5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

Study: Lionfish-killing contests help curb them
     http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1696CD5784A233F8?p=WORLDNEWS

     In summary, this article is about the invasive (and venomous) lionfish population in Florida and its negative impact on the environment, and how there are lionfish-killing events to try and combat the growing population. Scientists weren't sure if these killing contests were having an impact on the lionfish population or not, or even if these contests had unforeseen environmental impacts, but a recent study now shows that the lionfish population is down by around 50% in Florida now.

     The problem in this story is the huge population of the invasive and venomous lionfish. They (like many other invasive species) have little competition and destroy the balance of the ecosystem, and are also dangerous to humans. The problem is being addressed with lionfish-killing contests, but these might not be a perfect solution as they might have other unforseen environmental impacts.

     Who has the problem are environmental scientists who are trying to find a way to remove invasive species from Florida's delicate ecosystem without disrupting other factors in the environment.

Parents 'distraught' after son's rabies death - Eustis boy, 6, dies after contact with rabid bat
  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1697CD8E0C2D5328?p=WORLDNEWS

     In summary, this article is about a six-year-old boy who died of rabies from a bat bite. His father brought an injured bat home from work to nurse back to health, not realizing that bats could carry the disease. The bat bit the little boy, who lied to his parents and said it was just a scratch, and later that month he started to show symptoms of rabies and was rushed to Arnold Palmer. He passed away in the hospital on Sunday, January 14th, after being put into a medically induced coma in the hopes of bouncing back. Someone else in the US died of rabies in 2017, and in the past ten years or so there were less than a dozen other fatalities from rabies.

     The problem in this story is not knowing their son had rabies for all of that time leading up to his hospitalization and ultimately his death. The son should never have even had contact with the wild animal, and the parents were negligent in bringing a bat home without thinking about the possibility of disease or even thinking of taking the bat to a wildlife reserve (rather than trying to care for it themselves). My mom always warned me about rabies from bats, raccoons, possums, and other wildlife growing up, and this boy's death (not to mention all the other people in the US who die of rabies annually) was preventable with just a little caution.

     Who has the problem is anyone in the US who comes into contact with wildlife that could carry rabies, and not knowing whether or not an animal has it or not. Parents especially have this problem when their children handle wild animals, and not knowing if a scratch has infected the child with rabies or not.

Realtors express concern - on affordable housing here
     http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1697CD8E1426C488?p=WORLDNEWS

     In summary, there is currently a shortage of affordable housing in Orlando. This year, there will be the least supply of houses on the market in over 10 years, and this is a growing concern for realtors in the area.

     The problem is that the supply of houses in Orlando is shrinking, specifically affordable housing in Orlando, and realtors won't be able to sell as much if they only have McMansions to sell.

     Who has the problem are realtors in Orlando (and people in Orlando who need to buy a house pr apartment at an affordable price).

Scott seeks more federal aid, loans for businesses near Pulse - Closures hit hard the firms near scene of shooting
  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15DAEF0FE8690050?p=WORLDNEWS

     In summary, the businesses near Pulse Nightclub have been hit hard since the shooting. People don't want to shop or eat near Pulse because of the tragedy associated with it, so those businesses are stagnating. 59 businesses were closed following the shooting and were blocked off from traffic because of the crime scene. Governor Scott gave those businesses loans and urged the public to buy from those businesses, but it is a temporary help to a long-term problem. The Pulse memorial will have a lasting impact on the area (and already has).

     The problem is that after the shooting at Pulse Nightclub, customers don't want to shop at nearby businesses anymore because of the associated tragedy and how fresh the pain of losing so many people still is.

     Who has the problem are the business owners adjacent to Pulse Nightclub and in the surrounding area (but particularly the ones on that same street).

Smart to bar phony support animals
  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/169AC39315D20388?p=WORLDNEWS

     In summary, airlines have had an increase in the amount of pets brought onto flights because many are designated as emotional support pets. It is a common practice for customers to get their pets certified as emotional support animals, even if they have no genuine need for one, just so that the animal can be brought onto the flight. An animal can be officially designated as an emotional support animal by a doctor or a psychiatrist, and apparently people pretend to be emotionally distressed or that they have anxiety for the sole purpose of designating their pet as an emotional support animal. The airlines have had an increase in incidences of dog bites, urination, and other accidents on flights as a result of untrained animals arbitrarily given the status of an emotional support animal.

     The problem is that some people fake having a mental illness in order to get their pet designated as an emotional support animal, then bring those untrained animals (sometimes unfit to be in small spaces for prolonged periods with other people) onto airplane flights, taking advantage of the requirement that airplanes allow emotional support animals onto flights. This delegitimizes emotional support animals, which is bad for people who genuinely do need them, and creates problems on flights. Sometimes other passengers even have allergic reactions to these phony emotional support animals, which is also problematic.

