Reflection	
  –	
  Learning	
  Launch	
   	
   1.	
  Challenge	
  and	
  Selection	
   	
   I	
  worked	
  with	
  Design	
  Thinking	
  in	
  a	
  Project	
  that	
  was	
  about	
  Soccer	
  Coaches.	
  The	
   Goal	
  of	
  the	
  Project	
  was	
  to	
  set	
  up	
  a	
  Website	
  where	
  Soccer	
  Coaches	
  could	
  find	
  all	
   soccer	
  related	
  content	
  they	
  needed	
  for	
  exercises	
  or	
  matches	
  –	
  for	
  example	
   Schedules	
  for	
  Trainingsessions,	
  Information	
  about	
  the	
  newest	
  soccer	
  tactics,	
  etc..	
   The	
  biggest	
  Challenge	
  within	
  this	
  Project	
  was,	
  that	
  my	
  Organization	
  already	
  had	
   a	
  website	
  for	
  Coaches	
  but	
  within	
  the	
  last	
  three	
  years	
  the	
  click-­‐rate	
  had	
  halved.	
   We	
  concluded	
  that	
  we	
  had	
  lost	
  our	
  users	
  because	
  our	
  website	
  did	
  not	
  met	
  the	
   needs	
  of	
  soccer	
  coaches.	
   	
   To	
  find	
  out	
  what	
  our	
  Coaches	
  needed	
  I	
  used	
  Learning	
  Launch.	
  Learning	
  Launch	
  is	
   a	
  Tool	
  that	
  helps	
  you	
  to	
  learn	
  fast	
  and	
  cheap	
  what	
  your	
  customers	
  want	
  or	
  do	
  not	
   want.	
  And	
  as	
  we	
  had	
  already	
  collected	
  tons	
  of	
  data	
  about	
  our	
  customers	
  it	
  was	
   essential	
  to	
  ask	
  our	
  selves	
  four	
  central	
  question,	
  which	
  are	
  mentioned	
  in	
  the	
   video	
  about	
  Learning	
  Launch:	
   1.	
  What	
  do	
  we	
  know?	
   2.	
  What	
  do	
  we	
  not	
  know?	
   3.	
  What	
  do	
  we	
  need	
  to	
  know?	
   4.	
  How	
  do	
  we	
  learn	
  what	
  we	
  need	
  to	
  know?	
   	
   The	
  reason	
  why	
  these	
  question	
  were	
  decisive	
  to	
  us	
  was	
  the	
  critical	
  view	
  they	
  set	
   on	
  our	
  existing	
  website	
  and	
  work	
  in	
  the	
  last	
  yers.	
  I	
  have	
  to	
  say	
  that	
  in	
  our	
   country,	
  Germany,	
  we	
  still	
  were	
  market	
  leader	
  at	
  that	
  time,	
  that	
  is	
  why	
  a	
  critical	
   view	
  was	
  necessary	
  but	
  also	
  unusual	
  for	
  our	
  organization.	
   	
   2.	
  Application	
   	
   Before	
  we	
  started	
  using	
  the	
  „Learning-­‐Launch-­‐Approach“	
  we	
  usually	
  made	
  a	
   business	
  Plan,	
  very	
  detailed	
  concept,	
  set	
  up	
  a	
  structure	
  for	
  the	
  organization	
  etc.	
  	
   	
   My	
  first	
  step	
  in	
  the	
  Learning-­‐Launch-­‐Process	
  was	
  to	
  set	
  up	
  a	
  team.	
  Our	
  team	
   consisted	
  of	
  seven	
  members,	
  three	
  of	
  them	
  were	
  in	
  charge	
  for	
  the	
  existing	
   website,	
  one	
  was	
  working	
  in	
  our	
  coaching-­‐department,	
  one	
  was	
  our	
  digital	
   expert,	
  one	
  was	
  me	
  and	
  the	
  last	
  one	
  was	
  a	
  former	
  national-­‐coach	
  who	
  was	
   always	
  skeptical	
  about	
  new	
  ideas	
  especially	
  if	
  it	
  was	
  about	
  digital	
  products.	
   	
