Takeaways

Motivating your audience to participate:

During our initial survey it was duly noted that participants were unwilling to express private experiences and in many instances we received vague responses that made drawing conclusions impossible. The segment was not motivated enough to give thought to any questions we posed in the beginning. It was when we proposed a photo collage that I realized the value of engaging the consumer in order to boost participant enthusiasm. Suddenly our target segment seemed at ease as they selected photos from a list rather than imagining a room on their own. They gave constructive feedback in addition to their photo selections which gave us motives to base our conclusions on. Participants also could be seen somewhat excited about finishing the second round surveys. I received many of the photo collages sent by email within the same day, whereas the text only survey needed a follow up discussion to acquire the completed analysis.

Prototype creation process:

An experience that I feel was one of the most informative lessons I learned pertained to the prototype creation process. Our guest speaker was directly involved with the invention and innovation process and he gave us a relatable example each step of the way. The creation of a prototype is an arduous cycle that begins with thousands of ideas. These ideas are compiled and a company then decides what consumer need the product addresses. The article Eager Sellers Stony Buyers is a Harvard Business Review case that outlines the endowment effect consumers subconsciously use toward new products. As the guest speaker described the process of meeting consumer needs I realized that this part of the process is similar to the arguments found in the aforementioned case. New products often fail because consumers place more emphasis on losses (product adoption drawbacks) than gains (product innovations or incentives). It is necessary for a company to outline numerous gains against any losses before a prototype is put to production. Next, models are made to gain insights as to how a consumer will physically view the product. Changes are constantly made in order to minimize the amount of hindrances found and the final product begins to take shape. Finally, after thousands of models in both the software and hardware categories are made, an established idea is presented. The guest speaker sparked my interest in the prototype creation process. Hopefully, someday I will get a chance to have another look into addressing consumer insights via the prototype process.

Group work:

From the very beginning it seems as though our group continued to encounter little obstacles. Two members immediately dropped the class leaving us to be only three with a segment that is uninteresting in the room setting we had been assigned. The amount of innovation occurring in the bathroom is very low currently and the entire project felt as though it were plagued with vague conclusions and disenchanted participants. Group meetings were a chore to attend not because my group was unwilling, but because it seemed as if information was out of our reach. Needless to say creating a feasible product for a target segment that is uneasy about the room we were assigned was impossible task.

My group members were very great to work with throughout the semester. Each person put in effort to gather data and attend meetings on a regular basis. Although, this may have been a side effect of only having three members. Any non-participation would have been intensely noticeable. The work load placed on each member was much more than other groups (most had 5 members), but delegating responsibility made things easier.

The ideas created as a result of this product were very intriguing, but I feel as though a great deal of potential has been lost. Being assigned the bathroom was an instant detrimental factor to the mentality all three members of our group took. In the end I have a feeling we spent more time being frustrated about the lack of opportunity in the restroom as opposed to idea construction. Asking a 55 year old man what he thinks the most important part of the restroom is was not a particularly fun experience.