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During an in class activity nearly two weeks ago, my Commerce 101 group was challenged to develop an idea for a product which could potentially solve a problem that we as students face. Eventually, the idea behind ‘Check-Mate!’ was birthed. We recognized that students, and individuals in general, often struggle with determining what to wear in order to look their best. Check-Mate is our new app designed to provide users with unbiased feedback on what they are wearing. Sam Massooleh, a fellow group member, further discusses this in his recent blog post entitled “…but it’s not personal!”.
After presenting our product to the rest of the class, we generated a favorable response from the majority of our classmates, who generally preferred our product over the products that other groups developed. I believe that the idea behind Check-Mate was attractive to our classmates because of its practicality! It directly solves a problem that many students face, and it directly targets their desire for self-esteem and recognition which, in a recent article, Brian Eisenberg argues are core drivers of consumer purchases. This in-class activity reminded me that successful products are products that meet consumer needs and add value!