Exercise 5: 5 People Who Feel the Problem

[Joshua]

Please respond to this post with your reflections.

1. Find and talk to five people in the community you want to serve who feel the problem you want to solve. You may have to talk to more than five people to get meaningful quotes from five. Polite persistence helps.

2. Use your skills in leading and structuring the conversations to deflect judgment, deferring long digressions, and your other skills from past exercises. Talk to each about the problem. Listen to how it affects them and how they feel it. I recommend not trying to sell them on your solution, though you can if it comes up.

3. Write each person’s problem in his or her words.

Deliverable

Five quotes, one from each person you spoke with, that states the problem in their terms from their perspective.

[Olivia Ong]

Method Initiative Exercise 5 – 5 People Who Are Experiencing the Problem

1. Amelia M., who tries to reduce her consumption of plastic and shops at Mama’s and Papa’s expensive refill store, feels ungrounded and unfocused from the anxiety of seeing all of the piles that she has created and has yet to execute the practicalities of getting rid of them. She prefers an organized home and would be in a more focused, better mental state if only she had a tidier space only full of things she actually used. She copes by exercising to avoid dealing with the emotions her things are causing her.

2. Naomi S., a family woman, wants to get rid of things but feels wasteful about throwing things away, and wants to give things away to other people but feels stuck. She feels bothered when she looks at all of the things around and feels frustrated with herself for being unable to let go and when her husband asks her why cannot simply throw things away.

3. Nanci L., a long-time academic, used to be more conscious about her footprint when she had two little kids, and it progressively got worse as they grew up and eventually as she became an empty nester. She feels guilt over not being as aware as she used to be, and yet, she feels less guilt when thinking that corporate responsibility is more important. While she acknowledges family history to be a big part of it where her grandparents and parents were hoarders and has taken action to consciously live in a smaller space of 900 sq ft to age out, she always feels the need to feel prepared for emergencies. She desires to be a minimalist but doesn’t see it. Momentum to start feels elusive as she feels overwhelmed by the whole prospect. Thinking of the task as broken into smaller chunks may be helpful to her as someone who potentially struggles with ADHD.

4. Joshua A., a working professional, feels a mixture of emotions – grief and reluctance over facing items that resembled a life that he was planning for that will never happen. Once he decides he can finally let go, the logistics of selling his belongings and going back and forth over price is a maddening process. He experiences frustration and overwhelm of not knowing where to start and what he can legitimately let go of. He gets distracted easily and struggles to celebrate progress vs. feeling overwhelmed with the lack of progress that results from rabbit-holing. On the front of sustainability, he feels conflicted about letting things go for fear of needing them in the future, in which case he is unsure of if he should purchase an item new or buy used.

5. Olivia H. is environmentally conscious and wants to consciously reduce plastic. However she still feels like she is part of the problem and still consumes more than she needs. She is aware of it and is on the journey to reduce her belongings. She enjoys sending things to be reused and likes finding an owner without the need to sell things. It’s definitely time consuming to do it in a sustainable way. While it’s easier to get a dumpster, it makes her cringe in all the ways related to fast fashion and over consumerism. She doesn’t even know where to start. In modern society there’s time constraints and things competing for our attention. Minimizing belongings doesn’t give the same dopamine hit that consuming things does. There’s so much feeding into the overwhelm and driving the overwhelm in a cyclic manner.

Reflection:
Before starting I felt excited that we only had to talk to 5 people. It seemed much more achievable. As I did the exercise, I started to wonder if my project would be viable or if people would even be open to considering the solutions I wanted to propose. I even wondered if people were motivated enough to seek out help. Nobody seemed to express interest in how I was going to solve the problem, rather, simply that they were experiencing the problem and were feeling it. I began to wonder if people would even desire to engage in a solution. I empathized a lot with the overwhelm that people were experiencing and had to stop myself from jumping in to offer to help them kick off the process. During the conversation, I felt grateful that people were sharing their feelings with me. Others seemed to feel neutral and open about sharing.

From the beginning I was interested in the idea that Method Initiative would help to rule out shiny objects that I didn’t truly want to pursue. I have curiosities about how it goes about doing that, as well as with what criteria we should be measuring projects that we either want to pursue or drop. I don’t necessarily feel differently about my project, I am simply confused as to how one rules out a shiny object.
My motivation is to help people and potentially to create a career path from it. I’m curious about the lack of curiosity people seemed to not express about how I was planning to solve the problem. I feel like my motivation is still the same.

