NOV 18 - THE CUSTOMER

Create 1 to 3 personas for your target segments

Out target segment has to be split into the two sides of our business model. The providing target segment (locals) and the requesting target segment (travelers).

Although both sides are equally important to the model, it makes sense to begin with the travelers, since they will be the ones that in the end will be paying for the service. Where there is demand, there will be supply if the price is right. If there is no demand there is no use talking about the potential supply:

Travelers: 

• Persona 1 - the independent explorer: 
• This persona has just started working, so she earns money and is willing to spend some of it
• She only has a certain amount of vacation days and will stay for about 3 to 7 days 
• She is single and traveling on her own, so she enjoys meeting new people. 
• She is open-minded and curious and likes getting to know persons with a different cultural background
• Traveling is an experience to her that goes beyond seeing a new place - its a cultural experience

• Persona 2 - the alternative traveler :
• This persona is staying for an extended period of time from 5 days to one month
• She have 24 to 40 years
• Her travel purpose might be a language course or an extended break from work
• After touring the main attractions the first couple of days, she is looking for interesting and authentic activities that adds some adventure to her stay.
• She might be traveling alone or with a friend - also she might make friends  in a language course and motivate them to explore the city together with her
• She shares a certain passion for the city she is visiting and would like to connect with the people there

Locals:

• Persona 1 - the self employed professional 
• she might be a self employed professional who is looking for a new way to attract clients
• this could be a semi-professional photographer, a tourist guide, a dance teacher or a musician
• she is already used to working with clients but so far was either catering to locals only or had to go through an intermediary.
• now she enjoys offering her services to interested travelers 
• she enjoys her work and shares a passion for it
• the flexible arrangements and the direct contact allow her to offer low rates

• Persona 2 - the passionate extrovert
• she holds a certain passion for a particular topic (that might be music, graffiti's, art, food, language) and is wanting to share that with others
• she does not work a 40h job and is somehow flexible (e.g. unemployed, self-employed in a non-related field, student, part time)
• she is curious to meet new people and views a small financial reward as an appreciation of her offering that also helps her earn some extra money

Opportunity Matrix

The opportunity matrix is a concept that would certainly help analyze the prospects when looking into a range of customer segments. However at this point in time, we are not yet able to distinguish well between distinct groups of travelers. Depth of Pain, Budget, Ease of Reach and Ease of MVP can not yet be rated sufficiently to give the numbers an actual meaning. 

Questions

• How have your user / customer hypotheses changed?
• While we were initially only following the key-term of "authentic experience" we are now looking closer at the context of the travel experience. Every traveler will still want to see the main attractions, but there might be a difference in how they want to explore these. 
• Some might want to have a local guide that shows them the places they would otherwise have to visit on their own, while others might be looking for an experience that goes beyond what they would have been able to find themselves. 
• On the provider side, we do not believe that the rates we want to offer on our platform will allow for a stable income. The offerings will therefore generate some earnings on the side but should not be the primary motivation. 

• Did your Value Proposition change?
• We are still trying to provide authentic experiences - but also alternative offerings and adventures that a tourist might not have thought about before
• Also it can be a meeting point for people that share the same passion for something