Get to touch our potential users

Location:
BCIT NE1 area. the main building cluster for trades programs.
We chose this spot intentionally because it’s where students from plumbing, electrical, welding, carpentry, and many other trades programs gather, pass through, and take breaks. It’s the most natural environment to meet our ideal user group.

Goals for Today:

1. Validate our assumptions about communication and terminology barriers in trades.

2. Observe real behaviors and how students interact in their natural environment.

3. Collect our first set of primary data through the survey to guide future product decisions.

What We Did:
1. Set up a casual pop-up contact point
We stayed around the open space and benches outside NE1, where students often gather between classes. It allowed for a more relaxed approach than waiting outside classrooms.
2. Used Halloween treat bags as an icebreaker
The themed treats worked surprisingly well. Most students smiled or showed curiosity when they saw the candy bags, which made starting conversations much easier.

Our go-to opening line was:
“Hey! We’re students from BCIT’s D3 program. We’re doing a quick study about English terminology for trades. It only takes 1–2 minutes. Would you like a free Halloween treat?”
It worked almost every time.

3. Interacted with real target users for the first time
This experience felt very different from classroom practice.
 Students were in a hurry, spoke casually, and asked direct questions about our purpose. Some shared stories from their job sites; others talked openly about language struggles.

We observed:

• Mostly male participants but also several female trades students

• They were friendly but had limited time

• Many instantly connected with “terminology challenges”

• International students especially had strong reactions to terminology issues

• A few students walked by quickly and rejected us immediately, a very real research moment

4. Collected multiple completed surveys
Each survey gave us clearer insight into actual needs and gaps, and also challenged some assumptions we previously made in class.
Key Insights & Moments

• The Halloween treats were extremely effective for breaking the ice.

• Meeting real users helped us see beyond assumptions—trades students are busy, direct, and practical.

• Many confirmed they struggle with English terminology, especially during training or on job sites.

• We learned to pitch our app in under 10 seconds and adapt based on their reactions.

• The project suddenly felt real: our app is no longer just a classroom idea, it’s something that could genuinely help people.

Next Steps

• Organize and analyze survey responses

• Identify the most common pain points

• Adjust our MVP feature priorities

• Plan the second round of interviews (possibly outside specific trades shops)

• Consider creating professional badges or a small info card to make future approaches more official