ENT3003 Assignment 7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

You Have An Opportunity, Now What?

1) The opportunistic venture I’m choosing to pursue:

• A modified mechanical pencil with alterations that improve the Lead/Covering. 

2) The opportunity (who, what, and why?):

• Mechanical pencils that use plastic materials instead of wood are extremely common in the United States and from my experience are used even more often than a standard #2 pencil with students in middle school and above. As common as these pencils are they have various deficiencies, these include: no way to easily see how much lead is remaining, constant breakage of lead while writing and lack of additional lead when the pencil is emptied. These issues are due to the typical solid covering on the outside of mechanical pencils, weak lead thickness and strength, and finally, the usage is limited because of the small amount of lead that can be held in a pencil and the hassle of carrying any additional lead. 

3) Hypotheses of my opportunity (Testing the who, what, & why):

• I believe that people that have this need primarily include students aged 12-20 but certainly, this grouping could be expanded. Everyday working adults could all benefit from this product, particularly if they already choose mechanical pencils that are currently inferior. Additionally, this pencil could be more useful to people that would typically choose a wood pencil. I find this to be true because the increased benefits of this pencil may be appealing enough to encourage these consumers to switch. I believe that almost all mechanical pencils have faults but there are some better than others. Pencils that already have a clear surrounding allow for some sight of lead, but I believe it’s not to an effective level that makes it clear how much longer you will be able to write for. Moreover, there’s not any popular pencil out right now that allows for storing of additional lead while the pencils that have thicker lead aren’t standardized enough for everyday usage. I believe that most people will concur that current mechanical pencils on the market are simply not up-to-par with this idea for an improved one. I anticipate most people agreeing that pencils on the market right now break too easily, don’t last long enough, and/or don’t properly show how much lead is remaining. As aforementioned, some pencils do currently include some benefits but there’s not one that I’m aware of that contains the integral aspects of my idea for a mechanical pencil.

4) My 5 Interviews:

Interview 1:

• The person interviewed is a male student at UF who frequently uses mechanical pencils to take lecture notes. He says that the most frustrating aspect of mechanical pencils is the lead breaking when you’re trying to write for a long time. He brought up that to avoid this, he keeps the lead coming out the top to a minimal amount, resulting in it breaking less often. 

Interview 2:

• This interviewee is a female UF student studying abroad from the UK. She informed me that before coming to the U.S, she did not frequently use mechanical pencils, instead opting for a standard wooden #2 pencil most of the time. With that said, she said she doesn’t frequently experience problems with her mechanical pencil. Upon further questioning, she did say that running out of lead is an annoyance as she does not keep extra on her, but that when she does run out she chooses to use a completely new pencil. 

Interview 3:

• In this interview, I spoke with a high school student living in Orlando, FL. He said that he frequently uses mechanical pencils when in class and that almost everyone else in the class also uses mechanical pencils (not wooden ones). He detailed to me a few annoyances included: lead breaking while writing, clogging of the pencil when trying to press on the eraser, and losing lead when taking off the eraser. According to the interviewee, these problems exist because the lead can only be taken out/put in by removing the eraser. 

Interview 4:

• I met this person in the Reitz Union at UF when I actually saw them using a mechanical pencil to do some school work. After talking for a while and explaining my assignment, this person explained to me that he uses both wooden and mechanical pencils, but he hates having to have a normal wooden #2 pencil with him at all times. He told me that he did this because between lead breaking and the mechanical pencil running out of lead there’s always an uncertainty as to whether he’ll be ok for a test, essay, or any other assignment that requires a pencil. 

Interview 5:

• This interview was rather brief with the individual explaining to me how she almost always uses her laptop for assignments since coming to college. She told me that she hasn’t had a real writing assignment since high school, choosing to write type notes on her laptop alongside PowerPoint slides. Furthermore, she explained that when a test does come around she normally opts for a standard wooden pencil to not risk any faults in the detection of a mechanical pencil.

5) What I've learned about my Opportunity from the Interviews:

• I feel that after my interviews, a lot of my opportunity is based on the wrong area. No one seems to bring up how the covering of a pencil is solid which is originally what I thought the main problem was. However, given their insight, I believe this opportunity is only stronger than I anticipated, but that I should instead focus on the capabilities of lead in a mechanical pencil as opposed to the mechanical pencil itself. Almost everyone I spoke to had complaints related to the lead breaking, running out of lead, or losing lead when putting it into or taking it out of the pencil.