Amazon Whisperer

First I'd like to say that the Amazon Whisperer article was extremely interesting. To all of you who are reading this right now, it just shows that you can do whatever with your life as long as you are innovative and put your mind to it! He's making a living on just reading customers reviews and creating what they want!

Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

Well to all of you who don't know my idea yet, I want to create an app to help you find parking easier in whatever town you are in. I want this app to blow up so I'd want to make it a free app with one ad that opens up right when you start the app. This will generate a small amount of revenue BUT if the app goes global I'll be making a lot of money from so many people having the app. I've also thought about adding extra features for a "paid" version of the app, but i'd rather just update the app for free and make it as good as possible so that more people start using it.

Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

Well, the next thing that my customers want would be my app. Even today I was driving around Gainesville and it was just SO BAD that I couldn't find a parking spot for a good 20-30 minutes. I think there are some external things that could make my app better though. I think that maybe some sort of GPS Garmin type thing that navigates you to your desired parking spot so that you don't have to look down at your phone while trying to find a parking spot.

Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

So like I said above, I would just have this product to keep people from using their phones while driving to keep people from getting "distracted" while driving and using my app. I want everyone to stay safe as well as find parking spots with ease. I want my app to be free so i'm not sure how many people will buy an external product to help them with this app, but maybe I'll make that product free as well once I release it just to help people out!

Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

Since my product is an app, there aren't really any products on amazon that are similar. I've decided that the GPS "Garmin" has to be something that is similar to what i'd want though. It is just a simple GPS device that you attach to the inside windshield of your car and it gives you directions to where you need to go.

What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

Garmin actually had a lot of really good review because it is the newest version of it. I remember when Garmin first came out they had SO many problems with connection and the GPS not working. This is the newest and latest model and all the reviews were generally 5 stars and positive. They like how functional and easy it is to use and that it is big and doesn't break or bring you in the wrong direction.

Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 

I would add the functionality that I've been talking about with my app. Instead of just using the GPS to get to a certain location I would make it bring me and direct me to the closest and most desirable parking spot!

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

Again, like I've been saying, this isn't on the market yet and people are always arguing and complaining about how they cant find parking spots around town and how parking is terrible where they are. Having a GPS navigator or an app that can quickly tell you where to go, it would save the driver a lot of time!