User Interview #1
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To develop ideas, it is very good to approach people and find out their issues with the topic. So I decided to interview toddlers’ parents.
Methodology
First of all, I thought about where I could meet toddlers’ parents. In my experience, I went to Hecksher Playground in Central Park a lot when I went to New York with my wife and daughter. So this weekend, I went back and talked to some of the mothers.
User Interview
1. Kristine
Kristine is a full time mother with a daughter of 14 months (Stellar) and a 5-year-old son (Ricky). She lives in New York.
· Sleep always matters. Stellar wakes up in the middle of the night so Kristine has to take care of her. One reason why that is is Stellar still wants breast feeding. Another reason is since their family is living in a small space apartment in New York, Stellar can easily see her mother and ask for something.
· Time scheduling is a big issue. Ricky started to go to school so she keeps track of her son’s activity and school events as well, which makes her very busy. At the same time, she takes care of Stellar all the time.
· Kristine’s husbands participate in toddler related activities partially during the weekend or by remote working at home.
· They moved to New York from another city. So Kristine doesn’t have many friends who are also mothers.
· Since she always brings a stroller, she can’t use the subway because she can’t carry it.
2. Danielle
Danielle is a neurology resident. She has a 1-year-old son (Ben) and 5-year-old son (Jacob). She lives in New York.
· When Jacob was born, Danielle was a full time student at medical school so her parents took care of their grandson. Now she has a nanny who stays at her house on the weekdays.
· She doesn’t use much of off-line or on-line community. When she wants to get information about toddler care, she surfs using the internet or checks ratings on Amazon when buying products.
· Sleep matters. At night, Ben wakes up many times in the middle of night so she is always lacking sleep.
3. Jessica
Jessica is a mother of a 4-year-old daughter. She is a full time employee at her work place.
· When her daughter was a toddler, her mother helped her to take care of the daughter.
· She realized that as long as she sticks to principle, there are not many problems with toddler care such as security and having enough time.
Wrapping up
It seems like sleep and time is a big issue for mothers. Plus, since living environments such as small spaces or public transportation in New York is not user-friendly to toddler parents, it needs enhancement at some point.
(Updated 1 Feb 2017)
