Forming An Opportunity Belief Assignment

Forming an Opportunity Belief 
I have a feeling that there is an opportunity that exists in the realm of electronics. I have a feeling that there is an opportunity for someone to make an Xbox controller that has an internal cooling system to prevent how sweaty your hands get when you play intense games with your friends.

The unmet need here is the fact that whenever I or my friends play Xbox, someone is always complaining that when they pass the controller to the next person, it is all wet from the last person's sweat. This is not sanitary and it is not suitable to play with because it makes your hands slip off of the controls. The people who would have the need for this would be any person who owns any type of gaming console such as an Xbox, Playstation, or Wii. This need has always existed and I even remember complaining about sweaty controllers like 10 years ago when I used to play with my childhood friends on the old Playstation. No one is doing anything to meet this need right now other than possibly adding hand grips on the controller that may also serve as a way to restrict your sweaty hands from actually touching the controls. However, there has been nothing done to actually help stop people's hands from getting overly sweaty while playing games. At this point, I am 75% confident that this opportunity exists because I know plenty of people that would buy this product and I am sure I am not the only one who has thought something like this needs to be invented.

The prototypical customer would be any person that plays games on any type of gaming console. Specifically, the prototypical customer age would probably range from about 7 years old to 21 years old, however, there are definitely people way older and possibly younger that still play games and would find use with this product.

The first person I interviewed was my friend in my fraternity Zach. Zach thinks that there might be a need for a cooling controller but that there is definitely an opportunity to exploit the sweaty hand target market and fix the issue. When asked how long he has noticed the need for cooling controllers, he answered with the statement "Since the dawn of Xbox". He always noted that when you get into more intense games on a gaming console, the need becomes even more evident because it is just natural to sweat more when nervous. Zach first became aware of this need when he first played NHL with his friends back home on Xbox. Hockey is his favorite sport and thus when he plays it on a gaming console against his friends, he gets very nervous and thus sweats. Zach has not been addressing this need thus far other than just wiping off the controllers if someone uses it before him or by just using his own controller that no one else uses. Zack is not very satisfied with having to bring his own controller with him whenever he plays and wiping off someone else's controller does not cleanse the controller of the other person's sweat and germs.

The second person I interviewed about this issue is my friend Dom. Dom thinks that there is not so much of a need for a cooling controller because he states that there already exists controllers for gaming consoles that have grips on them. He thinks that the grips limit the amount of sweat that transfers from someone's hand on to the actual controller. However, when asked how long he has noticed, if at all, the need for a cooling controller, he stated, "Controller's have always been handed to me in sweaty condition ever since I can remember". Thus, although he does not think there is a huge need for cooling controllers, he at least notices the issue that the new controller would solve. Dom has noticed that controllers become too sweaty since he was younger playing games with his siblings and he would share with almost five people, thus rendering the controller absolutely soaked once it was his turn. Dom has been addressing this issue for at least the past five years because he has been purchasing controllers with grip on them since then. Dom has been fairly satisfied with the gripped controllers and he thinks it does a good enough job at limiting the amount of sweat on controllers.

The last person I interviewed is my friend Scott, who believes that there is 100% a need for a cooling controller and is quoted saying "Nothing makes me more mad then when I come home to play Xbox and I pick up my controller to find it wet from someone else's sweat". Scott thinks that there is definitely a need for a cooling controller because he thinks that although grips on controllers, which he has, helps a lot, they only limit the sweating on the area where the grip is attached. Grip on controllers is usually only placed at the bottom, thus leaving the rest of the controller vulnerable to sweat. He has noticed the need for something to reduce sweating on a controller since he first had an Xbox and he and his friends would have to share sweaty controllers everyday after school. Scott, when asked, said the hat there is a huge need for cooling controllers and has been trying to address the issue by using controllers with grips. But, he does not think that completely do the job and would be thrilled for a cooling controller to be created to completely solve the problem.

After interviewing three prototypical consumers about the need and opportunity for a cooling controller for gaming consoles, I have reflected and realized that there is about as much of a need for this product that I thought. I understand that Dom already thinks the issue has been handled through the use of grips, but I never thought that the grips do the job completely, and this was confirmed by the two other people who were interviewed, Scott and Zach. This interviews helped me learn a lot about my opportunity and the main thing I learned is that there is definitely an issue evident concerning sweaty controllers. I think enough people agree that this opportunity could be exploited for a large profit.

I believe that 100% of my original opportunity is still there. I think that my opportunity is a little more specific than when I started because I have heard from three different people about what they think of the idea. I now know that someone people may be comfortable enough with just using a controller with a grip so maybe the product could be released with a cooling setting but also have a grip on the controller. I think entrepreneurs should adapt based on customer feedback but only to a certain extent. I think if a few people give opposing feedback then you expected, but a majority of people agree, you still go on with the idea. But if a majority of people disagree and think there is no opportunity or need for a certain product, you have to second guess yourself and decide whether or not the opportunity is worth the effort and expenses.