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My customer avatar will be a male white-collar worker in his early thirties who works at an internet company in the San Francisco Bay Area.
His hobbies will be road cycling, social networks, and mobile games.
Although performing well on his job, he thinks social networks and mobile gaming consumed too much of his time.
He has a silver hybrid hatchback and a black hardtop convertible.
He has just married and plans on having children in the next few years.
His wife works from home as a software developer.

I have some aspects similar to him, such as hobbies. I also want to get a job at an internet company after graduating. This similarity is not a coincidence in my opinion. I would definitely categorize myself within the market segment I have set, many aspects of this avatar are also what I would expect from my own life in the next decade or two.

What’s Your Secret Sauce?

In my mind, my biggest advantage is persistence. Although sometimes it more seems to be stubbornness, I enjoy every moment when I try my best to achieve my goal.
I'm also proud of my versatility, over the years, I have done a variety of things from playing classical saxophone to crafting parts for vintage pocket watches.
My curiosity helps me find new opportunities.
My experience of living in China, USA, and various central Asian countries
My repairing ability on a wide range of items extending from musical instruments to mechanical watches also enables me to discover their mechanisms.

I interviewed five people, they are:
Best friend of mine
Physics teacher from my high school
My parents
Saxophone instructor used to teach me

I asked each of them what are the abilities and qualities that make me unique. They told me that my boldness, creativity, kindness, persistence, and curiosity make me a bit different from others.

Overall, I see myself as a young college student with potential but still need efforts on being self-disciplinary. I definitely agree that I have such qualities and abilities, I think I should also work on making those abilities beneficial for my entire life.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Since last Saturday, I have interviewed three interviewees who fit my segment:
A graduate student at UF.
A visiting scholar at UF.
A PhD student at UF.
Each interview took roughly 15 minutes.
The product is an enclosure that can temporarily lock up cellphones while still enabling users using the basic functionality of the phone.
All three of them have agreed that price does play an important role when they're planning on purchasing such a product. They have claimed that quality, especially for durability, would be the critical aspect of this product. Only the visiting scholar interviewee had high expectations on the styling of this product.
As for purchasing, all three of them would like to buy this product online. This result matched my prediction since buyers tend to be constantly on their cellphones. They all agreed that such products don't need financing options.
Although all of them claimed that functionality is the major factor of the post-purchase evaluation process.
Overall, from those interviews, I'm able to better envision the guidelines for the design of the product and marketing strategies I would take after the product is developed.

13 - Reading Reflection No. 1

reading: Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson
1. I'm surprised that he had become a multi-millionaire at 25. I admire Steve Jobs' perfectionism the most and least admire some flaws in his personality such as quick temper. He had experienced failure of introducing his new computer Lisa to the market, he left the company after failure due to pressure from the company and established NeXT.
2. His perfectionism and passion.
3. Jobs' personality described in the book was controversial that his colleagues didn't agree on the author's point of view.
4. I can only do that with a time machine lol. I would ask how he would envision tech products in 2019. Secondly, I would ask him how he would prefer the styling of Apple products in 2019.
5. I would assume that his opinion on hard work was being passionate, and I totally agree with this opinion.

14 - Halfway Reflection

1. In order to keep up with the progress of the class, I have changed my dynamics for studying a lot. The first skill I have developed after enrolled in the class is keen observation. I used to not care so much about things surrounding me, ever since the first assignment, I've realized the importance of perpetually observing and started practicing it. The second skill I have developed is the skill of making a concise and accurate conclusion. This skill is crucial for summarizing the experience I've had during the process of interviews.
2. I felt like dropping the class right at the moment seeing the topic of the first assignment. I thought it was way too intense for me since I'm more interested in mathematics and programming. I overcame this difficulty by encouraging myself to develop a new skill set. I have gradually built a tenacious attitude as the course continues. The experiences of being rewarded by making little achievements on each assignment have helped me build a tenacious attitude. 
3. I would definitely suggest them to be optimistic and ready for some challenges.

12A

I set the segment as adults under 35 who work in an office or at home.

I've interviewed three interviewees:

A lecturer at a university (female, 31)

A mechanical engineer (male, 31)

A music arranger (male, 33)

All three of the interviewees would like to have a try of my product when a prototype is available. They also have demands for aesthetics to certain extents, they wanted the product to blend into other items on their desk. Their budget range between 85-150 U.S dollars for a fully equipped variant. They have stated that they have at least experienced frustration for wasting time on cellphones and tablets while they thought they were supposed to be working.

From the interview, I found out that all of them wanted Bluetooth speakers and wireless chargers to be a standard offering. The music arranger I interviewed wouldn't like to pay for the eject mechanism. The mechanical engineer wanted the products to have a modular design with options such as a modular USB hub so that it could be more configurable. 

My conclusion is that my product could have multiple trim levels like cars. The product also needs to be aesthetic. 

11A

1. So far, I have tried various "unrelated" things from cycling to classical saxophone and have given up very few. Whenever I develop a new hobby, my interest would soon turn from the hobby itself into the mechanisms behind those items that I need for those hobbies. Thus, my passion for "making things" have built upon the basis of my other hobbies. I'm currently working on the CAD designs of my product for blocking out distractions from handheld devices. I definitely wouldn't take this business as a career since I envision my future working as a computer scientist. However, the product related to this idea is also what I need in order to be a more efficient, organized person.
2. I'm offering a feature-rich solution, especially for cellphone users. This solution will keep cellphone enclosed for a certain period of time when a person tries to concentrate while allowing users to pick up important phone calls and charge their phones.
3. Intended buyers are people who desire to be efficient and concentrated while working.
4. They need a physical barrier between themselves and the cellphone. But they also need access to the fundamental functions of cellphones when working.
5. This product requires very little self-discipline since it is a physical enclosure with a time lock.
With a built-in wireless charger and Bluetooth speaker, the essential functions of a phone can be accessed whenever needed.
A spring-loaded emergency eject mechanism allows users to retract the phone within a fraction of a second.