KAMPÜSTE 3RD WEEK - WHAT WE DID

KAMPÜSTE - 3RD WEEK

WHAT WE DID

This week we have created our personas and assumed the appropriate value propositions for each type of customer segment. We have come up with 5 types of customer segments; preparation students, 1st/2nd/3rd/4th grades, foreign students, master and PhD students, and METU graduates.

The value we offer for preparation year students are going to be more focused on socializing because we assume that in their first year of college they would like to get friends, engage with the community and culture, and find out about the events organized by societies going on in and out of the campus.

As for the second segment of customers, which are the students in departments. Depending on their grade level they would have different expectations from our platform. However, we assume that they are sharing mostly common demands. For example, note-sharing, course & instructor reviews, society events, second-hand item sale, internship & job opportunities. Also, this customer group will be the most crowded segment by being 50% of total.

The next customer segment is foreign students that are mostly Erasmus exchange students, and other foreigners. It is assumed that (not tested!) Erasmus students are more concerned with socializing events because they are in a different country and want to experience the differences in another culture. Since their time is limited in the visited college, it may create a fear-of-missing-out feeling for them, thus, making them more focused on socializing rather than networking and focusing on their career.

The other customer segment; master and PhD students. Presumably, their focus is going to be centered on networking and researching. How we can create value for those people is through offering them information and knowledge about their interests, connecting them with outsiders such as companies, institutions, and researchers and lastly allowing them to find jobs through company advertisements and headhunters.

Eventually the last customer segment is the graduates from outside of the campus. We are going to offer them to get news from the campus and allow them to get to know what’s going on in the campus such as events, concerts, theaters. They may also want to post job postings that will be published and can be seen by students. Moreover, we can create a pool and ease the process of donation making for them. So that the students in campus who have low affordability may find some extra fund.

We have had 20 interviews. According to those interviews we have gather some findings from each type of customer segments. Having interviewed people from each customer segments gave us information about each of them and we tested our assumptions through asking questions and their opinions.

We interviewed with preparation students, 1st/2nd/3rd/4th grades, foreign students, master and phd students, and graduates.

You can read some of the interviews below.

2nd Grades: 5 people - Çiğdem SÜME

Çiğdem had an interview with five second-year students from METU. The people she spoke to were from Russia, Kyrgyzstan,Turkey and a foreign Muslim country. They were from BA department.

Ayana: 2nd year Business Administration student. She is from Kyrgyzstan. She did not go to preparation school, it’s the second year she has been in Turkey. She is 21 years old. She lives in Osman Yazici Dormitories. She became aware of what’s happening in METU with her friends and social media mostly. When she first came to METU and Ankara, she became an outsider, especially about not knowing the city. She said that she is a closed person. That's why it's been hard for her to meet new people, at first.

Nurpari: She is Azerbaijan but she is coming from Russia. This is her second year in campus, she did not go to preparatory school. She is 20 years old. She stays in EBI 1 dormitory. She became aware of what’s happening in METU with emails. Also, she looks to the posters near to Devrim when going to dormitory. She said that she missed lots of activities and become upset because of this. She said that people had sent her mail all of a sudden on the same day. She said that it is a big problem for her.

Income level: She dedicates a budget to attend events.

When she first came here, she said that language was a problem for her. She gained friends as follows: She was attracting attention because he was a foreigner. People wanted to meet her.

Sena: She is from Turkey. She is a second-year student. It’s her third year at METU, she also went to preparatory school. She is 20 years old. She stays in 5th dormitory. She is using social media. For instance, she is following all pages that share events in Instagram. In fact, she see events as she check the Instagram. She is coming from Kocaeli. She had problems about not knowing Ankara, but she had knowledge about METU. When she first came to school, she did not suffer. Sena wants to be informed more about the events.

Income level: She spends an average level of money on events.

Ebrar: He is a second-year BA student. This is his 4th year at METU. He went to preparatory school. He is 22 years old and he stays in dormitory. He is from Kayseri. He sees events through banners, not through social media. He emphasized on that. When he came to Ankara, he had no problems, he made friends all the way.

Çiğdem asked him how much money he spent on organizing the events, but Ebrar replied: I don't see money as a criterion for participating in events. I prefer to participate in the event if it fits me.

Income level: He has the money to go to the event he wants.

Footnote: as long as the time fits him.

Person 5 (I couldn’t ask his name because he was in a hurry) : He is second year Business Administration student. He did not go to METU Department of Basic English. He is 21. He stays in dormitory. He is informed about activities through his friends. When he came to Ankara, he did not have many problems. He is not interested in activities too much. He also had no trouble getting friends.

Mina's Interviews:

Seda: She is a 4th year student. She went many student clubs before like Astronomi Community. She loves the campus mostly the forest part. She is busy with classes and graduating. She finds the everywhere crowded, cafeteria, library, ring. She complaints about the queue. Also, speaking English is problematic so not having a chance to practice is her lack.

Tutku: She is a master student. She complained about not having time for studying and the work at the same time. Therefore, she does not attend the activities that much in the campus. Also, for the transportation it is a problem for her.

Zainab: She is a foreigner student from Syria. She likes the campus but she finds it big so it is hard for her to fing the places. Also, she can't attend the activities because all of them is Turkish, so she socialize with foreign students. Less people speak English so it is hard for her to contact with others.

Eren’s Interviews:

Hulya Eryigit

Industrial Engineering Graduate

graduated in 1985

She would be interested in using the application if;

- it gives information about when graduates meet and where the events are happening.

- the platform allows graduates to learn what other graduates are doing and in what positions they are today. For example, is there anyone in any social institution?

- the application allows second-hand item grant/donation.

Additionally, she told that many ODTU graduates prefer to stay in universities as academic personnel or prefer to work in corporations. Therefore, posting job listings by graduates may not work as imagined. However, she told that private enterprise owners may like to hire interns and workers.

Also, she told that there are other platforms that graduates use to interact with each other such as; listem.org and e-mezun. Through those channels they exchange knowledge, share events and learn what’s going on at ODTU. According to her, we have to differentiate our application so that graduates get something they don’t get then they may be interested in.

_________

Erdem Emir Er

Business 4th grade student

He would definitely use the platform if the platform matches his abilities with the most suitable job specifically for him. When I asked him if he wanted to fill the information and his personal data so that the platform make a match, he said that he would but the application needs to make me feel safe and so I can rely on it and spend time to create a profile. When I asked him what would be the competitive advantage of such an application against Linkedin or kariyer.net. He said, since this is going to be special for ODTU stakeholders. Companies can make targeted hiring on focusing ODTU students only and pick the one who is most suitable.

_________

Onur Tasasiz

Business 3rd grade student

He stated that he would use the application for improving his network and open up new opportunities for his career. He would definitely be interested in an application allowing him to find job & internship opportunities. He especially emphasized his need on matching with students who have technical knowledge on specific fields from METU. Moreover, he would use the platform for note-sharing and course reviewing. He also urged a need of a direct communication mechanism between graduates and students.