11A – Idea Napkin No. 1 -

Me: My name is Fahad Qazi, I'm a second year Biology major at the University of Florida. My skills include being able to speak several languages, strong technical skills with computers, and one of my hobbies includes reading about history and politics. This opportunity draws off my own hobby to tackle a problem I believe exists when it comes to giving voters unbiased and dual-sided information on certain legislative issues.

What I'm Offering to Customers: My product consists of an app that allows academics or people educated within certain topics to speak on either side regarding a legislative topic. Sites such as Quora Digest already provide a means to allow people to list their certifications within a certain topic, which allows for substantive debate and dual portrayals of a certain topic in order to give readers an unbiased viewpoint on a certain issue, but this product sets itself apart by providing a one-stop for political debate.

Who am I offering it to?: This product is wholly intended for people who have an interest regarding political issues, which going by recent trends, can either target young people aged 18-30 or senior citizens, both of whom are demographics which tend to vote most often and can benefit the most from this.

Why do they care?: Oftentimes people can find themselves uneducated about a certain topic, or either might realize the pros and miss out on the cons of an argument or vice-versa. This app will lead to open debate regarding an issue that is unbiased and issue-focused, enabling a more educated electorate. I believe the need for a solution to this problem is large enough that my consumers will be inspired to commit to a small monthly subscription fee to pay for quality content from this app.

What is my core competency?: I feel that my core competency that sets me apart is the apps verification system. There are a series of online forums that require commentators to post about their certification or experience regarding a certain issue before posting, but this forum will be exclusively limited to those who know about a topic and can make an educated comment about an issue, something that doesn't already exist for legislative issues.

Having spent some time thinking about these issues, I feel that these elements fit together. I feel that in recent years, there has been a drive for news sources that are unbiased, and this app meets that demand by allowing commentators to list their certifications before making a comment, with moderators that double check these comments. I feel that the main issue with this app is revenue generation, but also believe that one way to tackle this might be to include ad-revenue by partnering with other organizations, making a small compromise in order to benefit our users through using those same ads to pay moderators to moderate comments and ensure that the app's quality stays consistent. Another issue I do think I might need to spend time on might be how to make this app appeal to older users who might not be as used to working with technology. I feel that a more fleshed out interface might be the key to this, but might focus on this aspect later down the line, both of these being elements that might be tackled through creative problem solving.