The ideation session this class was extremely helpful for coming up with my pitch idea. The “worst way” method, although not as useful for creating an idea was a useful way to begin due to allowing the creativity to flow more freely before beginning to seriously start thinking about useful ideas. I also enjoyed making connections between words, which eventually gave me my final idea, by connecting travel and freelancing, I considered creating an app that functions like Uber, but for hiring a tour guide.
Next I needed to find evidence of a problem that this could solve for the idea to be viable. This led me to find that the average user takes around 30 hours to plan a holiday. I believe this is a fruitful user problem to capitalise on due to the productivity users could do in this large amount of time equating to up to 4-5 working days, as well as the stress catching up on this work may put users under. I also found that using a tour guide generally increases user satisfaction, as it immerses users more into the culture of where they are visiting while increasing engagement through interaction with a real person, as well as solving communication issues and allowing the user to relax more as they have far less factors to consider like transport and planning.
I also undertook research into the tourism industry itself. It appears to be one of the industries most affected by Covid-19, with over 60 million jobs lost, while many of these have still not been recovered to this day. I believe this is a useful gap in the market for my product, as Uber, for example has become the most popular taxi service due to its ease of use and utilisation of freelance workers. Opening a freelance guiding service would allow employment to be found again for those who lost their jobs through agencies closing down by offering them a way to work for themselves.
User Research
https://girlabouttravel.co.uk/travel-post/planning-holidays-takes-time-over-30-hours-heres-how-to-save-time/#:~:text=According to research%2C it takes,price%2C in the right place.#
https://tourguidesystems.uk/blogs/news/how-museums-can-use-a-tour-guide-system-to-give-maximum-satisfaction-from-visitors-through-clear-sound-communication-and-a-professional-perception
Information about tourism industry:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104835/coronavirus-travel-tourism-employment-loss/