Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunity: Individuals do not have a convienient way of testing their blood alcohol level before getting behind the wheel, oftentimes resulting in a DUI. Because of this unmet need, I believe there is an opportunity in creating battery powered breathalyzers that connect to one's car keys.

The who: Individuals over the age of 21 who drive vehicles
The what: They are unable to conveniently test their blood alcohol levels before driving
The why: Battery powered portable breathalyzers are not readily available to them

Interview #1: Mother
To start the interview, I asked my mother if she performs a sobriety test of any sort before driving after she has consumed alcohol, when she said no I asked why and she responded, "I have no way to other than using my best judgement." Upon explaining the opportunity I have discovered in making portable breathalyzers that connect to a set of car keys, I asked my mom a series of open-ended questions. Pertaining to who would need a tool as such, she said that anyone who is of drinking age could benefit from purchasing one, she did also include the fact that people who don't engage in drinking would be highly unlikely to purchase one.

Interview #2: Friend, age 21
Surprisingly, I discovered that my friend has a breathalyzer that plugs into her phone that she uses after going out to dinners or social gatherings. She said that it is a good idea however oftentimes doesn't work correctly, she also said that oftentimes after a night out her phone is dead and she has no way to see the results. When asking my friend about the prototypical customer she made the point that people would probably only buy it if they were of the responsible type, and even if they purchased it, they might ignore the it's determination.

Interview #3: Coworker
My coworker believed that this creation could be marketed to drivers of the legal drinking age but could also be useful in other ways as well. She pointed out that individuals could use it to simply decide when to stop drinking when they are out, regardless of if they are getting behind a wheel. She explained that she has witnessed multiple of her friends be taken to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning and a portable breathalyzer could be a helpful preventative tool for similar situations.

Interview #4: Father
My dad doesn't drink so he helped highlight the fact that this product may not be useful to all adults at or over the age of 21, he said that the type of customers that would likely purchase it would be casual, social drinkers who keep responsibility in mind when driving home. He pointed out that individuals who typically drink heavily would most likely not purchase one because they can clearly identify when they are too intoxicated to get behind the wheel.

Interview #5: Sorority house mom
I asked my sorority mom if she would get use out of a portable breathalyzer that attaches to her keychain, she explained that she would because she oftentimes goes downtown to have dinner and wine with her friends and would like to know what her blood alcohol content is without having to guess based off of "feeling." When I asked who else would benefit from it expressed that she would hope that college students would purchase it in efforts to be safe and responsible, she included the idea that in Gainesville, students might not see the need for it because of Uber availability and the fact that most residences are within walking distance from the bars so people rarely bring their vehicles out.

The interviews above summarize the key points that I took away from each conversation. After the interviews, I still believe that an opportunity exists because I haven't seen anything of the sort marketed and it is a great way to spread awareness and support safety in multiple ways. While testing the boundaries of the need, I found that the breathalyzer could be used in contexts other than driving, for example: simply determining when it is no longer safe to consume any more alcohol. When testing my theory of prototypical customers I found that my window would be narrowed due to a variety of factors such as: whether people engage in drinking or not, whether individuals are responsible or not, and whether people typically take their vehicles to where they engage in drinking or not.