15A figuring out buyer...

I interviewed three people- Simon, Claudia, and Adam. All three of them play some sort of instrument. They all agree that the thing that matters the most in this product, a key recognition/chord transposing software, is a description of each chord and how to play the exact same thing on each instrument. For instance, a barred G chord on guitar will sound different than an open G chord on guitar. They would like to replicate the sound of each style of G chord on, say, a piano.
They agreed that they are more likely to purchase it online than ever going to a store to buy something like this. As long as the program works, they will consider it a good purchase. Simon said that he thought that the program must be able to be used on a daily basis and work reliably and well.
Price doesn’t matter too much to them, as long as they don’t overpay. For instance, about ten dollars would be a good price point. Quality, meanwhile is very important. It must work reliably. Style isn’t as important, but they’d like a good-looking product. Adam recommended a blue colour scheme.
I have learned that people want a relatively inexpensive program that looks good and works. As long as these bases are hit, they will be satisfied. To stand out among competitors, I’m going to have to make sure that mine runs as smoothly as possible. 

14A Halfway There

To keep up with this course, I’ve had to set timers and do things in advance. Each assignment takes time and must be looked at at the beginning of the week, in case you have a book to read or lecture videos to watch.
At some points, I’ve felt as if the amount of work was too much, but I pulled through, got the interviews/read the book, and completed it. I got myself through it by thinking of goals in life, and how if I can’t do just simple assignments, such as these, where will I end up?

The three tips I will offer are the following-
               look at the work in advance. Do not save it all for the last minute.
               No matter how hard it might look, it won’t be that bad, and soon will all be in the past.
               Other people will review your work, so make sure it’s professional and ready to be shown off. 

12A Figuring Out Buyer Behaviour

The segment I picked today were guitarists. My program could be used by all musicians, but I decided to interview guitarists for the purpose of this assignment.
I found three people: Josh, Theo, and Maureen.
When each of them realizes that they would like to write a song, they usually start with a riff or a melody. All three agreed that the program would be greatly beneficial, especially in finding chord shapes and working in certain keys. Usually, they’ll google a chart or not worry about keys at all. Not worrying about keys is usually an innovative and interesting way to shape songs.
Also when trying to learn a song, they’ll become flabbergasted at trying to find out what chords are being played, and will often have to play all twelve notes just to find a chord that’s plays for not even two seconds, requiring them to rewind the song and listen to the part again and again.
I learned from these programs that this program should focus on scales and modes as well as the main keys, so that people can write in whatever scale/mode they want, or figure out what mode a song is using.
Guitarists are definitely a fairly large portion of my research. They are fairly representative of your average music player, as they’ll teach themselves other instruments and try to write songs. This segment helped me learn quite a bit about what they really want, and I will work to incorporate modes into my program’s plan.

13A-The Wright Brothers

1. Honestly, through reading the book, one thing that really surprised me was how Wilbur died. I had no idea that Orville went on to live for so long after his brother, or also that Octave Chanute was such an influence upon them. He should really be remembered more for his accomplishment.
I really admired how dedicated to their craft both brothers seemed to be. They would spend days, weeks, months working on something. Propellers were especially difficult for them, but they both came through and designed something to be proud of that would evolve into something truly revolutionary and used throughout the world. They were determined, set themselves on a mission, and accomplished the seemingly impossible.
One thing that I didn’t really admire was how the brothers seemed to be somewhat arrogant. Both brothers, especially Wilbur, seemed quick to put down the accomplishments of others.
Yes, the Wright brothers encountered adversity and failure. There was a lot of bad press about them, especially in Europe. The book states that “For a long time, for too long a time, the Wright brothers have been accused in Europe of bluff…” (Coming from the French). However, their detractors would go on to provide the brothers with much acclaim.

2. They were both hard workers and made sure that everything came through, relying not on luck but on completion and dedication. Nothing came necessarily easy to them, and they earned the admiration and respect of billions. They were very competent in presentation, but not so much in social skills. They were both able to concentrate extraordinarily well, which the author attributes to their father.

3. I didn’t really not understand anything in the book, but I do wonder why the Wright Brothers are so well known for their work, but rarely for their personal life. I feel like this book bridged the gap and discussed everything about them in great detail, which was truly wonderful.

