Avyya: Okay, perfect. Okay, then I'll just get started, and thank you for joining me.
Avyya: So, my first question to you is, please specify your study of program and current year and approximate number of textbooks used per term on average.
Esha Gupta: Sure, so… my name is Isha. I am currently in my fourth year in doing computer science as my major. I usually…
Esha Gupta: 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, if I have to read them. Yeah.
Avyya: Yeah, yeah, that sounds perfect. And my next question is, please describe the traditional process of obtaining textbooks for your classes.
Esha Gupta: 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 there are some other sites, too.
Avyya: Yeah, Amazon or something, yeah.
Esha Gupta: Exactly, so… usually the prices are a little comparable, but as a student, I would still kind of like the cheaper, way to buy the books, if I can get, yeah.
Avyya: Yeah, makes sense. And my next question to you is, what generally occurs with regard to textbooks at the end of semester?
Esha Gupta: So by the end of semester, I'm left with a bunch of books, so I try to kind of donate them, or…
Esha Gupta: just have them with me, because I studied them.
Avyya: Yeah.
Esha Gupta: But, yeah, I kind of have them, unless I want to donate.
Avyya: Yeah, makes sense, of course. And, when considering purchasing a book, how do you decide if it is really necessary to have that book?
Esha Gupta: 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 want me to have, like, a physical copy of the book. So that's one factor, and the other one is maybe I just want a book, like, I just want to read. So, that's another factor when I would buy…
Esha Gupta: A book, like, a physical edition of that book.
Avyya: Yeah, that makes sense. And what aspects of meeting someone to exchange a textbook make it inconvenient or unappealing to you?
Esha Gupta: Mmm…
Esha Gupta: I think it's usually the fear that someone might, use, like, maybe some inscribings and stuff in my book. Like, I don't really like to…
Esha Gupta: 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, giving it to someone, having this fear that they might use a pen or a highlighter or something.
Avyya: Yeah.
Avyya: Okay, that makes sense.
Esha Gupta: And if you could change one part of the textbook purchasing process to make it better, what would that be, and why?
Esha Gupta: Hmm… So…
Esha Gupta: 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 having, like.
Esha Gupta: somewhere where we can, 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 do it for different stuff, maybe, let's say, you're buying electronic stuff, so why not we have something like that for books? I would really appreciate that.
Avyya: Yeah, like, student discounts and stuff.
Esha Gupta: Exactly.
Avyya: Yeah, makes sense. And from your perspective, what problem is this design attempting to solve?
Esha Gupta: Mmm…
Esha Gupta: I think this idea is really good, that someone can actually buy books from a trusted source, because buying them, like, randomly from some people, I would not trust that.
Esha Gupta: But since users are verified and we are doing, like, a rating thing, as done on most of the apps, like Uber or, different online websites, I think it makes it more reliable for someone who wants to use it.
Avyya: Yeah, that's a really good point, I agree with that. And, what features of this prototype grabbed your attention immediately?
Esha Gupta: Yeah, I think I really like the idea that you could rate people, because I would love to see the feedbacks, and
Esha Gupta: yeah, it's not just, like, very general. I have an idea who am I… who am I, like, getting my books from. Yeah. And also, I think the idea of not actually interacting with a person, since it might get a little awkward, and just, like, having the book with me, really like that idea.
Avyya: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.
Avyya: And, what aspects were you not comfortable with in this product?
Esha Gupta: I think this is a good product overall, but one change that comes to my mind would be, I did read that,
Esha Gupta: 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, 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 it gives, like, a sense of confidence to both the
Esha Gupta: Buddies.
Avyya: Yeah, no, that's perfectly fair, makes sense. Yeah. And, do you think this process is better than your current process for buying or selling textbooks?
Esha Gupta: Oh, yeah, definitely, like, going on random websites to just, like, find what I want is not the most… the least stressful thing. Like, already, as students, we have, like, less time and a lot of stuff to do, so I would love, if there's a devoted app for this, like, it makes it better. So, yeah. Nice.
Avyya: Yeah, I definitely agree with you. And which feature of the… which feature on this platform would have the greatest impact on how you utilize this platform?
Esha Gupta: Hmm, that's interesting.
Esha Gupta: Oh… I think…
Esha Gupta: the in… the in-care… in-app messaging feature is really good, because, I would not have to, like, connect with a person, like.
Esha Gupta: through their personal contacts, because that's, like, kind of, a violation. Maybe I don't even meet that per- like, see that person or, like, interact with him ever. Yeah. So if we can just, like, 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.
Avyya: Yeah, the privacy factor, I guess.
Esha Gupta: Yeah.
Avyya: accents.
Avyya: 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, what would… what would you need to change?
Esha Gupta: Mmm… If it would come out…
Esha Gupta: I would kind of use it, because, yeah, new semester means new books, everyone needs that.
Esha Gupta: One thing that I would, like, use in this would be…
Esha Gupta: I think I would recommend it to my friends, because, I would check, like, if the books are, like, from genuine Source, then yeah, of course I'm gonna use this app.
Avyya: Yeah, that makes sense.
Avyya: Thank you so much, and that's all the questions I had for you.
Esha Gupta: Perfect, thank you so much.
Avyya: Thank you.
Avyya: Did you close the recording?