     Who has the problem are airlines who have no way of determining if an animal is legitimately an emotional support animal or not.

4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief

     The unmet need I have an opportunity belief about is unreliable buses in Gainesville. This
includes buses passing people waiting by the bus stop, buses showing up late or early to the bus stop, and when the RTS app shows a bus as arriving in 15 minutes (so you walk to the bus stop to wait for it) only to show up at the bus stop and realize that bus is no longer running because the driver's shift is over, and the next bus really isn't coming for another forty minutes.

     The people who have this unmet need are people who ride the RTS buses, who are primarily
college students.

     The need is relatively new since the RTS apps have only been around for at most a few years.
Buses have always been unreliable, and the app has helped more to predict when the next bus will
come, but the app is so unreliable that it barely helps. The app doesn't account for when buses stop
running or have shift changes, so they always predict that the bus will arrive, for example, in 30
minutes, even if the bus is scheduled to stop running in 10 minutes.

      I'm not sure what people as individuals can do to help this unmet need right now, but I'm sure
whoever developed the app must do updates and fix bugs at least. Maybe they're already working on
this problem with the app.

     I am 100% sure this problem (opportunity) exists, because I experience it almost every single day.
I rely on the bus for transportation because I don't have a car, and it is infuriating to waste my time
waiting for a bus that isn't actually coming. I always check the RTS app before I leave the house to
make sure the bus is predicted to be 10 minutes away, and all too often I'll make the trek to my bus
stop only to check the app again and read "No Prediction" or "Out of Service" and the next bus for
the same route isn't coming for another hour. This has happened to me countless times and it's such a waste of my time and energy.

     My prototypical customer would be college students who use the RTS bus system regularly, so I
spoke to some UF students who, like me, rely on the buses to get around Gainesville.


INTERVIEWS

Q1: How often would you say you use the RTS bus system to get around Gainesville?

Customer H: Right now almost every day.
Customer M: All the time!
Customer B: Everyday, 2-3 times a day.

Q2: Do you use the RTS app to predict when the bus is supposed to come? And if yes are there any
 issues with it?

H: Yes, I'd say the tracker is reliable but the time estimation is not, as it takes into account how long it will take the bus to reach the stop and doesn't account for the breaks that the buses take to get back on  schedule.
M: It's usually fine, but if my wifi or LTE connection gets weak it can get a bit unreliable.
B: Yes and yes! Sometimes it'll glitch and say it's far away but in reality it's super close, like a block
or two closest.

Q3: Have you ever been late before because of the unreliability of the app?

H: He** yeah I have! Actually I missed the bus today and had to walk to Cabana Beach to catch the
21.
M: I haven't had the experience yet, most of the time when I use the bus it's the 38 route during the
busier periods so they're all running [frequently].
B: Yes, I think but not too much. Like maybe once.

Q4: Is there anything you could do now to make sure you aren't late even if the app messes up?

H: I do try to get there early! Sometimes I just think I can make it last minute (I can't).
B: I try to leave earlier [so I can catch the bus on time]!


REFLECTION

Two of my prototypical customers experienced the same problems I did with the RTS app, but one of
them did not. He had only taken the bus during the busiest time of the day, when the most buses are
up and running and bus drivers aren't having shift changes or taking breaks. This made me realize
that maybe the problem (opportunity) isn't as big as I previously thought, since it may not happen to
everyone who uses the buses.

I think the opportunity is still there, just not to the degree that I thought before, since one of my
prototypical customers uses the bus but hasn't experienced glitches in the app and unreliability that
causes lateness like the other customers had.

I believe that my new opportunity is more accurate than when I first started, because now I know that
the problems I experience with the RTS app aren't universal, and may even depend on how good the
4G or LTE connection is if I happen to be outside, or if the wifi connection is weak if I'm inside.

Entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunity beliefs to meet needs expressed by prototypical
customers. If they stay too firm to their original idea, their product might not meet the exact needs a
customer would have, or the entrepreneur might miss an opportunity to create an even better product.

My Entrepreneurship Story

One time in my life that I experienced entrepreneurship that is particularly distinct is when my friend’s mom talked to my Girl Scout Troop about an invention she patented. She had invented this sippy-cup that hangs on the edge of the table part of a high chair for toddlers. Before, she had problems with losing her daughter’s sippy cups, but with the new cup she designed that clips onto the table, she always knew where it was and it was within reach of her daughter while eating. Before she patented it, it wasn’t really on the market, so she sold her idea to a bigger company and made money from it. She inspired all of the other moms there to feel empowered, that their day job didn’t have to necessarily be the entirety of their worth.


