mind and body. This need has always been a
present. Recently, there has been a cry for help to push mental awareness in
our nation. According to purdeglobal.edu.net, approximately 45% of college
students said they experience more than average stress and 87% admit they have
felt overwhelmed. There are many
techniques which reduces stress – journaling, eating well, exercise, having an
outlet, planning, thinking positively, meditating, etc. Since humans
experiences these factors differently, each solution will vary according to the
individual and their demands. Many new technologies, like the apple watch, try
to assist with health management by forcing on activity levels and sleep. The
only issues is these products neglect the mental state of the humans. The proposing
product would be an interactive agenda which correlates to a user’s online quiz
submission. The configured data would output a uniquely designed tangible (or
online) planner with reminders, quotes, and ways to maintain a balanced
lifestyle in efforts to manage stress. There is a customized planner company
with a similar concept, but does they do not focus on stress management
techniques. I am maybe 55% sure this
opportunity exists.
#1: Female Mother in
the Workforce (early fifties)
o
Have you ever experienced stress? If so, at what
age did stress enter your life?
o
Yes. Age 13, 8th grade.
o
Did you know 87% of college students feel
overwhelmed at times? Why do you this occurs?
o
Yes. Due to no down time while growing up to
play, think, hang with friends because of overly programmed by parents and
society coupled with never being able to disconnect from technology, has
created a college students who do not know how to relax, put items in perspective,
and just disconnect. Have any of them just daydreamed, spent time in the
outdoors without structure, take time to pray/meditate (as many have never been
taught).
o
How do you cope with stress? Are you currently
happy with this solution?
o
Prioritize tasks, reflect is any one go to die
from this situation/will it matter in 1 year or 5 years (perspective), get 7- 8
hours of sleep, exercise regularly, learn to say no to events or organizations
that do not add value to my life, Pray - live with attitude of gratitude and
have faith all works out.
o
I am happy with this solution as keeps me
grounded.
o
Do you prioritize your life through a planner or
journal?
o
Yes
o
Do you own a wearable devices? If so, what would
you add to help minimize your stress?
o
No
o
For an agenda, do you prefer an online
application or a tangible one?
o
Tangible
o
Prioritize the following topics – exercise,
sleep, nutrition, finances, family/friends, mental state, academics, work,
faith.
1) Faith
2) Mental State
3) Sleep
4) Family/Friends
5) Work
6) Exercise
7) Nutrition
8) Finances
9) Academics n/a
§
What about recharging time/relaxing time?
o
From the list above, which of the following
causes you the most and lease stress?
o
1) Most stress - Finances / Nutrition
o
2) Least stress - Faith
o
Any other thoughts on an integrated planner
focusing on stress management through mind and body needs.
o
I would not want to have a technological device
guiding me on stress management. It would stress me out.
Reflection: Older
potential customers believe they have a grasp on stress management. They do believe
the next generation needs more help with stress management due to the current pressures
of society and their parents.
#2: Male College
Student (early twenties)
o
Have you ever experienced stress? If so, at what
age did stress enter your life?
o
13
o
Did you know 87% of college students feel
overwhelmed at times? Why do you this occurs?
o
Yes, because of the various different fronts
that college students face pressure from.
o
How do you cope with stress? Are you currently
happy with this solution?
o
I try my best to use other people to help me
cope with it, and it usually helps but it’s hard to motivate myself to admit to
others that I’m not okay.
o
Do you prioritize your life through a planner or
journal?
o
No
o
Do you own a wearable devices? If so, what would
you add to help minimize your stress?
o
I do not.
o
For an agenda, do you prefer an online
application or a tangible one?
o
Tangible
o
Prioritize the following topics – exercise,
sleep, nutrition, finances, family/friends, mental state, academics, work,
faith.
1) Family/Friends
2) Faith
3) Academics
4) Sleep
5) Mental State
6) Work
7) Finances
8) Exercise
9) Nutrition
o
From the list above, which of the following
causes you the most and lease stress?
o
Most is mental state
o
Least is exercise
o
Any other thoughts on an integrated planner
focusing on stress management through mind and body needs.
o
No
Reflection: Males
have a lot of insecurities and do not know how to cope with them. Typically, males
do not use planners due to a sense of vulnerability. It is hard for one to
vocally admit they are under stress and journaling is a tangible way to help
cope with it.
