Forming an Opportunity Belief

An "Unmet" Need

     After spending some time thinking of an "unmet" need we may in our day to day life, not many things came to mind. Throughout the past couple of weeks, I have been spending many hours at Library West and then it came to me. I started to observe everyone and listen to those around me talk, and I suddenly realized that an "unmet" need we may have is not enough booths at Library West. Hundreds of students spend hours upon hours at Library West studying for rather hard courses, and more often then not you find the majority of people looking for an open booth or waiting till one becomes available and moving their stuff to take the booth for themselves. I have been going to Library West for the past three years and I have seen the same "unmet" need from students of all ages and majors. I believe this "unmet" need exists due to the fact that a booth is a comfortable environment to study and do work in and for many of us that spend multiple hours a day in the library ,we find that we perform better and are a bit more motivated being in a comfortable environment while doing it.

                                                                          Interviews

#1 - 20 year old female in their first semester at UF
- When you go Library West, do you go to the booths first to see if one is available?
     "Yes, I do."
-  Do you find that you work better when you are in a booth?"
     "I like the booths because I find them very comfortable and more spacious which helps me focus more."
- Do you ever find yourself checking to see when someone leaves see you can go sit at a booth?"
     "All the time, it can be distracting."
- Have you ever felt that Library West needs more booths?"
     "Yes. I think that they should have more on each floor."
 - Would you be motivated knowing you would be able to sit in a booth every time you go study?"
     "It would motivate me to study in the library more, which I study better in."
 - Do you feel many students would really like this addition to the library?
     "I think most people would prefer booths."
Reflection: After asking her these questions, she brought me to think about the addition to more booths in a new perspective. She first mentioned that it can be distracting when she wants to look for a booth while she's trying to do work. I wasn't aware of this before but it is in fact very true. Majority of people spend their time waiting for the booths by somewhat being focused on their assignment while routinely looking up and walking around to check for an available booth. This is something I do commonly as well. Also, when she mentioned she would go to the library more if there were more booths. This is something I hadn't realized before. Maybe the addition of booths would bring more people to actually go to the library, which in turns makes them more productive.

#2 - 22 Year old male in their last semester of graduate school

- When you go Library West, do you go to the booths first to see if one is available?
     "Yes, I always start by checking the third floor booths and will usually sit around that area until one becomes available."
-  Do you find that you work better when you are in a booth?"
     "I like the booths because I find them very comfortable and more spacious which helps me focus more."
- Do you ever find yourself checking to see when someone leaves see you can go sit at a booth?"
     "Yes, I find myself many times sitting in the tables in the middle of the booths and when I see one become free I move my stuff and keep working."
- Have you ever felt that Library West needs more booths?"
     "This is definitely a yes. I have been going to school here for awhile now and I always want a booth when I go study."
 - Would you be motivated knowing you would be able to sit in a booth every time you go study?"
     "It would be awesome if I was able to get a booth every time I went to study alone or with my friends."
 - Do you feel many students would really like this addition to the library?
     "I would say yes, usually that area in west is packed especially during midterms and finals."
Reflection: I share many common points with this person. I see many people, myself included, going straight to the booths and somewhat sitting around the common area watching until they see one become available. It was interesting hearing that he's had this problem for awhile knowing that he is in graduate school, and has been attending UF since undergraduate school. I feel as if many people would share this opinion with him having been here awhile as well, as the booths in Library West are very popular.

#3 - 21 year old female who is a junior at UF
- When you go Library West, do you go to the booths first to see if one is available?
     "Yes, always. I even check it if I am alone."
-  Do you find that you work better when you are in a booth?"
     "I always go to the booths with friends because it lets us concentrate, but we can also talk every once in awhile without being reprimanded. I work so much better there because I like to study with some background noise. I don't like it when it is completely quiet, so the booths are perfect for that type of studying environment. I also love that the booths are super comfortable, I can spread all my books and papers in the table, and there are outlets to charge my laptop and phone."
- Do you ever find yourself checking to see when someone leaves see you can go sit at a booth?"
     "All the time! The booths are my favorite part of Library West. I refuse to study anywhere else, so I'll usually sit nearby and then run when a booth opens up."
- Have you ever felt that Library West needs more booths?"
     "100%. Library West is too big of a library to not have another floor or section with booths. The majority of my friends love to study there because it is a great space to collaborate."
 - Would you be motivated knowing you would be able to sit in a booth every time you go study?"
     "Yes, I would go every single day at anytime if I knew there was always going to be available. I always joke with my friends that we should just buy a booth to have it available to us at all times for us."
 - Do you feel many students would really like this addition to the library?
     "For sure! We definitely need more booths. Maybe Library West could add booths on every level, so some can be more talkative or more quiet depending on the students preference."
Reflection: As seen as a common trend with all the people I've talked to, she agrees that Library West should add more selections of booths. It's also clear to see that different people of different ages and time at UF all share the same problem and want for a booth. I never thought of this before, but when she brought up adding a booth to every floor of different noise levels, I thought this was an amazing idea. Library West is indeed very big as she mentioned, and I believe is capable of having the space to make this addition.

Summary

     Overall, it is easy to see that different people share this same "unmet" need that Library West needs more booths to study in. Library West is one of, if not the most popular library on campus used by hundreds of students daily. After sitting down with each of these students and learning their different perspectives on this topic, it came to my attention the different ways in which people view the benefits of adding more booths that I did not see before. The key points I would like to summarize from the three interviewees are: by adding more booths it would bring more students to feel motivated to come to campus at anytime, any day, the luxury of having space, outlets, and comfort while spending hours upon hours doing homework and studying, and lastly, upon arriving and not seeing a booth open and having to sit around and look until one becomes available becoming a distraction to those trying to work comfortably. In overall conclusion, I think this "unmet" need is shared amongst a large number of students and it would do nothing but benefit us by adding more booths at Library West.