WHERE DREAMS COME HOME
Our wind generator helps real estate owners by reducing costs and increasing reliability through a clean energy alternative.
Customer Discovery Plan
As part of our ongoing customer discovery process, this page lists key assumptions going into our interview process, the names and backgrounds of those interviewed, and our current findings.
Key Assumptions
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Our initial assumptions were that homeowners in the Houston area lack either the knowledge surrounding alternative energy options, or felt that alternative energy (specifically solar panels) were too expensive an investment.
Contact list
This section is an ongoing list that catalogues the names and backgrounds of those interviewed by our team.
- Benar Espanol - Suburb builder
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Danna Diamond - Real Estate Developer
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Connie Lednum - Individual home builder
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Yoka Larasati - Home owner
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Jeff ____ - Home owner
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Sherry - ASL interpreter - Homeowner
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Serena - ASL interpreter - Homeowner
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Ken Kawazoe - Homeowner
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Judie Kawazoe - Homeowner
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Kim Johnson - Homeowner
Interview Summary
Homeowner Key Information
Our current interviews suggest that our initial key assumptions were correct, however, there are some important customer pain points that we did not consider. Our interviews have also given us a clearer understanding of the type of information that customers are not aware of.
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Specifically, those interviewed who did not have solar panels were unsure of whether or not alternative energy would be able to save them money. Potential customers are also unsure of how alternative energy could fit into their existing infrastructure, and those with HOA's did not have a clear understanding on whether or not HOA guidelines allowed for outside energy fixtures. As such, customer education will need to be a major focus moving forward, and a more solidified proof of concept (preferably with savings numbers) would also be helpful.
Those interviewed also had a difficult time justifying an alternative energy generator installation, as it is a major investment that needs to pay itself over a long period of time. Those who are planning or considering selling their homes within the next 10-15 years felt that the effort put into installing solar panels would be wasted. Our assumption is that installed solar panels could significantly raise property values, though we will need to validate this idea with further interviews.
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Home Builder Key Information
Our team also interviewed two home builders from different backgrounds, one being a suburb builder and the other being an individual home builder. While we initially planned to interview more builders, current interviews suggest major limitations behind focusing on home builders as a potential customer segment. For one, most home builders (especially corporate home builders) would not want to work on a project that does not have their name on it. Secondly, an energy generator that does not have a major proof of concept would not make sense for the margins that home builders work with. For many individual home builders, any mistake can mean major financial loss.
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Electric Bill Data
As part of our customer discovery process, our team has also begun collecting the energy bills of some of those interviewed, as well as those who have not been interviewed. Our inventor is currently in the process of preparing an estimate for the amount of energy produced per generator unit, which will allow to create a more useful connection to this compiled data.
SOMA