Reflection – Visualization tool

Challenge and Selection

A friend of mine who is a businessman asked me for help to start the process of creating a  business idea: He wants to open a physiotherapy center. His hypothesis is that it will stand out  from the rest of physiotherapy centers of Lima-Perú due to its technological aspect. He wants it  to be full equipped with the highest technology and with equipments that other physiotherapy  centers don’t have. His hypothesis is not based on data, there are no research on this type of  business in the city. He has mapped the competition (that means, he called to ask which services  they offer and the prices), looked for technological devices on the internet that he thinks are  not used in Lima, and brainstormed to imagine his business. He also hasn’t done research to  know the clients´ point of view.

This is the “What is?” stage of his project. I want to help him to outline, expand or change the  definition of the opportunity he sees, starting by getting to know the customers’ reality from  their perspective, what they value the most and what needs aren’t covered. The tool I’ve chosen  is Visualization through drawing their customers’ experience as in a collage. I made sure that  this tool works well for this stage by listening to the video of Visualization of week 1. The speaker  says that “sketching can be a very important way of capturing that kind of information ". By  “information” she means: “not just people themselves, but the context in which they live". In  addition, in the “What is?” stage of the MeYouHealth case, they used collages of images that  symbolize the perception of potential users of well-being and their five-year projection of  themselves.

Application

I met with four people at different times and I gave them this task: “Reflect your current  experience as customer of the physiotherapy center you assist by drawing it. Draw yourself  going through that experience and all the stages you remember. Imagine the people, spaces,  the therapy itself, equipment, price, quality of the service, your feelings and anything else you  remember. After this step, choose a color and draw the aspects you don’t like and proposals to  improve your experience. Finally, choose another color to identify what you like about your  current experience. There are no ugly or beautiful drawings, neither bad nor good answers, this  is not an evaluation. Be as creative as you want! If you have questions, you can ask me at any  time.”. Before I started, I asked them their names, ages, occupations and the name of the center  where they assist. I gave each one a cardboard, markers of different colors, colored pencils,  colored glitter and pencils. There was an accident with the colored glitter, it was dry. I kept it  long time stored and it got dry, so the first participant couldn’t use it. I took it away immediately  and apologized myself for that incident. When they finished, I asked them to explain their  drawing to me. During the dialogue there were some new aspects that they remembered and  had not included. I wrote down all  the explanations on my computer while they told me their  experiences and went deeper with questions like: What exactly did you like about the massage?  And did some indirect questions to know if they value the technology used in the centers like:  What do you think of the equipment they use? Describe it please. Did it help you?

Insight

My friends hypotesis got a broader view. All of the participants mentioned that the aspect they  value the most is the quality of the massage, not depending on the technological devices, but  on the therapist’s skills and profile. They want a therapist who is: kind, skillfull, experienced,

quiet (that means he/she is not in a hurry to finish and transmits a peacefull feeling) and has an  enterprise culture. They said that in some cases, a less experienced therapist gave them a  massage and it was obvious that he/she had more to learn. One of the participants told me that  once an intern gave her a massage and told her that she had an irreversible disease (which  wasn’t true) and she got worried. So in this first finding, my friend’s hypotesis doesn’t match the  needs. However there were other points to observe. Every center has a main doctor who is the  expert and the rest of the staff seems less experienced. The participants value a lot when the  main doctor treats them, because he/she gives them a better massage and a detailed  explanaition of their case. This highlights another need to be covered: information. Besides the  doctor’s explanaition, they didn’t mention elements that provide information about health  problems, their health status (none of them have patients health histories) and most of them  complained about not having a modern system that helpes them to book an appoinment (in two  centers they can’t even call, the booking has to be on-site). This is an opportunity for my friend  to use technology to stand out from the competition.