This week’s exercise shows me that people feel overwhelmed by the size of the task of minimizing and simply do not know where to start. If people have the interest in decluttering, they seem to lack a process or methodology that builds their muscle of decluttering. Instead, people seem to cope with the clutter and avoid dealing with it. People almost seem apathetic about solving the problem.

Several of the folks seem interested in learning how the project evolves.

The conversations were informative to me. I enjoyed meeting new people and sharing with people who were already in my network.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hey Olivia,

I wonder if it’d be worth asking the people if they had ideas on how to solve their own problem. Or simply ask something like, “do you do anything right now to manage the overwhelm?” or “have you thought about/looked into how to deal with this?”

Not sure if this would be advised against by Josh or others. I think it could be valuable in further understanding people’s emotions and how they feel the problem.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Exercise 5!

I found this exercise to be very very informative and helpful. I connected with nine people who I believed feel the problem I’m working on. The conversations were pretty easy and quite enjoyable. I felt like the people I talked to enjoyed them and benefited like I did. It felt good to talk with them and give them the opportunity to open up if they chose.

Here is the problem I would share with each person (I only mentioned the solution after hearing their thoughts on the problem):

Problem: Vegans and vegetarians feel tense and unequipped when discussing animal welfare with people who eat animal products.
Solution: Create an experiential learning group for vegans and vegetarians (open to serving others as well) who meet regularly to discuss effective communication skills, explore biases and blindspots, practice conversations, and increase our knowledge of relevant topics together.

Then, I’d ask them for their thoughts. Did they agree or disagree? Did they have additional thoughts? Were there different or additional emotions they felt?

For the purpose of the exercise, we were tasked with recording five quotes from five people who feel the problem. As I said, I spoke with nine people and each one gave me way more than one quote. Everything they shared was valuable, but below are five of the most clear quotes that I feel illustrate the problem I’m hoping to solve.

1. “Yes. Amen to that. I completely feel the exact same way. I feel like half of the time, people aren’t listening to me. I’m not being heard because people don’t want to hear the truth. I feel disrespected or like people don’t care. When I talk to people and get through to them, I feel very positive and powerful.”

2. “We tend to retract a little bit; we don’t feel heard, we feel like people don’t care about what we’re saying.”

3. “Most of us feel like we are not really being listened to. Most of us have experienced the difficulties and its not pleasant. It’s a problem so many people have and a solution would be very helpful and appreciated.”

4. “Not so sure I feel it’s a problem for me that I feel that but the problem is that I feel uncomfortable and I don’t want to turn someone off about veganism. I do sometimes feel uncomfortable, because I see it as a missed opportunity to make an impact.”

5. “There’s this feeling that caring about this is shameful… I know that when I’m uncomfortable talking about animals, I’m less uncomfortable than a dairy cow.”

A major connection between almost all of the conversations I had was a feeling of not being heard. People shared with me that they felt that they enter the conversation already at a disadvantage. They feel as though the average person will already have negative ideas about them, and won’t respect or listen to them. Several people also explained that the negative emotions they feel during these conversations are more associated with an anxiety around missing out on impact (as seen in #4). They said that they don’t care so much about how they feel, but they put pressure on themselves to effectively persuade someone to reconsider their relationship with animals. This anxiety about the outcome seems to be common amongst activists of any cause, including me. If we can detach ourselves from the outcome, it makes the conversations less stressful, more enjoyable, and very likely more effective.

I am especially interested in thinking more about the common theme of not being heard. As more and more people mentioned feeling this way, I started to think about the people on the other side of the conversation. So often it seems that arguments occur because of misunderstanding, rather than genuine disagreement. People on both sides may incorrectly feel that the other person is not listening or interested. What if we could let our guards down and be open and honest with one another? What if we entered all of our conversations with an open heart and open mind, allowing the individual to tell us how they feel and who they are, instead of assuming we know based off past experiences or stories we’ve heard? What if we all remained more curious and interested in others? Maybe we’d realize that we agree on a whole lot more than we disagree on.

A final common thread among the conversations I had was the importance of being around people who share your values. I’ve seen for myself the truth behind the phrase, “you are the company that you keep” and I believe most research supports this. It’s much easier to exercise and eat healthy when everyone in our house does too. I think the same is true when it comes to acting in alignment with our values. Though not reflected in the quotes above, everyone I spoke with touched on the value and energy they get from being around other animal advocates. Many of them even pointed out the conversation we were having was refreshing and beneficial for their own well-being. They were certainly beneficial for mine, and very motivating! One of my early project ideas was a social group for advocates to simply enjoy each other’s company without the pressure of taking action or even talking about animal welfare. So, as you’ll see later, I’d like to combine my current solution with that past idea.

