Get Out[lets] (7A)

If you haven’t noticed by now, I LOVE coffee. That being said, I frequent a myriad of coffeeshops on the weekly and ever since this class have had a much more focused spirit of mindfulness of cafe culture.

The other day while I was at CYM Coffee Co—particularly, their Honey Lavender Latte is the BEST—I noticed that they had a multi-plug power cord attached to an outlet on the wall and I thought “Wow! How convenient.” Usually I am milling around the coffeeshop, struggling to find an outlet to charge my own and computer while I sit down to study. Although CYM did a fabulous job at accommodating my need, it made me aware that many other coffee shops do not share this initiative. And so, my opportunity was born.

Opportunity Identification

The Who: Coffee drinkers like myself, studying students, coffee shop owners.
The What: Coffee shop customers rarely have access to outlets due to limited quantity or poor placement. However, a more important question may be whether coffee shops intentionally limit outlet access to discourage squatters or people studying rather than meeting together with people for coffee. 
The Why: Coffee shops may be too crowded or the cost of implementing more outlets is costly for the coffee shop owner. Adding in extra power cords increases electric bill and may look tacky.

My Hypotheses

Testing the Who: Since this investigation is mostly about cafe culture, the people most affected would all be within that sphere of influence. However, because coffee is a business in itself, in this situation specifically, the Who could extend to people who sell and install outlets. Additionally, libraries and secondary study places would be affected by this issue because as seen below in my interviews, people who aren’t satisfied with the presence of outlets or simply can’t find one to study by, have to go to a library by necessity. In this, the coffee shop may even lose potential business.
Testing the What: The boundaries of this need depend on the type of coffee shop. Some coffee shops have the intention of being quick, get in/get out and therefore would have fewer outlets. On the other hand, some coffee shops have more of a sit down study vibe whereas others discourage studiers because they prefer a more face-to-face “meet up for coffee” kind of vibe where people talk with one another.
Testing the Why: I think the Why behind this opportunity comes from many different places and has differing levels of importance for everyone. For example, some people weren’t even aware or perceived that this was an issue. I think these people don’t use coffee shops to study very often That, or, they are very skilled at keeping their electronics charged before they leave the house. But ultimately, the Why behind this may mostly be monetary because of utility costs of electricity.

Honestly I'd be terrified if I ever saw a Starbucks this busy and over run with college students studying. 

Interviews

1. After talking with Knowlton who was a former barista at Starbucks, I learned that the Downtown Gainesville Starbucks has notoriously bad outlet accessibility. I would agree that the tables and chairs are so awkward too; but that’s neither here nor there. He says when he is looking for a coffee shop to study there are a few requirements in this order: 1) parking 2) place to sit 3) an outlet.

2. In this interview, my friend Anna told me about a time where the outlet was just barely in reach for her to drape it from the wall to her desk but unfortunately it was now blocking the entire walkway. This proved very frustrating because it was more of a cafe with a few young children who kept running around and almost knocking her laptop off. She said it was a bit awkward for her to keep asking them to stop running but she couldn’t really do anything else because her laptop and was dead and that was the only outlet that wasn’t already taken by someone else.

3. I asked this interviewee whether they had ever had an awkward experience asking to stretch their cord across someone else’s desk to which they responded “Yeah it can be kind of annoying but I feel that because we are all college students we all understand the struggle.” He felt that it depends on which coffee shop he was in and who he would have to ask. He also mentioned that he likes the kind of desks, like in libraries, where outlets are already implanted in the desk. 

4. I talked with two people having coffee who surprisingly stated that they weren’t really aware of this issue. When I brought it up they understood but never would have complained about it unless stated by me. I think this had a lot to do with the fact that they were there talking to one another and not studying. They said they prefer to study at the library.

5. My friend Dylan consented that it is frustrating not being able to find an outlet because then that area is a study space but without the means to do so. Rendering everything else included in that experience more difficult to accomplish. However, that may be exactly what the shop intends: less outlets, less people studying, more people talking to one another and buying coffee.

Reflections

In identifying this opportunity, I originally thought of it only from a customer perspective stemming from my own frustration in a lack of outlets at some of my favorite coffee shops. When I can’t find an outlet I am forced to relocate or just work until my laptop dies which is also very annoying. But this issue also presents problems for the owner because they may want to save money on electricity or even resent people who only come to their coffee shop to study.

In trying to craft a product from this opportunity, I find it ironic because if this product would appeal to only the customers, who would by it? It is the store owners responsibility to buy products for the coffee shop. Why would they buy a product that goes against the culture they are trying to establish? Once again, we are forced to consider whether entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback?

Something that I still want to investigate and learn more about when I have more time is how much money it costs electricity wise for the amount of outlets a shop is running. I feel like this is a weird statistic to reveal but seeing these numbers would help me gauge what kind of monetary difference there is between having few outlets to an abundance of them.

Until then, maybe I should just start carrying a power cord with me whenever I go to study at a coffee shop. Probably not because what coffee owner would want that? But who knows?