Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunity: The consequences of climate change are here and rising temperatures provide an opportunity for a revolutionized cooling system known as radiative cooling which can reflect as much as 97% of sunlight.

• Who: People who use air conditioning in their homes/work.
• What: Rising temperatures will make it necessary for them to upgrade their cooling systems.
• Why: People will want this product not only because it is much more efficient but because it will be cheap and require little energy input unlike costly air conditioning units. This product could revolutionize the housing cooling industry in the future. 

Hypothesis

• Testing the who: The great thing about the target market for this product is that it practically includes everyone. Air conditioning units were incorporated all throughout society when they were invented and this product should have the same effect as the world needs a revolutionary way to stay cool as the earth warms. 
• Testing the what: The boundaries of this need are limitless as our society needs a new way to cool our world. A potential boundary however could arise from the technology as it may possibly not be as effective of a cooler as shown by the studies. If this new technology is incapable of cooling a house to the point of AC then customers may turn away from it even if it is more cost effective. 
• Testing the why: Not everyone will see the rising temperatures around the world as a signal to get a new cooling system. Some people may not be able to afford another cooling system while others might not be interested in the idea as people are resistant to change and new technology at first.

Interview #1 - Matthew E.

Matthew was very interested in my opportunity that I presented him with and thought that it met a future need that our society would have. However, he was hesitant about the technology and whether it would affect the outside appearance of homes which is actually a good concern to have. 

Interview #2- Ashley H.

Ashley liked the idea that I had however she did not think that it was viable in the market. She claimed that people had already invested a lot of money in their air conditioning units and that they would not pay for something else even if it did cool more efficiently. I tried to tell her that the product was a worthy investment for people because not only would the starting price be cheaper than an air conditioning unit but it also would reduce utility costs which would attract a lot of people. 

Interview #3 - Jackie A.

Jackie loved my idea and said that it could revolutionize cooling by providing everyone a more efficient and effective system than air conditioning. She said that society has always pushed boundaries and thinks that innovative ideas like this are what is going to save our planet from climate change. 

Interview #4 - Chris W.

Chris liked my opportunity that I came up with but he was concerned with the technical aspects of the radiative cooling and wanted to know how accurate the results of the testing were. I told him that this solar material could reflect 97% of sunlight and emits the thermal energy from the building. He, however, was not convinced and did not see the technology as a viable option.

Interview #5 - Ben O.

Ben was very interested in my opportunity when I asked him about it and he said that he found it very intriguing and wanted to know more. I explained how this product could be a revolution for cooling in the future as people turn away from air conditioning with rising temperatures and he agreed. 

Summary

These interviews shed some light onto my opportunity and it showed some flaws that I previously had not seen. I was surprised to see that many of the people I interviewed were skeptical about the technology and did not think it was a viable option. This, however, is not super surprising as whenever a new technology comes around people always seem to be hesitant towards it at first. My two main concerns with my opportunity after the interviews are that people will not believe the product is an effective cooler and because of this they will not give it a chance. People are reluctant to change so I must somehow show that this technology and product is viable in the future.