Assessing the Problem

1) Figure out who might have the problem / unmet need. 

• People who bought groceries and are putting them in the fridge (must own a fridge). People coming out of the grocery store have just spent money on the groceries and the value is fresher in their mind.
• People who had to clean out their fridge for trash night (must own a fridge). Neighbors who have their trash can out on trash day have the waste fresher in their mind.
• Someone who has recently purchased a fridge. People leaving an appliance store after purchasing a fridge have it fresh in their mind what they were looking for when buying a fridge.

2) Come up with an interview approach.

If Publix:

• We are finding out more about food waste, which is food you throw away because it spoiled or expired before you could use it. May I video or audio record you?
• Were any of those groceries you just bought replacements for foods you had but that went bad or expired?
• What percent of those groceries you just bought do you estimate will end up in the garbage because they spoiled or expired?
• Why do you think you let your food spoil, expire or otherwise go to waste?
• What's your estimated value of your wasted food in a week?
• If there was a phone app that synced with your grocery bill and put the spoilage dates on your calendar for advance notice, would you be interested in using it?
• Would you be willing to pay for that app?

If Neighbors:

• We are finding out more about food waste, which is food you throw away because it spoiled or expired before you could use it. May I video or audio record you?
• When is the last time you threw away spoiled or expired food from your fridge or pantry?
• Do you routinely clean your fridge or pantry out on trash nights? If not, when do you discover that the food has gone bad?
• Do you consider food past its expiration date to have "gone bad"?
• Is there a particular food item or type of item that is repeatedly part of your household's food waste?
• Why do you think you let your food spoil, expire or otherwise go to waste?
• How much food waste do you have in a typical week, either in quantity of items thrown out or percentage of your weekly grocery purchases?
• What's your estimated value of your weekly wasted food?
• If there was a phone app to scan your grocery bill and put the spoilage dates on your calendar for advance notice, would you be interested in using it?
• Would you be willing to pay for that app?

If Appliance Store:

• We are finding out more about home refrigeration use. May I video or audio record you?
• In your lifetime, how often have you gone out and purchased a refrigerator for your home?
• What qualities do you look for in a fridge to determine which to buy?
• If there was a fridge that could notify you before food spoiled, would you be interested in it?
• Would you be willing to pay for that fridge?

3) Go talk to customers! 

Audio Files:	Neighbor A	Neighbor B	Neighbor C
We are finding out more about food waste, which is food you throw away because it spoiled or expired before you could use it. May I video or audio record you?	Audio	Audio	Audio
When is the last time you threw away spoiled or expired food from your fridge or pantry?	2 weeks ago	1 week ago	Today
Do you routinely clean your fridge or pantry out on trash nights? If not, when do you discover that the food has gone bad?	No, when I go to use it	No, when I go to use it	Yes, on trash nights
Do you consider food past its expiration date to have "gone bad"?	Yes	Sometimes: dairy yes, but dry goods no	Yes
Is there a particular food item or type of item that is repeatedly part of your household's food waste?	Vegetables	Leftovers from restaurants	Dairy, sandwich meats
Why do you think you let your food spoil, expire or otherwise go to waste?	We don't cook as much as we think we will when grocery shopping	I forget that it's there	Don't want the same meal as often as I think when grocery shopping
How much food waste do you have in a typical week, either in quantity of items thrown out or percentage of your weekly grocery purchases?	2-5%	10%	5-10%
What's your estimated value of your weekly wasted food?	$30 to $40	$20 or less	$20 to $25
If there was a phone app to scan your grocery bill and put the spoilage dates on your calendar for advance notice, would you be interested in using it?	Yes	Not really (like the idea but wouldn't use it)	Not really (like the idea but wouldn't use it)
Would you be willing to pay for that app?	Yes	No	No

4) Tell us what you learned about the opportunity. 
I think the food waste is just a result of errors in human judgment. We don't seem to be too far off the right amount of food as I initially thought. I originally thought the waste would be around 33%, but with 5% waste it's not such a problem. Also, people are lazy and want things to take of take care of themselves, not have an app that basically is you managing your own calendar of expiration dates and needing to think to check it.

5) Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers. I didn't think of the variety of lifestyles, some neighbors are younger, some have more people in their household, etc. so I need to tweak the questions a bit (I needed to be clear with neighbor B to make sure she is the one in the house who works on the fridge, and for neighbor A she might have been more comfortable in Spanish). None minded that I talked to them for a few minutes about my school project, probably because their young kids have all kinds of weird school assignments (papermache dinosaur, diorama, mobile, etc.)