The Beauty of Indoor GPS
For years, a common belief among my family has been that the world would benefit from an indoor GPS.
The need to find where you're going has existed as long as humans have been moving around. We began by giving each other directions: "follow the north star" or "head west." We moved on to cartography (usually of the entire world or a continent). Maps eventually became more local, streets started getting named and locations became more precise. As technology continues to advance we created the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to help give us real-time directions to where we wanted to go and even give us estimated arrival times, but I wanted to take it a step further. What if we had a program that will give a new student specific details on how to get to their next class or a library patron the exact location of the shelf they're looking for. Anybody could use this application or program. New students, tourists, parents, shoppers, visitors to a hospital, patients at a doctors office, the list is truly endless. Currently to meet this need we rely on poorly drawn maps and diagrams or directions from our peers. Both these things are unreliable and can often leave us more lost than when we started.
The prototypical customer would be an incoming high-school freshman, a freshman at a university, or a university transfer student.
1. Incoming High School Freshman, James Basallo
What is the exact nature of the need?
Finding classrooms in a big school that I've never been to
When do you become aware of the need -- that is, do you experience their need all the time or only sometimes?
I am no longer that aware of it because I know my current school pretty well, but I guess I'll need it in high school.
How long have you had the need?
I'm going to really need direction in my freshman year.
When did you first become aware of the need? Why?
I actually became aware of the need in middle school when I no longer had a teacher to tell me exactly where to go
How are you currently addressing the need?
With school maps.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
I think maps are a sufficient solution, they get me to where I need to go.
2. University Freshman, Ashley Rodriguez
What is the exact nature of the need?
To get to my class efficiently.
When do you become aware of the need -- that is, do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes?
I have a bad memory so I would need the GPS constantly to get me to all my classes.
How long have you had the need?
Since starting at UF.
When did you first become aware of the need? Why?
When I couldn't find my classes and had to ask other people who had no idea what I was talking about.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Google Maps to get to the building, and wandering around until I find my class.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
With the current one, not at all. But an indoor GPS would be fantastic, the perfect solution to my problem.
3. University Transfer Student, Rasha Ajami
What is the exact nature of the need?
Most buildings don't have maps and the class numbers get confusing.
When do you become aware of the need -- that is, do you experience their need all the time or only sometimes?
Really at the very beginning of every semester, but it would be nice to have it all the time to know about the campus.
How long have you had the need?
Since the first week of school
When did you first become aware of the need? Why?
The first week of school I was going to the right numbers but the wrong floors.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Walking around aimlessly.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
An indoor GPS would be 10/10.
I believe that the original idea is still very valid. Although I was surprised by my youngest interviewee and his dedication to the original paper maps given to students at the beginning of each school year, the two college students were both ECSTATIC about the idea. They both are frustrated by the confusing labeling of classrooms and offices. Perhaps this is something that can be done on a case by case way, where programmers could work at locations where the need is most apparent like universities and doctor's offices. Talking to prototypical customers has definitely helped in honing in on the idea and paying attention to its intricacies. I do think entrepreneurs should adapt their ideas to the needs of the consumers. Entrepreneurship is about finding a need and filling it if you're not filling the need completely you're not doing your job.
The need to find where you're going has existed as long as humans have been moving around. We began by giving each other directions: "follow the north star" or "head west." We moved on to cartography (usually of the entire world or a continent). Maps eventually became more local, streets started getting named and locations became more precise. As technology continues to advance we created the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to help give us real-time directions to where we wanted to go and even give us estimated arrival times, but I wanted to take it a step further. What if we had a program that will give a new student specific details on how to get to their next class or a library patron the exact location of the shelf they're looking for. Anybody could use this application or program. New students, tourists, parents, shoppers, visitors to a hospital, patients at a doctors office, the list is truly endless. Currently to meet this need we rely on poorly drawn maps and diagrams or directions from our peers. Both these things are unreliable and can often leave us more lost than when we started.
The prototypical customer would be an incoming high-school freshman, a freshman at a university, or a university transfer student.
1. Incoming High School Freshman, James Basallo
What is the exact nature of the need?
Finding classrooms in a big school that I've never been to
When do you become aware of the need -- that is, do you experience their need all the time or only sometimes?
I am no longer that aware of it because I know my current school pretty well, but I guess I'll need it in high school.
How long have you had the need?
I'm going to really need direction in my freshman year.
When did you first become aware of the need? Why?
I actually became aware of the need in middle school when I no longer had a teacher to tell me exactly where to go
How are you currently addressing the need?
With school maps.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
I think maps are a sufficient solution, they get me to where I need to go.
2. University Freshman, Ashley Rodriguez
What is the exact nature of the need?
To get to my class efficiently.
When do you become aware of the need -- that is, do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes?
I have a bad memory so I would need the GPS constantly to get me to all my classes.
How long have you had the need?
Since starting at UF.
When did you first become aware of the need? Why?
When I couldn't find my classes and had to ask other people who had no idea what I was talking about.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Google Maps to get to the building, and wandering around until I find my class.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
With the current one, not at all. But an indoor GPS would be fantastic, the perfect solution to my problem.
3. University Transfer Student, Rasha Ajami
What is the exact nature of the need?
Most buildings don't have maps and the class numbers get confusing.
When do you become aware of the need -- that is, do you experience their need all the time or only sometimes?
Really at the very beginning of every semester, but it would be nice to have it all the time to know about the campus.
How long have you had the need?
Since the first week of school
When did you first become aware of the need? Why?
The first week of school I was going to the right numbers but the wrong floors.
How are you currently addressing the need?
Walking around aimlessly.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
An indoor GPS would be 10/10.
I believe that the original idea is still very valid. Although I was surprised by my youngest interviewee and his dedication to the original paper maps given to students at the beginning of each school year, the two college students were both ECSTATIC about the idea. They both are frustrated by the confusing labeling of classrooms and offices. Perhaps this is something that can be done on a case by case way, where programmers could work at locations where the need is most apparent like universities and doctor's offices. Talking to prototypical customers has definitely helped in honing in on the idea and paying attention to its intricacies. I do think entrepreneurs should adapt their ideas to the needs of the consumers. Entrepreneurship is about finding a need and filling it if you're not filling the need completely you're not doing your job.
I see the need for a product like this. As you mentioned many of the big buildings on campus are confusing and need some sort of destination guidance. If you do have a passion to follow through with this, it would be interesting if you could mix a pacer/footstep app into it because most of the time GPS devices have a hard time working under a roof. Best of luck!
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