Through this exercise I’ve realized how true principle 6 — the problem leads to the solution — is. Defining the problem as accurately as possible can totally change the way its solved. I’m having a tough time deciding how to move forward. Not only do I need to tweak this problem and solution to better serve the people and animals I want to serve, I’m also considering a shift in focus altogether.

Because I’m trying to get ahead of schedule for my vacation starting next Friday, I’ve also had six chats with people working in and around my field of interest (for Exercise 6). I spoke with one of the co-founders of Hive, as well as one their employees, a full-time activist, and several social workers with experience organizing community groups. My calls with Sofia and Kevin from Hive were especially thought-provoking because they work full-time in roles pretty similar to what my project would be doing. With years of experience in the movement, attending other events, and learning from others, they helped me think about how I really want to help animals, and how I could potentially have a much greater impact. I’ll save more reflections on this for my next post, but ultimately, I’m considering shifting my focus to fundraising specifically for animal welfare/advocacy. I’m not ready to do this just yet because I think I have good momentum with my current project and I want to try and make it happen. I’m definitely going to be thinking about this possible switch, though.

With allllll of that said, here is my new problem and solution based on conversations from Exercise 5:

Problem: People who care about the welfare of farmed animals (farmed animal advocates) feel anxious about having conversations with people who eat animal products.
Solution: Create an in-person social group for farmed animal advocates where they can feel supported and heard. The initial part of the meetings (first 30 minutes) will be for casual socializing and include food and drinks (ideally provided from different members for an additional opportunity to connect). The second part of the meetings (1 hour) will be for sharing experiences, advice, feedback, and troubleshooting through practice and learning opportunities.

The exact structure, timing, and other logistics of the solution are still to be determined. I’m very happy with the way that this is going and excited to get more advice on my updated project. I’m also excited by the prospect of switching my focus to something more aligned with my goals and passions, if that ends up being the case!

[Joe Spradley]

Talking to People with the Problem

[The Problem]
Movement leaders feel ill-equipped, overwhelmed, and discouraged by the technical and creative demands of building a digital presence that reflects their authentic message, attracts the right audience, and supports the change they seek to make.

Going into this exercise, I expected it to be straightforward, since these individuals are not only my clients but also part of the community I want to serve. However, the conversations turned out to be more nuanced and complex than I anticipated. Each person had a different perspective on the problem, even though there were overlapping struggles.

Conversations:

• Josh expressed frustration and a feeling of being misunderstood. He described building his online presence as a “slog” comparable to tedious admin work. He’s been working on communicating his ideas for almost 10 years and identified part of the challenge as other people being stuck in their ways and closed off to new information. He noted that people often can’t engage with his ideas because they’re in a rut themselves, but he emphasized that he trusts me to understand his message.
• Ulrike, on the other hand, felt at a bit of a loss. She’s been committed to bootstrapping her business and building her website by herself but has hit a wall. After our talk, she felt more encouraged to try again and we plan to check in soon. Her experience highlighted the importance of not just offering solutions, but offering encouragement when people feel stuck.
• Andy was flustered and overwhelmed with maintaining his site. He appreciated that I understood his problem and felt like we were learning together, which reinforced the importance of trust in the client relationship.
• Nic, being more technically skilled but time-constrained, took the conversation in another direction. He helped me problem-solve by giving advice on potential solutions. It felt more like a collaboration, which was refreshing and reaffirmed that some clients don’t just need solutions—they want to be part of creating them.
• Paige is focused on integrating mental and physical health into her business through a blend of in-person training and online platforms. However, she feels overwhelmed by the amount of content she needs to create, particularly for social media, and the challenge of calling in ideal clients. She finds posting content stressful and struggles to juggle her online business with other jobs. While she’s not tech-savvy, she has managed to set start setting up a squarespace, but the difficulty of balancing everything makes it hard to maintain momentum.

Key Takeaways:
A consistent theme that emerged from these discussions was trust. Many people struggle with these problems because they feel vulnerable or misunderstood. But once they feel that their concerns are understood and that there’s someone they can trust, they open up and engage more.

