Product
Homework is a problem for any student, but the issue gets worse when the homework gets left to do at midnight. This results in stress, not enough sleep, and not understanding the homework completely which then leads to bad grades. An app, called The Procrastinator, provides a solution by helping kids and teens finish their homework on time. The guardian/parent of the child enters the amount of homework their child has and also assigns timings for each according to their desired schedule. When the time comes an alarm is set off and the child has to do their homework before a 5 minute mark of the timer being set off. Once the child has done its homework, they get a certain amount of coins and can use those coins for further rewards. The Procrastinator App is easy to utilize and also solves many problems for kids with procrastination habits.
Software Industry
The software industry has been around for more than 170 years. Ada Lovelace was recorded as the first computer programmer since she wrote the instructions for the first computer program. In 1843, her instructions were published in an English science journal. As technology grew, advances in software were also being done (Ada). The word “software” had not been in use until the late 1950’s. Punch cards were the first attempt to actually program a computer, and then came magnetic reel tapes. The industry progressed more and more as new inventions were being made for software (“The History”). At one time in history, software was only used on computers but today software comes in many types of hardware such as tablets, laptops, and phones. Upgrades also have been made in software which attracts a purchaser to find more benefit in the product (“Software Development”). Apps have become a huge trend as well these days. Millions of apps are being used that include games, health info, travel info, social networking, banking, fitness info, and news (Rajput).
Companies have made billions through the software industry. Microsoft is the one of the largest companies in the software industry (“A Brief”), with a revenue of about 93 billion dollars in 2014. HP’s reached above that of Microsoft’s as of 2014 making a total revenue of about 110 billion dollars. IBM is also one of the leading industries in software with a total revenue of about 92 billion dollars (“Explore”). 90% of computers already have Windows pre-downloaded on them, which shows the popularity in Microsoft products (“A Brief”).
Target Customer
In 2011 the total amount of money teens spent on products totaled to about 200 billion dollars (Woolman). Teens add up to about 13% of the population in the world, around 800 million teenagers as recorded in 1999 (“Teenagers”). Average teens earn about 2000-4000 dollars annually from their parents (Woolman). Most of that money is spent on either clothes or food. Apple is the most popular electronic brand for teens, which leads to teens buying more apple products to fit in with their peers (Peterson). Teens are the most attracted to advertisements in technology than any other age group, as 58% of all teens watch them. The average time they spend on watching electronic video adds up to 7 hours and 13 minutes monthly, as of 2010. (Hirsh). Teens have a tendency to want a product or service immediately so that they can fit in with their friends and classmates. The money teens receive, most of it from their parents, is used too quickly and too much is used unnecessarily (Tolar).
Conclusion
Though software industries make billions, new advances in technology can prove an obstacle to other developing apps. There are other apps already launched which help kids manage time, giving The Procrastinator rivals to compete with. The Procrastinator does come with extra features which can attract a purchaser. Teens will be able to manage their time as well as be able to get rewards, which no other app has provided. Despite the added features, The Procrastinator would most likely be secluded beneath the other competing apps.