Empathizing with the International Community to Build an Effective MVP

As international students navigate various challenges being away from home, accessing culturally familiar foods and groceries exists as one of the most pressing.

July 2019

As Co-founder, Lead Researcher, and Co-designer, I was responsible for uncovering and addressing major pain points in accessing ethnic groceries, while collaborating with my team and early evangelists to create an effective minimum viable product.

Regarding access to ethnic groceries:
• Reduce the overall time and resources spent.
• Eliminate constraints.
• Create a simple, easy, low-resource system for users.

1. Solution Interviews

• After conducting over 100 problem interviews and discovering that many international students lack personal transportation, I carried out various solution interviews (individual, group, phone, virtual, short, long), reaching 50 individuals.

• Key Findings: (For primary customer segments)

a. Preferred grocers in New Castle County, DE, and the Greater Philadelphia Area.
b. Produce is the most valuable grocery category.
c. Grocery delivery is ideal and highly convenient.
d. Traveling by bus limits the number of groceries one can take home.

2. Usability Test:

• Conducted three delivery trials to capture end-user feedback and gain comprehensive insight into necessary internal operations. The process involved early evangelists messaging their grocery orders to the team, the team fulfilling and paying for the orders, and then delivering the orders, with customers reimbursing the total cost. This trial period lasted one week.

• Key Findings:

a. WhatsApp is an ideal communication method for primary segments.
b. Transparency in the order process and item pricing is essential.

1. Collaboration:

• Stakeholders: Fellow Co-founder, early evangelists, communications interns.

2. Minimum Viable Product:

a. GetPotluck.com (Sales channel #1):
• Simple website ordering workflow.
• Transparency into GetPotluck and FAQs.

b. GetPotluck WhatsApp store (Sales channel #2):
• Orders initiated by messaging GetPotluck’s WhatsApp number with the preferred store name (e.g., Parivaar Supermarket) and a list of grocery items
• Simple and quick messaging between team and customer for questions, order updates, receipts, issues, and more
• Little to no learning curve for users across all demographics

3. Relevant Operations:

• Assistance from store staff in order fulfillment (e.g., locating items)
• Sunday delivery only (though customers can order at any point in the week)
• Implementation of a multi-route delivery system
• Cash-on-Delivery model using Stripe integration

1. Completed over 50 deliveries with minimal resources.

2. Secured store cooperation to accelerate order fulfillment times.

3. Enabled convenient transport of groceries, regardless of weight and volume.

• Move efficiently when building a minimum viable product and don’t spend too much time on features.

• It's crucial to develop clear expectations and maintain transparency for all stakeholders involved in or affected by the delivery operation.

9 months

GetPotluck