I also noticed that people tend to view the problem as deeply personal—it’s tied to their mission, their identity, and their sense of progress. This makes it easy for them to ignore outside advice, even if they get solicited for help often, which is why it’s crucial to build rapport before offering solutions.

People’s problems are personal, even if the solution is technical: Most people don’t see their challenges as purely technical. Their struggle to manage their websites is tied to their broader goals and sense of personal mission, which makes it feel weighty and overwhelming. This means that providing solutions is more than just technical support—it’s about understanding and helping them move forward emotionally too.

Next Steps:

Moving forward, I need to focus on continuing to engage with more people who feel the problem, then I can refine the approach and start developing the systems to deliver solutions at scale.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hey Jo,

Looks like you had some valuable conversations! I recognized some similarities among the people you spoke with and those I spoke with about my project. Josh’s comment about other people being stuck in their ways and closed off especially reminded me of conversations I had. I noticed that a few people were putting the “blame” on others. I wonder if this mindset can lead to less effective problem solving. If people are convinced it’s someone else’s fault, and perhaps feel resentment toward the very people they are wanting to serve, help, or speak with, I can’t imagine they’ll be able to succeed. Perhaps there is a way for us to help inspire a mindset shift; it may not be Josh’s fault that others are closed off, but it can still be his responsibility to change that. Maybe we’ll have a chance to discuss this in class today.

[Jim Jenkins]

#5 Five people who feel the problem

Problem: People in general want to make a positive impact in their lives and be part of something bigger. Where they are involved in organizations of all types. They often find themselves frustrated when there is little to no opportunity to participate in the sustainability initiatives of that organization.

Solution: Implement an grass roots sustainability engagement function to provide opportunities for people to learn and participate in such organizational initiatives which motivate them to start their own projects in their personal and work life.

Climate Strategist
Quote: so many people don’t understand and realize how serious the problem is

Georgetown (school) was lacking in sustainability initiatives which is odd because they recruited those with expertise. frustrated and want changes and to be a part of it. In a company small changes can make a big difference. There are incredible PhD’s creating climate models but there is a communication gap between solutions team and sales team. Internal awareness session between functions would help.
Moody’s has a Team Up initiative: volunteers around the world get involved, company matches donations.

ESG reporting
Quote: We should be doing more of these sorts of things

Feeling stuck and want a more senior role than reporting, wondering if I have any ideas, looking for a side projects to extend their role. Dejected that there are cutbacks in sustainability, no opportunity to grow, spoke to a number of people about opportunities. Willing to do some researching on sustainability topics. Stated many talking about wanting to do something on this topic. We should be working on this.

Product Stewardship
Quote: We have to try so hard to get a few different functional people together in the right place to get something started (sustainability)

There is little connection with the formal sustainability department and the day to day operations. People come to product stewardship asking for help because they don’t know where else to go. We only hear about the ESG report. Needs to be more practical for people. There has to be a mechanism for people to act on sustainability in the organization. Have to have guidance/aids in place to enable people.

Sustainability communication manager
Quote: Your problem and solution statement is the same as our water stewardship initiative.

Sustainable dept has a sustainability engagement program with 3 elements; Awareness, Education, Action.Includes what is sustainability and where does it matter. Sustainability seed fund for BU initiatives falling short due to $ and relying on the BU’s to take action.
Don’t have communication sharing empowerment. Bill C-59 (green washing) has cut the ambition to make public statements.

Other examples:
• Employee innovation fund for grass roots (TC energy innovation challenge example) Tracy Karnes
• K & S change makers program; embed people in the divisions, DB of ideas = 2500 to 3000/yr.
Change makers filter ideas, implement them with people who had the idea. Could be little or big, kick start it, get it off the ground.

Fifth person who feels the problem. Couldn’t schedule in time. Will have to catch up next week.

[Jim Jenkins]

Reflection on 5 people with the problem:

Felt good about the 5 people exercise as a chance to check the relevance of the problem as others see it.

Felt the frustration of others as they were relaying their experience and felt somewhat vindicated that some companies have recognized the same problem and put programs in place similar to my solution.

The various people felt strongly about participating in an organizational problem. Some had good examples and felt invigorated, others felt despondent because they didn’t see a way forward and one had a program in place and felt it was about to be discontinued.