4. How were you able to stay so dedicated, even in the face of adversary and failure? I often find myself unable to stick to something for more than a week at a time, and I am just amazed at how you were able to devote so much time and energy to one cause.
How were you able to deal with the risk? Flying would be very dangerous, how did you deal with going about it and making sure that you wouldn’t die?

5. Hard work was very important to the Wright Brothers, but they didn’t treat it like a chore.  Working kept them happy, and they worked together, aware that each brother had his own skills to bring to the project at hand. They worked for the “great aim in life”, putting their whole heart and soul into an idea and working to make sure that it comes through successfully.v 

Idea Napkin

1.       I am Daniel Barrios. I am a musician who is very passionate about the oceans. I made it to the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. I aspire to unite the world in caring about our environment and hope that together we can work to rescue our dwindling planet. However, this is far too grand a scheme that would require great devotion and care, so I’ve chosen to shift my focus over to music for the time being.

2.       My service is a software that helps identify keys in music. When I first started songwriting, I had a difficult time learning keys, and found no program that helped me. What was helpful, however, was a chart that listed all of the keys and the chords in them, as well as the I II III IV V V VII configuration. A program would have greatly sped up the learning process, as well as easily helped me learn songs by ear by telling what key it is in, as opposed to me playing every chord until one matches.

3.       I’m offering this to musicians and songwriters, as well as people who are simply just interested in music theory. All of my customers want to be able to recognize keys and learn songs, so they all have in common a desire to learn.

4.       This would have greatly helped me, and I spoke to some of my songwriting friends. They all agree that a key recognition software is something truly lacking on the market.

5.       What sets me apart from everyone else-

There is no program that will both provide the key of any song you input and also teach you about the structure and keys while listening. I am offering not only a learning software but a helpful tool that will aid in songwriting for any aspiring musician.

I think all of these elements fit together pretty well. Maybe some people would not entirely care, but I think this would be a very helpful and fascinating tool that would aid in songwriting for anyone willing to learn! 

testing2

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who is In- everyone	Who is Out- no one, although some think they are
What the Need Is- better environmental regulation and more protection for our fragile planet	What the Need Is Not- it is not a good time for doubting what our planet needs or hoping that climate change isn’t real
Why the Need Exists- because humans have not treated Earth with respect and have used many questionable tactics to ravage its beauty	Alternative Explanations

Everyone has the unmet need of a well-regulated and taken care of environment, whether or not they realize it. So I interviewed five people, which was hard, because I know like 3 people-

Person 1 felt that a lot of corporations and big companies fell outside of this unmet need. They were doing everything in their power to continue hurting the environment. I mentioned how even they needed a well-respected planet to continue living, and the person agreed. We discussed how there didn’t really seem to be much of a boundary, as this affects everyone.

Person 2 also agreed with me that there wasn’t a boundary, and no human should be excused from this responsibility. They even listed some businesses that seemed to think that they fall outside of this boundary, such as coal companies and even some energy corporations.

Person 3 was confused by the questions I asked, and seemed to think I was referring to some conspiracy that the government was actively trying to sabotage the environment. I would like to clarify that I do not think that this is the case, I just think that a lot of the public is misinformed.

Person 4 looked over the assignment and informed me that I should probably be describing a product and not something as vast and difficult as increased environmental regulation. I agreed, and then we discussed that a huge nationwide campaign was necessary. Lots of environmental groups don’t seem to have the funding or the public support to really get the message out there, and most of the ones that can afford to do so use shady business practices and have a focus on animal rights (PETA).

Person 5 did not want more environmental regulations. In fact, they felt as if the government was still doing too much and we as a society need to move on and accept that information needs to move faster and energy needs to come faster. They did mention how they admired national parks, which showcased a lot of plant diversity and were good places to camp and fish nearby.

What I learned from these interactions is that a campaign like this is impossible for a single person to pull off. One needs quite a bit of influence, money, and political friends to get anywhere. While everyone has this need IN THEORY, a lot of people believe that it’s not necessary and think that they fall outside of the “boundary”. 

solving the problem

The problem was that innocent, loving, and hardworking people are being deported, sometimes by mistake.