(It looked kind of like this, but with wider handles to hand better off the side of the table.)

I enrolled in ENT 3003 because I’m in Innovation Academy, and it is a critical tracking class for the program. I had never heard of the class before now and had not considered taking it until I realized I had to, but I’m glad I am taking it now. I hope to be inspired and informed on how to see problems in the world around me and have the confidence to say “I can (and will) fix that.”

Bug List

1. Construction in downtown Orlando makes it really hard to know where to go, and it feels like a labyrinth trying to get around, even with a GPS.
1. This bug exists because many streets in downtown Orlando are one way, and there are also a lot of lakes in the area. You can start down a road because of a detour for, take a million twists and turns without any way to turn around, and be spit out somewhere completely foreign. Plus, GPS navigation in this area can be unreliable regarding construction because the maps aren’t updated often enough.
2. The line at Space mountain was so long that I had to skip it and go on other rides because I didn’t have enough time to just wait in line for Space Mountain. I was disappointed because it happened last time I was at Disney too and I still haven’t gotten to ride Space Mountain to this day.
1. This probably happens not only because the ride is the most popular, but also because the ride takes a while and doesn’t fit a lot of people in one trip. There is more demand to get on the ride than the ride’s completion rate and carrying capacity can handle.
3. There are no pads or tampons available for free in the Reitz bathrooms (or probably any bathrooms on campus), so there is no way to easily get feminine hygiene products if you don’t have your wallet on you (which I sometimes forget at home).
1. One problem here is that I forgot my wallet, and this problem would be solved if I had remembered it. Another core problem though is that if I couldn’t afford pads/tampons and was genuinely struggling financially, I would still not have access to pads or tampons and would just bleed through my pants.
4. Getting stuck in the rain without an umbrella and no ponchos available, and also having no cover and no way to protect your phone from the water even though you’re also in an unfamiliar place and need the GPS to find your way home.
1. Part of the core of this problem is not knowing when to bring an umbrella, or forgetting it even if you do know it will rain. Another part is that my phone wasn’t waterproof and I needed it to navigate. I was also walking instead of driving, and if I had a car then none of the problems in this bug would have happened.
5. Getting hit in your rear bumper by a tourist wearing Mickey ears.
1. This happened because I was at a stoplight and when the light turned green, I released the brake but accelerated slower than the car behind me. He may have been distracted by a phone or talking to the woman in the passenger seat, but the core of the problem was that he didn’t accurately judge how fast I was accelerating and miscalculated, then hit my bumper.
6. Potholes on 62nd Blvd
1. Maybe our tax money isn’t being used for potholes, but if it isn’t then I don’t know what. Maybe it just isn’t high on the priority list, or maybe there just isn’t enough money from taxes to pay to take the time and labor to fill the potholes. Maybe there also isn’t a major demand or outcry for this issue, so representative don’t prioritize this in order to be reelected.
7. When the bag of chips I just bought from the vending machine gets stuck before falling.
1. I’m not exactly sure why this happens, but it must be an engineering issue that keeps the bag from falling.
8. When I take out the trash at night, it’s really dark and I get scared walking all the way to the dumpster in my apartment complex.
1. Part of the issue is that there isn’t sufficient lighting for safety and comfort, and the other part of the problem is that there aren’t enough dumpsters to shorten everyone’s walking distance.
9. Stop signs that are hidden behind a bush or a tree that make it hard to see the stop sign until the last second, when you have to slam on the brakes and risk getting into an accident.
1. This happens because someone either decides to place a stop sign behind a tree or bush, or because the tree or bush grew there after the stop sign was already placed. Maybe there just isn’t any government service that makes sure street signs are visible, or if there is they don’t know about the signs being blocked in less prominent roads.
10. When a bus passes you, even though you’re at the bus stop.
1. Maybe this happens because the bus driver didn’t see you in that particular moment, or maybe it was a moment of forgetfulness of the bus driver. I’m not really sure why this happens but it makes me frustrated beyond belief when it does.
11. Trying to open a jar, but then still not being able to open it even when you use a towel, and having to resort to hitting the lid with a hammer to knock it loose and open it.
1. This happens because airtight jars can sometimes be so well sealed that the lid is strongly suctioned shut. That is mainly an issue regarding engineering, and making the seals too tight for the average (unfit) consumer to open with ease.
12. When a banner appears at the top of the screen of an iPhone, and you meant to tap something else but you accidentally tap the banner the second it shows up and open the notification, even though you wanted to do something else entirely.