Yes I feel quite different about my project. It seems to be needed even more but it also seems much more complex to accomplish as I have a new appreciation of the different organizational circumstances that can must be tackled to be successful. Torn that my work organization has a program but it is disconnected from many of the functions and seems destined to be reduced or shut down. My motivation has changed but am not sure how yet. Need to think through this new information and what it means to adjust my approach.

Yes, I understand the problem and a couple of example solutions that others have in place. I’m thinking I need to speak with many others who are running these programs to understand what they faced and the critical elements to be successful.

I think those I spoke to are generally interested to hear how things progress. One was remotivated by our conversation to look into opportunities in their organization. Two I spoke to and who know me already saw me as someone who is already a champion for grass roots initiatives.

This initiative seems 10x more complex than it did a few days ago. I feel compelled to speak with many more people who feel the problem to gain a stronger understanding of the factors.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hey Jim,

I agree, my initiative seems to getting more complex. Although, more so because I’m considering other options to pivot to. Were any of your conversations with employees in your company? Maybe you could rescue the program that appears destined to end? I hope so!

[Evelyn Wallace]

Exercise 5: People Who Feel the Problem

Just to refresh, the project I’m now working on is some form of Sustainability Simplified workshops or offerings in jails and prisons. When I asked people who had been formerly incarcerated whether or not I was on the right track in thinking that those behind bars feel abandoned and neglected by society at large, here are the most poignant responses:

“You know what those dudes are MOST scared of? Their release date. They’re somebody inside. They’re nobody outside. They don’t have any family, nothing.”

“I felt fine when I was in there because I had people on the outside, but not everybody does.”

“Yes, it’s true…. They’ve lost everyone in their lives. They’re abandoned they feel alone, they’ve lost everything from the outside word.”

“The loneliness is why they [the incarcerated] do things. They’re reaching out to anyone they can get their hands on.”

“Yes, that’s right. Some people don’t have anybody on the outside. They have gangs and ‘family’ on the inside so what do they do when they get out? They connect with that ‘family’ and land right back in jail again.”

“Some people will ask about my jail time but then you sort of see them stop listening. Most people don’t even want to know. They think they know because they’ve seen it on TV, but they don’t know anything. So yeah, we feel abandoned.”

[Beth]

Initiative Week 5 – 5 People Who Feel the Problem

1. Martha, a single mother of 2 who cleans houses for a living told me about the level of trash being thrown in the street being so great that it sometimes prevents cars from being able to pass because it is things like mattresses, furniture, car parts, etc. “I get so upset when I see the piles building up! The city is a big part of the problem because it announces that it will come by for the trash and then never shows up. Even if you call them, they don’t respond to complaints. Also, people just don’t learn in their homes not to throw their trash on the ground.”

2. Vicky, a yoga teacher who lives in Merida now but moved here from Tabasco state reports the problem of people just tossing anything in the street like bottles or candy wrappers . “It bothers me a lot. I feel like it is just customary behavior that needs to be taught in the home first and also in schools. I didn’t really learn until I was 15 and I traveled to another city that was different and I really liked how clean it was. It made me change my attitude”

3. Rita is a professional Mexican woman with her own business married to a man from Canada. She immediately identified “I feel angry and totally frustrated that nothing is ever done about people leaving piles of garbage in the street. There are laws but even if you complain nothing is done about it. I feel embarrassed when we have visitors and we drive by a corner with large piles accumulating there. People aren’t well educated and they don’t want to pay 20 pesos a month for garbage collection. They just feel like they can drop whatever they want wherever they want.” She suggested neighborhood groups that talk to one another and keep each other accountable.

4. Diego is a physical therapist in his 30’s. When asked how he feels when he sees people dropping litter in the street he says “I feel angry and disappointed. I came from the cleanest city in Mexico. We were recognized for it as a World Heritage City and we grew up taking pride in our city by taking care of it and keeping it clean. When I see how people throw things without even thinking here it is frustrating.” He also said that people need to be educated and that getting young people engaged with Tik-Tok videos might be a way to make it fun and engaging.

5. My fifth person was unavailable in time for me to write this up.

REFLECTIONS:
Before I started the conversations I was thinking I had to find specific people who would be experiencing the problem, for example restaurant owners on the Paseo. What I realized is that I could really talk to anyone, so that’s how I started. I had a conversation with the friend who cleans our house, my yoga instructor, a friend who helps foreigners navigate all the governmental systems when they become residents, and my physical therapist. I had a conversation with the young person who works in the bulk food store set up but was unable to finish that one. Before I started I felt a bit intimidated, fearing people would think I was an outsider and that I was being critical of their city. Those feelings changed immediately when I had my first conversation because the people wanted to talk about it and were positive about a project that addresses this. I talked about my interest coming from how much I love Merida and each of them were enthusiastic to talk about their feelings and experiences. They were also very positive and encouraging about doing something about it with my project.