The solution is to stop with having such a huge campaign that centers around deporting people. If someone needs to be deported, than so be it. If they’re not causing nay trouble and are making an effort to live a better life. And so, we shall create a campaign that gives people better options in this country. Through us, we can help them get back home if they must, and we can help them work towards citizenship or with any troubles that they might be having.

i'm not usually this political, none of my past ideas have been very good :( 

testing

Preserving nature in some way, helping wildlife

The who: Nature conservation centers in the United States

The what: They are unable to collect the funding or rally the government to give them the support they really need and must look to private companies and the public’s support.

The why: A lot of other issues involving humans have taken prevalence and the government does not seem to care much about conservation or wildlife at the moment.

All humans and animals, along with nature itself, have this need! I would have to ask myself if this is something that the government even wants to do. There are obviously some people in our political world that fight for nature, but they are far and few between.

Person 1- told me that there were, in fact, better things that the government could focus on. They were supportive of natural conservation in general, but felt that there were more pressing issues that need to be dealt with.
Person 2- said something similar to Person 1, but felt that the government should NOT waste any money and should focus on the economy and mankind.
Person 3- Understood what I was saying and felt that the government was not doing nearly enough, especially under our current administration. They want to lobby the government and feel that they will listen if the full public’s opinion changes.
Person 4- Felt like the government needs to do a lot more to help the planet that was given to us, but wasn’t sure that this administration would be the best to listen.
Person 5- They felt that the current administration had rolled back protections on endangered species and land. They want to protect corporate interest before land and resource conservation efforts, and something must truly be done.

Public opinion is mixed, but most people agree that nature needs to be helped in some way. So, this is a very hot topic, but people need to realize that our world is in peril and we are only hurting it by not helping. 

6A

Economic Opportunities-

1. The amount of time people spend at work over time is declining.
A. This has been common knowledge for a bit.
B. With the rise of the internet and social media, people don’t have to spend as much time at work. This is an opportunity because it will open up more jobs connecting work people at home to management and to an office. We can promote a more healthy lifestyle of productivity with fewer work hours.
C. People who are employed would be the customers.
D. It would be difficult to implement, but it would cause a happier lifestyle for many and give some people more to do.
While this is an opportunity, it might not be the best one. People would be happier, but unless better methods of productivity and time management come about, I could see it leading to a lazier society and one that does not respect a work ethic.

2. Social media for companies has become an effective way to reach customers.
A. Just look at the Groupon and Wendy’s social media team. They have brought a lot of recognition. Good press like this will never hurt.
B. We can have people study trends to see what the public enjoys and promote them as the future of social media.
C. Businesses would be the customers.
D. It wouldn’t be too hard to implement. People could come out and show their expertise in this field.
This also isn’t necessarily a winning opportunity, but the social media presence in the customer-business relationship is so no that no one knows where it could end up.

Regulatory Changes Opportunities

1. 25 species have been denied endangered species protection by the Trump administration.
A. This was all over the internet in October.
B. The opportunity here is enforcing better environmental regulations and giving more help to endangered species. We humans have damaged the Earth[DB1] , and it is our duty to help get it back into shape.
C. The government would be the customer, as well as scientists and maybe even the species themselves.
D. It would be very difficult to lobby the government and do anything about this specific regulatory change.
Perhaps I see this as an opportunity because I am very passionate about the preservation of nature. Someone who doesn’t care as much about nature might not see this as an issue.

2. The Dakota Access Pipeline is in operation, despite decisions made by the Obama Administration. This is incredibly offensive, not only to nature, but to the tribal peoples of the area. A better system must be put in place.
A. This was also a huge deal last year.
B. The opportunity here is to do justice by both Native Americans and nature and to figure out a better system that could replace this pipeline.
C. The people who live around it would be the customer.
D. This would also be very difficult, as the pipeline is in operation. The president also owns too much stock in the company that runs it, which means that he probably won’t want to make any change.
People who put economy over public safety and natural conservation would probably not want to do anything about this issue. I see this as an opportunity because a better compromise could be made on all fronts.

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 [DB1]