Forming an Opportunity Belief

1.) I do have a belief that an opportunity exists within the eyewear industry.

2.) It is known that some asian people genetically have lower nose bridges compared to other races, making it hard to find good fitting eyewear. As an asian person myself, I have many instances where the glasses or sunglasses that I try on, slide right down to the tip of my nose or it doesn't fit on my nose correctly. I would also hear this problem from many of my friends and relatives. This need has always existed because this has been an issue for a long time. Of course, this is not a problem within Asian countries, but rather more of an issue for Asian people who live in Western countries, such as the U.S. Right now, I know that some eyewear brands would make separate products just to adjust to the asian nose bridge. I would say that this opportunity exists 100%.

3a) Meghan Ta

4a) I realized how hard it was to find glasses that sit nicely on my face/nose when I found myself needing glasses for the first time in my life around the beginning of middle school.

My first glasses were just basic plastic frames that didn’t have the small nose pads and they’d always slide down my nose and I’d have to constantly push them back up. It wasn’t until one of the workers at the For Eyes store I go to recommend people with noses like mine get glasses with the nose pads so that it can be adjusted to rest on my nose, preventing it from falling down. I now buy these types of glasses because they’re the most comfortable for daily-wear, but I still believe glasses can be designed better for asian faces because nose pads still have to be adjusted a lot just to rest on my nose. There are Asian companies that make glasses the perfectly fit this need, but they’re either located overseas or pretty expensive.

3b) Pristina Kuo

4b) I became aware that I needed prescription glasses when I was in middle school. My mom took me to numerous optometrists to get me checked out for glasses. I remember she was scared that I needed glasses, because that meant my vision wasn't perfect. So, after all those back-breaking trips to all those different optometrists, I finally thought I could set on a good pair of glasses to help me see the world the way it was meant to be seen. I wanted to enjoy being an observer of life the same way others around me did... But!! To my disdain... the glasses kept slipping off my nose! It seemed like an interminable period of time where I kept pushing them back on, in all of their exasperating attempts to merely slip off again... whereas all my peers around me seemed to be perfectly fine and comfortable. "Was something wrong with me?", I thought to myself.

This is a problem that is exceedingly and unfortunately commonly found amongst many Asian Americans, especially when seeking out glasses from American companies.  I believe this is something that is experienced all the time amongst Asian Americans.

I am currently addressing this issue by switching over to contacts, since I also used to be self-conscious of wearing glasses, especially in such an unforgiving time as middle school, so I was lucky enough that my eyesight wasn't as bad that I could still manage without glasses. Switching glass frames from time to time, I always had to ask the glasses specialist to tweak the frames for me. They would usually make the frames a lot tighter so it would sit on my face properly. This applied to sunglasses too (yes I did get prescription sunglasses!). There was never a time where the glasses fit perfectly on my face the first try.  I remember the past summer of 2019, when I got my most recent pair of glasses, they highly recommended that I get glasses with nose pads so they can be much more adjustable for my face. However, at the glasses shop I was at, all the glasses with nose pads were not fashionable. The only cool and fancy pairs of glasses that I liked had no nose pads. So I had no option but to get the one without a nose pad. Because of this, they ended up making the frames really tight so it could actually sit on my face and not fall off. Because of this, now my ears hurt and grow irritatingly red whenever I wear my glasses for an incessant amount of time.

Growing up in an incredibly small and homogeneous town, it was unheard of that there were glasses designed to fit Asian faces. I actually didn't know there were specific glasses designed just for Asian faces until very recently.  The model of most glasses made in the US are made for your average Caucasian person, so people who don't align with the majority must edit and adjust the standard to fit themselves. I think glasses companies should figure out possible solutions for this, especially since a majority of customers are in fact Asian. I heard some eyewear companies are developing "Asian Fit" frames, where there are higher nose pads or curved temples to better fit the Asian face. However, the "Asian Fit" doesn't really work for everyone because most Asian faces are different and they are all incredibly diverse, so it's not a perfect solution. But props to them for trying though. Individualized customization is the best way to go for now in regards to glasses for Asian faces.

3c) Izin Ton

4c) I never have needed prescription glasses, but I have realized that things like sunglasses, goggles, etc have never fit my face well. I remember when I was in middle school and I was just trying on fake glasses in a Claires for fun but I didn't like the way they looked and fit on me because of my nose. Currently, I have to take a lab class and we have to wear lab goggles, and I am always uncomfortable and have to wear them a certain way just so my nose doesn't get too squished and uncomfortable. In terms of this, I don't know if they make lab goggles specifically for asian noses, but with things like sunglasses or fake glasses frames, I try to look for ones with nose pads or else it would not fit on my face. It's tedious to try on so many pairs just because I have to see how it fits on my nose

5.) I learned that this is a great opportunity to improve upon the eyewear industry. Although I am not so surprised, it does seem like many Asian people seem to have this problem of not having eyewear fit nicely on their noses because of their nose bridges. It is not a widely known problem, because many of us do not like to talk about it, but it is definitely a need that is unmet.

7.) My original opportunity is still at 100% and after interviewing my prototypical customers, I believe that my new opportunity is as accurate as I had thought. Of course, these three interviewees are not representative of the whole Asian population, but I know that this is an issue that Asian people who be benefitted greatly if fixed. I think entrepreneurs should stay on track to keep their original mission, but they should also know how to adapt well to their customers and new trends that arise in society.