Empathy Map Interview (Blog 3)
The empathy map created was divided into eight sections, and six of that sections consist of different questions. All in all, there are six (6) sets of questions. The data was gathered and collected through the conduct of an interview. The interview was done through an online meeting or video call on Facebook messenger. Each member of our team interviewed one person. My interviewee is Miss Ihvy Baricuatro, 19 years old, from Don Carlos, Bukidnon. The type of interview used was a semi-structured interview, in which there are six sets of questions, with a total of 23 questions prepared for the interviewee. During the interview, there are also few additional or follow-up questions.
The first set of questions is about “what do they see?”. Based on the results of the interview conducted, most of the shampoo products that are seen in the market and local stores are those commercial shampoos, which are usually seen in advertisements on television. People around here do not use a shampoo bar and some even have not heard about it yet. My interviewee is using a commercial shampoo also, which is a liquid shampoo, packed in plastic. For the “what do they say?” my interviewee is aware that the product she is using is not eco-friendly, but she is satisfied with the effectiveness of the product she is currently using. The shampoo bar is new and very interesting, even from the past interview we have conducted, people really said that this kind of product is really interesting and catchy. For the interviewee, usually, her budget amount for shampoo is 50 pesos for a month. For the “what do they do?” set of questions, the interviewee uses the usual shampoo that she is using every day, and most of the time, she buys or purchases it from the local stores. She does not buy shampoo products online since it is more hassle and expensive for her, while most people here in our community also do the same, because buying shampoo online is not really practical.
For the “what do they hear?” set of questions, the result shows that shampoo products are usually discovered through advertisements on television and recommendations from salons. For the interviewee, it was her sister who recommended her to use the shampoo she is currently using, but no one has ever recommended her to use an eco-friendly product. The interviewee does not usually compare her shampoo products to her friends or family because she believes that each person has different self-care products and we have different preferences when it comes to our self-care. For the last set of questions, which is about “what do they think and feel?”, this section is divided into two, which are the Pains and the Gains. The results show that the interviewee is already satisfied with the shampoo product she is currently using, but it’s not eco-friendly, and she is open to any new product like shampoo bars. If the shampoo bar is affordable and of good quality, she will not hesitate to purchase the product. She also believes in the importance of positive change for our community and environment.
After conducting the interview, I realized that the kind of product that our team is trying to make is really not common here. Shampoo bars are not even familiar to many local people. The very common shampoo product used in our localities are those commercial shampoos, packed in plastic. Since the shampoo bar is new and eco-friendly, it is catchy and interesting, the thing that we should focus more is on how to make the product effective and affordable. We have to make plans and strategies on how are we going to introduce it to the market, and I think that social media and television have really a great impact on the sales or popularity of your product. It is also important to incorporate or to show to people what are our reasons or objective for making this product. Plastic has been all over the world, and it is continually contributing harm and threat to our planet. We wanted to make this innovation a business to gain profits and have an income, and we also believe in the power and positive change that this product can do.
The problem that we are trying to help solve is the problem of plastic pollution. In the latest news updates, we have seen a lot of issues regarding the environment. Our planet needs help, and we believe one single person can help. We can minimize using things that are not really necessary, to conserve and protect nature. However, for something like shampoo, we always use it, and it is an important part of our self-care, the question is, how are we going to use this with less harm to our planet, and that is what the product is trying to solve.
