Reflect on your interview process:
- Drop a few of your questions here:
1) How do you feel about the current food waste situation? Do you notice it as a problem? Why or why not?
2) Would you be willing to purchase edible food from establishments that would otherwise get thrown out? Why or why not?
3) Would you consider the food options on campus to be satisfactory? If so, why or why not?
What were some of the answers?
1) I notice that we waste a lot of food, especially in restaurants, but I don’t personally see it as a problem since there isn’t a food shortage at the moment that would require us to be more mindful of our wastefulness.
2) Yes because that would decrease food waste and it would provide me with more options other than on-campus food.
3) I consider them satisfactory for the purpose of being the last resort option. If you don’t have the resources to eat off-campus, such as a car, or if you have limited resources when doing so, then I think the food is fine. But if I reasonably had any other option to eat somewhere besides the dining halls, I would.
What did you learn?
We learned that most people do see food waste as a problem and believe that it would be a better use for it to get repurposed. We can also draw that most people do not understand the potential impacts that food waste can have, such as climate and economic effects.
Next, we learned that the majority of people would be willing to buy food that would otherwise go to waste. We learned that people not only would be happy with more affordable options but also with feeling like they are contributing to a good cause by reducing food waste.
After this, we learned that most people are moderately satisfied with the on-campus options but do not prefer them. We also learn that one of the main things holding people back from eating from places other than the on-campus options is not having the resources such as a car or money.
From this, we can draw that college students would be a viable customer basis to target for an anti-food waste corporation that would operate to provide students with unused additional food at a lower cost.
Do you feel like your interviews were successful? Why or why not?
I do not personally believe these interviews were a success. The interviews got to a point where they became redundant. It seemed some of the questions were wasted by asking similar questions to others. This made the interviews a very difficult source to pull from when collecting evidence which was not helpful and something I would not qualify as a success.
What would you do differently next time?
Next time I would think more deeply about the questions before creating them. Really trying to understand the path that the question will lead you on and the potential answers you might get. Then think about how those answers could assist in your venture or neglect to assist your venture. Also, I think creating interview questions solo or in small pairs rather than with a whole group might be a more effective method at least for pre-prototype questions.
If you guys would like to please let me know how your interviews went and any of your methods for success when conducting interviews!
Hey Gabe!
This quote of yours really stood out to me: I do not personally believe these interviews were a success. The interviews got to a point where they became redundant.
This stood out to me because I think people think that interview questions and the time spent drafting them don’t really matter but they really really do. Drafting interview questions is a craft and a practice. I took a whole class on interview questions as an entire course. So don’t feel alone in thinking that the questions might have felt redundant. That’s totally normal.
The more you practice and learn the less and less redundant they will become. There is def a skill to it.
I think it’s awesome that you are even recognizing the redundancy. That’s the first step to improvement.
Coach K