WEBVTT 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Okay, perfect. Um, okay, then I'll just get started, and thank you for joining me. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:30.000 So, my first question to you is, uh, please specify your study of program and current year and approximate number of textbooks used per term on average. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.000 Oh, so… 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:37.000 My name is Esha, I am currently in my fourth year in doing computer science. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.000 As my major, I usually… 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:49.000 Since our major is, like, mostly online books, but I do prefer some physical books, so I end up taking, like, 3-4 books per semester. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000 If I have to read them. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.000 Yeah. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:54.000 Yeah, yeah, that sounds perfect. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.000 And my next question is, uh, please describe the traditional process of obtaining textbooks. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:02.000 For four-year classes. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:17.000 Um, so usually I, first of all, check in McMaster's bookstore if they have it available, but usually the campus store is kind of expensive, so that's when I go to online different methods, maybe Facebook Marketplace or… 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.000 There are some other sites, too. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:20.000 Yeah, Amazon or something, yeah. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.000 But, um… exactly, so… 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Usually, the prices are a little comparable, but… 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:30.000 As a student, I would still kind of like cheaper… 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:31.000 a way to buy the books, if I can get… yeah. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.000 Yeah. Yeah, makes sense. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:40.000 And my next question to you is, uh, what generally occurs with regard to textbooks? 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.000 At the end of semester. 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.000 Um, so by the end of semester, 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.000 I'm left with a bunch of books, so I try to kind of donate them, or… 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.000 Just have them with me, because I studied them. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:56.000 Yeah. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.000 But yeah, I kind of have them. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:00.000 Unless I want to donate. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.000 Yeah, makes sense, of course. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:09.000 And, uh, when considering purchasing a book, how do you decide if it is really necessary to have that book? 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:26.000 Right, so… there are two factors. Sometimes I don't really want a book, but the course I'm taking, it really needs me to buy the course, and I've taken a couple of them, which really wants me to have a, like, a physical copy of the book. So that's one factor, and the other one is maybe I just want a book, like… 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.000 I just want to read. So, that's another factor when I would buy 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:33.000 a book, like, a physical edition of that book. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:45.000 And what aspects of meeting someone to exchange a textbook make it inconvenient or appealing… unappealing to you? 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.000 Mmm… 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:53.000 I think it's usually the fear that someone might, um… 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:58.000 use, like, maybe some inscribings and stuff in my book, like, I don't really like to… 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:06.000 highlight stuff in my book, I just like to read them. So, that's one of the major reasons I don't like to share my books, or, like, 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.000 giving you to someone, having this fear that they might use a pen or a highlighter or something. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:13.000 Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:20.000 And if you could change one part of the textbook purchasing process to make it better, what would that be and why? 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.000 Hmm… 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:31.000 Uh, so… 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:32.000 Yeah. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 Right, so since you're talking about textbooks, I feel most of the textbooks are bought by students, and we all know students are in a very struggling phase of their life, so… 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:51.000 having, like, somewhere where we can, um, maybe identify, okay, yeah, you are a student, so you can get, like, a minimum this percent off on that book that you're buying. I think that's a really good idea, because there are other apps who… 00:03:51.000 --> 00:04:00.000 do it for different stuff, maybe, let's say, um, you're buying electronic stuff, so why not we have something like that for books? I would really appreciate that. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.000 Yeah, like, student discounts and stuff. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Exactly. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:10.000 Yeah, makes sense. And from your perspective, uh, what problem is this design attempting to solve? 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Mmm… 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:19.000 I think this idea is really good, um… that someone 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.000 can actually buy books from a trusted source, because, um… 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:29.000 buying them, like, randomly from some people, I would not trust that. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:34.000 Oh, but since users are verified and we are doing, like, a rating thing, as done on most of the apps, like, 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.000 Uber or, um, different online websites. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.000 Yeah. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.000 I think it makes it more reliable for someone who wants to use it. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.000 Yeah, that's a really good point, I agree with that. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.000 And, uh, what features of this prototype grabbed your attention immediately? 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:57.000 Yeah, um, I think I really like the idea that you could rate people. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:01.000 Because I would love to see the feedbacks, and uh… 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:08.000 yeah, it's not just, like, very general. I have an idea who am I… who am I, like, uh… 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000 Yeah. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:15.000 getting my books from. And also, I think the idea of not actually interacting with a person, since it might get a little awkward, 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.000 And just, like, having the book with me, really like that idea. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000 Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.000 Yep. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:26.000 And, uh, what aspects were you not comfortable with in this product? 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:35.000 Um, I think this is a good product overall, but once change that comes to my mind would be I did read that, um… 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:54.000 The full payment is done after the product is received, like, the book is received, so as a person who's lending the book, and someone who's buying it, um, I would like we do, like, a 50-50 thing, so you pay 50% of the amount and start before you buy the book, and the rest once you are… once you have the book with you, so… 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.000 Yeah. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:58.000 It gives, like, a sense of confidence to both the… 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.000 buddies. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.000 Yeah, no, that's perfectly fair, makes sense. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.000 Yeah. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.000 And, uh, do you think this process is better than your current process for buying or selling textbooks? 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:17.000 Oh, yeah, definitely, like, going on random websites to just, like, find what I want is… 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.000 Yeah. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:22.000 not the most… the least stressful thing. Like, already, as students, we have, like, less time and a lot of stuff to do, so… 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:27.000 I would love if there is a devoted app for this, like, it makes it better. So, yeah. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.000 Nice. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.000 Yeah. Yeah, I definitely agree with you. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:38.000 And which feature of the… which feature on this platform would have the greatest impact on how you utilize this platform? 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.000 Hmm, that's interesting. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.000 Oh… 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:51.000 I think… 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Yeah. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.000 So, in the… in care… in-app messaging feature is really good, because, um… 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.000 I would not have to, like, um, connect with a person. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:07.000 like, through their personal contacts, because that's, like, kind of, um, a violation. Maybe I don't even meet that, like, see that person or, like, interact with him ever. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:08.000 Yeah. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.000 Um, so if we can just, like… 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:17.000 text on the app and just figure things out, so… I think that's one of the key highlights of this app that's really good. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.000 Yeah, the privacy factor, I guess, yeah, that makes sense. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Yeah. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:29.000 Oh, that's good. And if this platform were to come out in the upcoming term, how likely are you to utilize this platform? And, um, 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.000 What would… what would you need to change? 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.000 Mmm… 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.000 If it would come out… 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.000 I would kind of use it because, um, yeah, new semester means new books, everyone needs that. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.000 Yeah. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.000 Um… 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.000 One thing that I would, like, use in this would be… 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.000 Um… I think I would recommend it to my friends, because… 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.000 Um, I would… 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:03.000 check, like, if the books are, like, from genuine source, then yeah, of course I'm gonna use this app. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:07.000 Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you so much, and that's all the questions I had for you. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.000 Perfect, thank you so much. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.000 Thank you. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Did you close the