The third most important aspect is the environment. All of them mentioned that all of the  centers had a bit dirty environments, with old furniture, some of them had old exercise  machines, not so comfortable stretchers and the centers were located in non-commercial areas,  but in households addapted to give the service. This is an aspect to improve and also an  opportunity for my friend.  One of the participants said that he liked a place where many patients  had to sit around the same table while they got therapy through electricity. This was nice  because the equipment was new to him (he had received electricity therapy with other  equipment before) and also because he got to know other people, share problems, sollutions  and socialize. This goes combined with the need for information. And finally, it is very important  for them that the center is located not so far from their homes. Two of them had to travel by  bus one hour to get to the physiotherapy centers and in terms of cost/benefit they ended losing  a lot of time and energy. My friend told me he had ideas to bring the service to peoples homes,  and to give them online service.

Approach

The first learning was that before starting any activity, I must check if the resources I will use  function correctly. This is because of the accident with the colored glitter. The second learning  is that some of the participants used the storyboard format to draw their experiences. This was  very useful to go more in detail and deeper in getting to know their reality, so I will suggest it  the next time I use this tool. Another finding is that the older ones didn’t use the colored markers  and pencils as the first resource to draw (and even during the process they didn’t use more tan  two colors). They prefered to start using a pencil. They said: “I prefer to start with the pencil to  be able to erase” and “The right way to start drawing is with a pencil”. For me, his shows the  results of their generation’s education, which teach them to avoid mistakes and not to risk from  start, not even a bit. Coincidentally they  used the same colors to show the things they like  (green) and dislike (red) (look at the pictures attached). Next time I will give them different  motivations such as images, to encourage them to get out of the traditional way to draw  “correctly” and explore their creativity.

Finally, I got valuable learnings and comments about the success of the tool for my goal. One of  the participants is a marketing university teacher. He recognized the benefits of this tool to do  a deeper research of customers’ experience tan with traditional research tolos (he uses themin  his lectures). Also, this tool was very useful to collect information about the different profiles,  because each participant used his/her profesional knowledges to plasm their experience: One

of the participants is a graphic designer and she used color codes to show her experience. The  teacher explained with a formula why non-monetary costs have often a higher value for the  customers than monetary costs and this lead to sumarize one of the principal findings.

Steffen - 64 years old – Marketing university  teacher – Physiotherapy center: Kaiser Permanente

Kim - 60 years old – Housewife –  Physiotherapy center: Purolator Inc.

Kim - 25 years old – Graphic designer –  Physiotherapy center: Purolator Inc.

Kim – 30 years old – Soft skills Trainer –  Physiotherapy center: Rollin, Kaiser Permanente, Lince City Hall, Purolator Inc..


