Week 5 - Need Validation (24\11-02\12)

Continue with need validation, collect further data and do market research

We started this week with feelings of joy and relief, after a successful presentation and receiving positive feedback on how we based the need and persona that we will focus on.

Although we went through a busy week of tasks last week (as part of the pivoting process we had to do) we did not allow ourselves to rest, and as usual handed out responsibilities for tasks in the first zoom session of the week.

“ Never rest on your laurels. Today's laurels are tomorrow's compost”

First, we scheduled 5 more interviews to achieve need validation and collect further data. Three interviews were with three types of experts: one with an architect, the second with an apartment broker and the last with owner of number of properties. During this interviews, we discovered a number of new conclusions:

• There are types of information that can only be discovered through the person who has lived in the apartment for a long time, such as air directions, smart architecture (energy-efficient), fluidity, acoustics, insulation, plumbing, etc.
  

• There is currently no database of properties and apartments so people have no way of knowing about the apartment these things.
  

• The apartment owners take advantage of the tenants and make them their captives both in terms of price they raise for no reason and in terms of dragon contracts.
  

• Tenants usually work in a hurry to enter the apartment they have found because they are aware of the demand. This creates a problem of a lack of detail and details, which then leads to the exposure of problems after signing the contract.
  

• The frequency of tenant turnover in rented apartments is frequent.
  

• According to the interviewee who owns the properties: The apartment owners are the party that is more damaged than the tenants.
  

• Like other apartment owners, usually, when she details the condition of the apartment, she presents attractive things, there is a clear interest.
  

• Property owners indicate that they suffer greatly from a lack of information about tenants in advance, the above information may save them costs of many expenses.
  

• The landlord emphasizes that she does not see giving an opinion as a negative solution, but on the contrary sees you as a trivial and correct step.
  

• In the Usa, for example, you need recommendations from previous landlords you live with to rent a new apartment.

The other two interviews were with two tenants who had a negative experience. The conclusions that emerged from them:

• When tenants come to check the suitability of the apartment for the tenant's needs, it is usually a stressful situation ("You are a guest and examining the apartment of another person who is following you at the moment, it is not pleasant").

• The challenge is that you as a tenant are looking for an apartment and the existing tenant, striving to find a replacement at any cost to get out of the apartment: "He probably won't tell you the least good things about the apartment."

• The opinion of past tenants gives confidence and optimism in making the decision to choose a particular apartment ("After he said he shared the information with me, a week later I already signed").

• It is important to hear the opinion of the landlord from tenants who have experienced regular interaction with him and examined how he copes in the moments when they need help.

• When an apartment is located in a central location, you will be examined for the apartment and not the other way around - you do not have the ability to choose at all and as a result, you may be affected by problems that have not been examined in advance.

Later this week, we completed the document about the 'empathy map' which includes a persona analysis model focusing on the customer experience, understanding his feelings and actions in order to synthesize the customer’s goals, needs, and frustrations.

Finally, we did research, search for existing government databases, and the possibilities of accessing the information on the Internet today in the field.

In terms of existing government databases accessible to the general public, our search shows that there are not too many of these other than information on construction projects, NAPs, taboos, information on guarantees, property costs, and a database of the Land Authority on all transactions made in the sale of apartments. We discovered that a few years ago, a bill was proposed to create an anonymous government database in which lease contracts would be documented, but the law was not passed in the Knesset.

Moreover, we have collected all the sources into one file that combines all the relevant links:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q4UzG06yIIx0jjUjxYTHBRWN7KGGAPlH