Advanced skier who owns a cabin in Tahoe. Owns her own gear but also occasionally rents special gear or when travelling out of state.
Why/How we interviewed her: She is an avid skier who invests a considerable amount of time and money into the sport. She would be willing to pay for services to improve her experience. What hypothesis we tested: Avid skiers are willing to pay for additional services. What we really wanted to learn: Deep insights about ski logistics from someone who dedicates every winter to the sport. What we learned from this interview: Some skiers are not particular about ALL of their equipment (AKA if we go the valet route, one business line could be to rent out unused skis to this customer type). What surprised us: Other interesting outcomes: Would love a service that aggregates inventory of local ski gear shops to allow for more efficient rentals.
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Sanny is an avid snowboarder, "but definitely not a pro," who currently spends about 6 weekends a season at various resorts. A few years ago she snowboarded more, but the lack of snow the past few years have reduced the amount of weekends she is willing to dedicate to the sport. Her season begins by finding a ski lease which is a challenging due to different expectations on budget and quality among her friends. Once a ski lease has been signed, then the fun begins, unless she needs to find some friends on the mountain. With limited cellular reception it's difficult to meet up with friends throughout the day, she really wishes the resorts provided WiFi on the mountain.
Biggest Surprise: Although Sanny mentioned that planning a trip was a big pain, after she found a ski lease, it was coordination on the mountain proved to be the least pleasure-able experience involved with snowboarding. What We Learned: It's difficult to find people on the slopes. Beginner skier who goes 2-3 weekends/year. She rents her gear at the ski resort.
Why/How we interviewed her: Joyce is a beginner. She would love to own her own gear but doesn't have easy transportation options due to not owning a car. What hypothesis we tested: Logistics are a barrier to deciding to purchase ski gear. What we really wanted to learn: Behaviors of people who don't own their own equipment and what is stopping them from purchasing gear. What we learned from this interview: Carpooling is a standard of ski trips. What surprised us: As a skier becomes more affluent and able to afford ski expenses, they actually go less due to time restraints. Other interesting outcomes: People who live in the city who do not own cars are limited from owning equipment too because they do not have easy transportation to the ski resorts. Mark is an avid snowboarder who only buys new equipment when it gets stolen. This happens more often than he would like. He usually books weekend lodging with friends through services such as AirBnB, but that's when the real pain begins. Getting out of the Bay Area after work to beat traffic, is a challenge. That's not his only travel related difficulty, as he finds it impossible to get to the resorts early to maximize the day, due to peoples "desire to sleep in," even when everyone agrees to wake up early.
Surprise: Avid skiers don't buy new equipment every season. Insight: Getting out of the Bay Area after work is difficult, but so is getting a group to the resort in the morning. Advanced skier whose wife's family owns a ski house. Goes 1-2 weekends per month during the season.
Why we interviewed this person: Chris has more expendable income to spend on skiing due to having free lodging. He would likely be willing to pay for additional services. What hypothesis did we test: Avid skiers would be willing to pay for additional services. We really wanted to learn about this: What prevents Chris from skiing every weekend of the season? We learned this from the interview: Not many complaints about gear logistics, more about inefficiencies on the mountain and in ski resort lodges. We were surprised by: Other interesting outcomes: Chris would really love an app that sources data about chairlift crowds in real-time so he could plan his day on the mountain more efficiently. |
AuthorThe Orca team is a group of second year Haas MBAs dedicated to bringing fun back to the logistics of group travel Archives
November 2016
Link to Full Interview Notes |