#3: Female entering
the Workforce (mid-twenties)
o
Have you ever experienced stress? If so, at what
age did stress enter your life?
o
Yes. It started around high school; about the
age of 16.
o
Did you know 87% of college students feel overwhelmed
at times? Why do you this occurs?
o
I did not know the exact percentage but I could
assume it was a majority. This may occur because there is so much going on in
the lives of students, academics, extracurricular, relationships, higher education
exams, work. There is a lot of pressure out on college students.
o
How do you cope with stress? Are you currently
happy with this solution?
o
I’ve picked up running. I also have an amazing
friend group that is a great sponge to soak up my stress and help me cope. I am
pretty satisfied with how I handle it.
o
Do you prioritize your life through a planner or
journal?
o
No, but I should start.
o
Do you own a wearable devices? If so, what would
you add to help minimize your stress?
o
I know it tracks heart rate, so maybe when that
was abnormal (not during exercise). It could be paired with the breathing
feature.
o
For an agenda, do you prefer an online
application or a tangible one?
o
Online application.
o
Prioritize the following topics – exercise,
sleep, nutrition, finances, family/friends, mental state, academics, work,
faith.
1) Faith
2) Family/Friends
3) Academics
4) Exercise
5) Sleep
6) Nutrition
7) Finances
8) Mental State
( I don’t work)
o
From the list above, which of the following
causes you the most and lease stress?
o
Academics causes me the most stress.
o
Exercise causes me the least stress.
o
Any other thoughts on an integrated planner
focusing on stress management through mind and body needs.
o
Nope. Sounds like a great idea.
Reflection: Many
people who are technology savvy and use wearables will be more inclined to an
online application as their form of a schedule.
Summary: The opportunity
for a product like this is much smaller than I initially believe. After
conducting interviews, I realized people are currently satisfied by their ways in
stress management and do not believe they have a need for an integrated and
customizable planner. In addition, I
learned faith and family/friends are the most important factors in someone’s life.
Learning this, one can create a new solution or plan to develop a concept which
integrates those concepts together to better one’s mental state. Also, many
people start feeling stress in their teens. If this product was marketable, it
might be best to target middle and high school aged consumers than adults
already satisfied with their daily practices. This exercises has allowed me to
see potential effects of this new opportunity and ways to alter it to make it
more attractable and accurate to consumers. In adapting potential opportunities,
entrepreneurs should analyze customer feedback and be adaptable if it fits in
with their original goal and vision of the product’s mission. In creating a new
product, there will be tradeoffs between adapting and staying firm in one’s
belief. Therefore, it is essential to have a long term thinking mindset and to
let your mind become more broad focused by listening to other’s perspectives.
Hey Christina,
ReplyDeleteMaking the correlation between technology savvy people and your online application process makes so much sense. I think that’s a great idea. Especially because when it comes to mental health, there is never a one-size-fits-all solution. Personalizing quizzes that can lead to individual advice targets a greater audience and can allow people to become more inclined to want to know their own information. The only thing I can say that will help this post is to be more specific in the product: what type of quiz, the questions, how they would be asked, etc. Overall, great post!
Hi Christina, I like the fact that you chose a problem that isn't isolated to one group of people but is felt by everyone from high school, college, or professional spheres of life. I targeted one group in an isolated location, which works but doesn't have as broad an application. I also liked how you noticed the potential for a better target market to increase your product success which would be more so in that high school range. Adding depth with more formats would take time to implement but would likely also help marketing. It's interesting how everyone has different stressors which affect us all differently. I commend your idea of helping many people and therefore making your target audience broad as this potential idea is further developed.
ReplyDeleteHi Christina,
ReplyDeleteI think it's so true that faith and friends/family tend to be the most important factors for most people. It's also true that stress affects everyone and that some people manage have better ways to manage it than others. I would love to see how far you could take your ideas, as far as making it marketable for teens, which is the age most people said they started feeling stress. I agree with everything that was said in your reflection and I would've made the same conclusions you did with this data. Overall, great job!