   The	
  second	
  step	
  was	
  to	
  develop	
  an	
  idea	
  for	
  a	
  new,	
  better	
  website,	
  which	
  could	
   meet	
  the	
  needs	
  of	
  our	
  coaches.	
  Therefore	
  we	
  made	
  several	
  workshops	
  with	
  our	
   group	
  where	
  we	
  stated	
  key	
  assumptions	
  and	
  prioritize	
  them	
  regarding	
  their	
   effect,	
  value,	
  dependability	
  and	
  salability.	
  At	
  the	
  end	
  we	
  selected	
  one	
  idea,	
  which	
   was	
  for	
  one	
  specific	
  group	
  of	
  soccer	
  coaches.	
  That	
  made	
  it	
  easier	
  for	
  us	
  to	
   confirm	
  or	
  disconfirm	
  the	
  idea.	
  The	
  plan	
  was	
  to	
  set	
  up	
  an	
  App	
  instead	
  of	
  a	
   website,	
  as	
  we	
  could	
  tell	
  from	
  our	
  existing	
  data,	
  that	
  our	
  target	
  group	
  was	
   between	
  25	
  an	
  40,	
  male	
  and	
  used	
  their	
  mobile	
  for	
  most	
  of	
  the	
  time	
  to	
  get	
   information	
  about	
  soccertraining	
  and	
  –tactics.

In	
  a	
  third	
  step	
  we	
  tested	
  our	
  idea	
  with	
  a	
  small	
  number	
  of	
  coaches.	
  We	
  set	
  up	
  an	
   App	
  with	
  only	
  the	
  very	
  basic	
  features.	
  This	
  test	
  was	
  cheap	
  as	
  we	
  gave	
  up	
  the	
  idea	
   of	
  implementing	
  aspects	
  like	
  a	
  contentmanagementsystem	
  or	
  a	
   customerrelationshipmanagement.	
  At	
  the	
  End	
  of	
  the	
  test	
  phase	
  we	
  asked	
  the	
   coaches	
  to	
  give	
  us	
  a	
  feedback	
  about	
  our	
  product.	
  This	
  feedback	
  was	
  important	
   for	
  the	
  further	
  development.	
   	
   The	
  last	
  step	
  was	
  to	
  face	
  our	
  selves	
  with	
  the	
  four	
  questions	
  mentioned	
  at	
  the	
   beginning.	
  We	
  concluded	
  that	
  we	
  our	
  App	
  for	
  soccer	
  coaches	
  would	
  meet	
  the	
   needs	
  of	
  our	
  users.	
  So	
  we	
  continued	
  the	
  development	
  of	
  the	
  app.	
   	
   	
   3.	
  Insights	
  and	
  Approach	
   	
   Applying	
  Learning	
  Launch	
  was	
  a	
  very	
  important	
  to	
  our	
  organization	
  and	
  our	
   project.	
  We	
  saved	
  a	
  lot	
  of	
  time	
  and	
  resources,	
  because	
  we	
  did	
  not	
  set	
  up	
  a	
  big	
   plan	
  including	
  all	
  “what	
  ifs”.	
  Instead	
  we	
  started	
  right	
  away	
  with	
  an	
  experiment,	
   which	
  made	
  it	
  easier	
  to	
  learn	
  about	
  our	
  customers	
  and	
  us.	
  What	
  the	
  most	
   important	
  thing	
  about	
  implementing	
  Learning	
  Launch	
  in	
  our	
  organization	
  was	
  to	
   set	
  the	
  tone	
  future	
  projects.	
  We	
  all	
  realized	
  that	
  the	
  most	
  important	
  thing	
  is	
  to	
   learn	
  –	
  as	
  quickly	
  as	
  possible.	
  With	
  Learning	
  Launch	
  we	
  were	
  able	
  to	
  develop	
  an	
   idea,	
  a	
  hypothesis	
  that	
  was	
  easy	
  to	
  test.	
   	
   Next	
  Time	
  I	
  will	
  use	
  Learning	
  Launch	
  I	
  will	
  set	
  up	
  a	
  Team	
  consisting	
  with	
  more	
   critical	
  members.	
  The	
  process	
  of	
  stating	
  our	
  hypothesis	
  and	
  doing	
  the	
  test	
  was	
   very	
  long,	
  that	
  is	
  why	
  next	
  time	
  I	
  would	
  push	
  my	
  staff	
  more	
  and	
  maybe	
  get	
  a	
   deeper	
  understanding	
  of	
  how	
  you	
  can	
  structure	
  and	
  develop	
  a	
  test.

