One Foot Rooted (Pivot)

As regular diners and marketing students, we have experienced and observed many complications while dining out. Whether it be an absent waitress, mixed-up orders, cluttered tables and much more, without a positive dining experience, customers are less likely to return. With this in mind, EZ-menu began with the idea of changing the concept of consumers negative dining experiences into a more positive, easy going, controlled atmosphere.

After taking a deeper look into the concept of implementing this product, gears began to shift during the initial design of the product. With EZ Menu originally being created as a tablet for each diner, it slowly progressed into electronic glass tabletop.  Since the idea of this product was to reduce clutter on tables and allow consumers to control their dining experience, it became obvious that tablets will not fully eliminate all current problems. By creating an electronic tabletop, waitresses are able to choose the number of menus presented, where the menus will be placed. Furthermore, consumers will be able to access each menu and application at the click of a button, or turn off the tabletop in order to create fewer distractions.

            As a group, our business model also began to shift when looking at who our greatest consumer segments will be. As mentioned in my last post, we had quite a difficult time understanding our consumers in their everyday lives. As a result, our model began to pivot in the sense that we fully began to clarify who our segments were and allowed us to further understand/recognize the needs of our consumers. This pivot was necessary because we were beginning to have a one-track mind, that this product would be beneficial if put in place, rather than focusing on who it was specifically going to benefit and why. In relation to a quote by Eric Ries, this pivot allowed our group to “…test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, strategy and engine of growth,” bringing about our new hypothesis that EZ Menu creates a positive influence on individual restaurant owners by creating a new focus on their gains at the same time as reducing consumers pain.