Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1) My opportunity is the apparent lack of space in the University of Florida Libraries.

2) Space in the library is very difficult to come by for University students, and they are unable to find any space to study and work because more people are coming to UF and there have been no recent expansions.  

·       The who: University Students

·       The what: Unable to find any space in the libraries or locate any sort of quiet and reliable place to study and do their assignments.

·       The why: There has been no expansions on the UF libraries in a long time and the population of the university is increasing.

3)

·       Testing the who: There are plenty of individuals that share this need, and this is apparent due to the many complaints that are heard on a regular basis regarding space at the library. University students are by far the biggest market for an expansion of the library, as they are affected the most directly. However, in some ways it also impacts others such as the workers in the Starbucks who face the busy influx of people and crowded storefront.

·       Testing the what: The biggest ‘what’ that is a concern are the two main libraries at the University of Florida- Marston and Library West. These are the locations that have the most people coming through and they are also the location that provide resources such as computers, books, and articles.

·       Testing the why: The ‘why’ may be different for many people, but the greatest why by far is the fact that it is essential for students to have a quiet place to study and do their work and this is a need that is highly unmet. I know personally, I need a good place to study while taking difficult classes because it is hard for me to concentrate while I am at home. Some people also may consider the library to be a type of social space, so the lack of space may be depriving them of some kind of social needs as well.

4)

1. The first person I interviewed was my roommate, Caroline. She believes that the library is her best study location, since she always focuses the best there and finishes her work quickly and efficiently. However, since there never seems to be any space there, she doesn’t even try to go most of the time. Not only because she won’t be able to find space inside, but also because sometimes she wastes 30+ minutes even trying to find parking outside, and it just seems like a waste of time overall to her. Her biggest ‘why’ concern seems to be the fact that she is wasting time looking for parking and seats to study in, but she also believe the University students are the ones most directly impacted, and the biggest problem areas are Marston and Library west.

2. The next person I interviewed was my friend, Jenna. She is a firm believer that Library west is by far the biggest problem and has been going to this library less because finding a seat is really a struggle. Since then she has resorted to using the study rooms in her apartment or in her room. For her it isn’t that hard to study at home, however she does enjoy going to a place where she can see her friends and study in groups if need be. Overall, she believes students are impacted the most, once again. Library West is the location that she thinks needs the most help and her reasoning is to have a good place to both study and interact with friends that is not overly crowded.

3.  The next person I interviewed was my brother, Ryan. He just graduated at the University of Florida and he has many years of experience using both of the libraries. The one he used the most was Marston, and he said the demand for study space in Marston was the highest during the times that it was the most crowded: Exam week. He would bring his laptop to Marston on many occasions and just try to find any kind of spot that was available, sometimes even between two computers just so he had enough room to do his work. He believes that having study space is essential for students to succeed in their classes, and he remembers it being extremely frustrating when he was a student himself.

4.  I then interviewed a random individual I met at the library named Cynthia. She didn’t spend as much time at either of the main libraries, Marston and Library west, so she didn’t really face the problem of needing space in the libraries as much as the rest of the individuals at the library did. However, she did notice that at local coffee shops and other locations on campus such as Newell, there tended to be an burst of times where there were many people and it was extremely crowded. She says even the noise made it frustrating to do her work. In this way, she believes it is impacting University students, but at different locations than the main libraries and for different reasons.

5.  I interviewed one of the baristas at the Starbucks below the library. She was less annoyed about being able to study than she was about the fact that the Starbucks was busy at all times, even late at night. This was something I expected since I have been in this Starbucks many times and I have also seen how crowded it gets. So in this way, she believes that the ‘Who’ are Starbucks workers in the libraries that are bombarded with customers, and the ‘What’ was the overcrowded space. She also noted that there are many other places on campus that are not libraries that get overcrowded as well, such as the University Gym, and there is a strong need to fix that too.

5)  Upon interviewing different individuals, I found that everyone had varying insight into this problem of a lack of space. With that being said, everyone had the same core problem of a lack of space impacting the students. There seems to be problems in many more locations than the library that I had not previously been considering, such as parking lots and the gym. I feel as though after speaking with all of these individuals I have found much room for the University to improve by expanding.