Forming an Opportunity Belief

For this project, I was stumped on where to begin. We had just come up with 20 things that bugged us, and branched out into local community issues, but I wasn't sure if any could take me to the finish line.

And then yesterday, after five hours at Oaks Mall looking for a dress to wear to my friend's wedding this weekend, I was furious. Nothing fit me right, not even a size 0. I'm in no way the skinniest or tiniest girl, but with my height barely breaking five feet, I am damn short. Dresses fall off my shoulder or sink down to my calves, pants flow half a foot past my toes, and dress shirts, well, at least they've got the "dress" part down.

Although it took me five failed hours of shopping to realize it, I had an opportunity to save the petite community from the miseries of clothes shopping. The specific unmet need is that there is hardly, if any, clothing available for petite women that fits correctly without needing to pay extra money for alterations. Petite women are forced to be put out of the generalized clothing shape and unable to easily find the style they desire.

In the case of my study, the need is tailored particularly to young adult, professional clothing-seeking women who have petite frames. However, I could say all petite women. For instance, the small-framed lady looking for floor-length dress to bring on vacation in a few days has an unmet need that may not be satisfied in such a small time frame. Furthermore, the young lady who ordered a prom dress online that came too late and had to pay extra for rushed alterations (speaking from experience) has the same need. Dresses and pants in particular seem to offer a standardized length for their brands. The problem is immediately pin-pointed and does exist: women are not standardized, but come in all shapes and sizes, and companies need to address this instead of their one-size-fits-all customary lines.

I decided to head out to wear my problem was clear, the Oaks Mall. I met three young women, and immediately introduced myself and my current opportunity project. After overcoming the uncomfortable awkwardness of an interview by reveling in the fact that each of us had height issues, the three young women and I began to speak.

My interview with Alex went as follows:
After talking to her, I began to question if my original concern was as drastic as I made it seem to be. She only seemed to have issues finding jeans, and when she did she solved it with alterations or just by simply changing her style. Instead, she found herself wearing dresses more often. However, that can be detrimental to certain brands that offer limited selection because they could potentially be losing an entire customer base. So, I still think my original opportunity is out there.

Next I met with Mariela, and then Lexi. I will place their interviews in the stated order, however the interview with both of them went very similar.

The two ladies seemed more in the ball park of the "who" my problem was directed towards. Mariela was a recent graduate who struggled with professional clothes, and Lexi was a young professional who basically always lived in work clothes. Both have had years of trouble finding clothes to fit them, and agreed that other stores are potentially losing a lot of business.

Truthfully, my opportunity belief hasn't changed. Because I am in the category of people I was interviewing, their answers really didn't surprise me. I felt that what they said was exactly what I believed, and that I have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women like myself.