1. This happens to me every time I want to “x” out of a Snapchat but I get a notification banner right as I’m about to tap the screen. It is one of the most frustrating and tedious things that can happen on this earth. It happens because the banners appear at the top of the screen every time I get a notification, and if I tap the banner the phone opens the app from that notification, regardless of whether or not I actually meant to tap it. I could turn off banner notifications on my phone, but then I would never see when I have notifications or texts from other apps.
13. Not knowing when food has actually gone bad yet.
1. Sometimes the sniff test doesn’t quite cut it, and expiration dates (which are really “sell by” dates) aren’t actually a proven legitimate way of telling if food is still okay to eat or not. Milk smells a little funky no matter when you buy it, so sometimes when it has just barely started to turn you can’t smell it yet, but you can taste it a LOT.
14. Nails that bend instead of going straight into the wall.
1. This happens because the nail is probably too thin and too weak of a metal that instead of being pushed straight into the wall, it just kind of collapses with the force of the hammer.
15. Bad food smelling up the trash.
1. Scented trash bags don’t adequately mask the scent of food waste that has been sitting in the trash. Maybe at the core of this issue is the fact that the food is being thrown away in the first place instead of being eaten, but the product of the trash bag itself is also clearly not working as well as it’s supposed to. Putting perfume on trash is clearly not effective, and the trash bags themselves don’t trap odor the way they were engineered to.
16. When automatic sliding glass shuts right as you walk up to it
1. This is probably a problem with the mechanism’s design and how it sense movement in front of the door, so maybe if it sensed movement of someone walking from farther then it would be able to anticipate better when someone is approaching.
17. Whenever I wear my glasses, the nose notches that hold my glasses in place smear off my makeup and when I take off my glasses I have little red marks on my nose from where the makeup was rubbed off.
1. This happens partially because my makeup isn’t thick or strong enough to stay in place under the glasses, but it also has to do with the glasses notches themselves. If they weren’t there then they wouldn’t ruin my makeup, but at the same time they need to be there to keep my glasses from falling off.
18. My Vans slip-ons always give me blisters on my heels
1. This happens because my socks are lower on my heel than the shoe is, so the sock doesn’t adequately protect my heel from getting blisters. The shoes are also designed to show ankle, so any socks that go higher than where the back of the shoe hits my heel would look weird.
19. It’s annoying to have to move my potted plants in and out of the house whenever there’s a cold night here, especially because it seems like it gets below freezing every other night- meaning I move the plants inside to stay warm, then the next day it’s warm and they can go outside, then the next day it’s too cold and I have to move them inside again at night because it will be below freezing. THe pots are heavy and it’s tiring to have to move them so much.
1. This problem exists because my plants are too small to put blankets on top of (their leaves and flowers would be crushed by the weight of a blanket), but will die if left out in temperatures below freezing. The pots they’re planted in are heavy, making the entire process cumbersome.
20. My roommate’s cat likes to knock things off of the surfaces in our apartment, like cups and random items on my desk.
1. The main problem is that the cat has a natural instinct to knock things over and play with them- but the reason this behavior is enforced is because my roommate doesn’t do anything to train him not to knock things over, and he has no reinforcement for not knocking things over. Also, he is often bored and left alone in our apartment, so he has no consequences when he spends hours at a time home alone and can knock over whatever he wants. Reflection I feel like this assignment was easy and lighthearted at first, but towards the end I began to kind of vent about random bugs that have been eating at me for a long time. I went to kind of a dark place where I kept thinking of all the terrible things that have happened to me that were really unlucky. However, it is a positive that now I can look at all these things that have happened that could be opportunities to fix these problems instead of just accepting them and pouting about it.

Introduction (Assignment 1D)

Hi everyone! My name is Kyleigh Caicedo, and I'm a second year IA student. Funny story: my blog was going to be called kyleighscorner, and at first it showed up as an available blog name, but right as I clicked "create blog" there was an error and the site told me someone else took the name. So now my blog is called kyleighcorner and it looks weird. Curses to the other Kyleigh out there who took my blog title at the worst moment! Anyway, I'm a Sustainability and the Built Environment (SBE) major. I think this class will be tremendously useful for sustainability, because the whole point of the major is to come up with innovative new ways to change the ways we're designing things, and doing so in more efficient and environmentally-friendly ways. There are a lot of elements of construction, architecture, and design, but a major factor in sustainability is definitely innovation (and, hand in hand, entrepreneurship). I'm excited to see what this class will hold in store for me, and I look forward to meeting you all in class (or not- if I stay home and watch these online only then goodbye forever)!