I am feeling encouraged about my project and excited to find ways that the people I have talked to can participate, as each of them has expressed an interest in finding out more. Though the assignment wasn’t to get advice, some offered advice and I think could be helpful. I can’t exactly say my solution is better developed but I’m motivated to keep moving forward.

Every time I have had a conversation for these exercised I have walked away feeling happy to have had that conversation and buoyed by peoples’ interest.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hi Beth,

I had similarly gratifying experiences when speaking to people who felt the problem. I wonder if the same people you’ve spoken to would be interested in kick-starting a clean-up group. The five of you could just go out one day and pick up litter for an hour. It might not be exactly what you want with your project, but maybe it would help you and them feel better and possibly inspire others to join or consider the way they deal with waste. And perhaps by doing a small-scale clean-up, you’ll learn some things you need/want to do/not do.

I hope you don’t mind my unsolicited advice/ideas!

[Bonnie]

Exercise 5

Five quotes, one from each person you spoke with, that states the problem in their terms from their perspectives:

Joe often felt rushed during his doctor visits, spending most of the appointment with a nurse before the doctor arrived briefly, leaving him feeling frustrated and overcharged. Sharing his feedback with the clinic and requesting more direct face-to-face time with the doctor could help improve his experience. Additionally, exploring ways to support doctors in managing their workload might enable them to dedicate more time to each patient.

Sarah sometimes felt disappointed when, due to her doctor’s unavailability, she was offered an appointment at a distant, inconvenient location, leading her to skip the visit. She was frustrated and concerned about the potential discontinuity in her care. Offering a telehealth visit could help solve the issue of inconvenient travel distances.

Lawrence couldn’t see his specialist for about three weeks, which left him feeling anxious as he waited, he was uncertain about his health status.

Wendy had difficulty reaching her primary care physician via the portal and was only able to connect after two days, leaving her feeling frustrated

Out of the five people I spoke with, Ron was the only one who didn’t encounter access issues. His clinic is nearby, and if he couldn’t get there on his own, he’d ask a neighbor for help. He rarely needs to visit the doctor, aside from his routine checkups.

• How did you feel about the exercise before starting? Were you anxious, excited, confused?
Before starting this exercise, I felt a bit overwhelmed in finding 5 people to talk to. I wanted to talk to different people to get diverse feedback so that it will be more comprehensive. Due to scheduling and other projects that I have been working on, it took me longer than expected to find 5 people to talk to.

• How did your feelings change as you did the exercise?
The issue I wanted to tackle is healthcare access. Initially, I focused on physical access to hospitals and clinics, particularly transportation. However, the people I interviewed didn’t encounter transportation problems.

I was a bit surprised that transportation wasn’t as significant an issue as I initially thought, as most people reported no challenges with it. It wasn’t until I probed deeper, asking them to consider any negative experiences or factors that discouraged them from visiting the doctor, that I discovered other access issues.

• How did you feel during the conversations? How did the other people seem to feel?
When I realized that transportation wasn’t a primary issue, I began thinking about how to make the conversations and my project more impactful. This led me to guide them in exploring the concept of access more broadly. The interviewees were eager to help, and when discussing their experiences, they often seemed frustrated by other barriers they faced.

• Do you feel differently about your project? • Has your motivation changed?
Yes, I have realized there are additional issues I should address regarding access, particularly in getting in touch with doctors and securing enough face time with them. However, my motivation remains the same: to enhance healthcare access for everyone.

• Do you feel your understanding of the problem and the quality of the solution improved?
I believe my understanding has deepened. Initially, I was fixated on my own access challenges from childhood. However, through conversations with different people, I have gained insight into the diverse issues others face. This has broadened my perspective on “access” and helped me consider it in new ways.

• Do you think the people you talked to are interested in learning how the project evolves?
Yes, they were eager to help by sharing their perspectives on the challenges they face.

• How would you characterize the conversations—boring, fun, exciting?
The conversations were really enjoyable. I loved hearing about everyone’s unique experiences and perspectives. Their openness made our discussions meaningful, helping me understand aspects I hadn’t thought about before.

[Author]

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