Reflection – Visualization tool Challenge and Selection A friend of mine who is a businessman asked me for help to start the process of creating a business idea : He wants to open a physiotherapy center . His hypothesis is that it will stand out from the rest of physiotherapy centers of Lima - Perú due to its technological aspect . He wants it to be full equipped with the highest technology and with equipments that other physiotherapy centers do n’t have . His hypothesis is not based on data , there are no research on this type of business in the city . He has mapped the competition ( that means , he called to ask which services they offer and the prices ) , looked for technological devices on the internet that he thinks are not used in Lima , and brainstormed to imagine his business . He also has n’t done research to know the clients ´ point of view . This is the “ What is ? ” stage of his project . I want to help him to outline , expand or change the definition of the opportunity he sees , starting by getting to know the customers ’ reality from their perspective , what they value the most and what needs are n’t covered . The tool I ’ve chosen is Visualization through drawing their customers ’ experience as in a collage . I made sure that this tool works well for this stage by listening to the video of Visualization of week 1 . The speaker says that “ sketching can be a very important way of capturing that kind of information " . By “ information ” she means : “ not just people themselves , but the context in which they live " . In addition , in the “ What is ? ” stage of the MeYouHealth case , they used collages of images that symbolize the perception of potential users of well - being and their five - year projection of themselves . Application I met with four people at different times and I gave them this task : “ Reflect your current experience as customer of the physiotherapy center you assist by drawing it . Draw yourself going through that experience and all the stages you remember . Imagine the people , spaces , the therapy itself , equipment , price , quality of the service , your feelings and anything else you remember . After this step , choose a color and draw the aspects you do n’t like and proposals to improve your experience . Finally , choose another color to identify what you like about your current experience . There are no ugly or beautiful drawings , neither bad nor good answers , this is not an evaluation . Be as creative as you want ! If you have questions , you can ask me at any time . ” . Before I started , I asked them their names , ages , occupations and the name of the center where they assist . I gave each one a cardboard , markers of different colors , colored pencils , colored glitter and pencils . There was an accident with the colored glitter , it was dry . I kept it long time stored and it got dry , so the first participant could n’t use it . I took it away immediately and apologized myself for that incident . When they finished , I asked them to explain their drawing to me . During the dialogue there were some new aspects that they remembered and had not included . I wrote down all the explanations on my computer while they told me their experiences and went deeper with questions like : What exactly did you like about the massage ? And did some indirect questions to know if they value the technology used in the centers like : What do you think of the equipment they use ? Describe it please . Did it help you ? Insight My friends hypotesis got a broader view . All of the participants mentioned that the aspect they value the most is the quality of the massage , not depending on the technological devices , but on the therapist ’s skills and profile . They want a therapist who is : kind , skillfull , experienced , quiet ( that means he / she is not in a hurry to finish and transmits a peacefull feeling ) and has an enterprise culture . They said that in some cases , a less experienced therapist gave them a massage and it was obvious that he / she had more to learn . One of the participants told me that once an intern gave her a massage and told her that she had an irreversible disease ( which was n’t true ) and she got worried . So in this first finding , my friend ’s hypotesis does n’t match the needs . However there were other points to observe . Every center has a main doctor who is the expert and the rest of the staff seems less experienced . The participants value a lot when the main doctor treats them , because he / she gives them a better massage and a detailed explanaition of their case . This highlights another need to be covered : information . Besides the doctor ’s explanaition , they did n’t mention elements that provide information about health problems , their health status ( none of them have patients health histories ) and most of them complained about not having a modern system that helpes them to book an appoinment ( in two centers they ca n’t even call , the booking has to be on - site ) . This is an opportunity for my friend to use technology to stand out from the competition . The third most important aspect is the environment . All of them mentioned that all of the centers had a bit dirty environments , with old furniture , some of them had old exercise machines , not so comfortable stretchers and the centers were located in non - commercial areas , but in households addapted to give the service . This is an aspect to improve and also an opportunity for my friend . One of the participants said that he liked a place where many patients had to sit around the same table while they got therapy through electricity . This was nice because the equipment was new to him ( he had received electricity therapy with other equipment before ) and also because he got to know other people , share problems , sollutions and socialize . This goes combined with the need for information . And finally , it is very important for them that the center is located not so far from their homes . Two of them had to travel by bus one hour to get to the physiotherapy centers and in terms of cost / benefit they ended losing a lot of time and energy . My friend told me he had ideas to bring the service to peoples homes , and to give them online service . Approach The first learning was that before starting any activity , I must check if the resources I will use function correctly . This is because of the accident with the colored glitter . The second learning is that some of the participants used the storyboard format to draw their experiences . This was very useful to go more in detail and deeper in getting to know their reality , so I will suggest it the next time I use this tool . Another finding is that the older ones did n’t use the colored markers and pencils as the first resource to draw ( and even during the process they did n’t use more tan two colors ) . They prefered to start using a pencil . They said : “ I prefer to start with the pencil to be able to erase ” and “ The right way to start drawing is with a pencil ” . For me , his shows the results of their generation ’s education , which teach them to avoid mistakes and not to risk from start , not even a bit . Coincidentally they used the same colors to show the things they like ( green ) and dislike ( red ) ( look at the pictures attached ) . Next time I will give them different motivations such as images , to encourage them to get out of the traditional way to draw “ correctly ” and explore their creativity . Finally , I got valuable learnings and comments about the success of the tool for my goal . One of the participants is a marketing university teacher . He recognized the benefits of this tool to do a deeper research of customers ’ experience tan with traditional research tolos ( he uses themin his lectures ) . Also , this tool was very useful to collect information about the different profiles , because each participant used his / her profesional knowledges to plasm their experience : One of the participants is a graphic designer and she used color codes to show her experience . The teacher explained with a formula why non - monetary costs have often a higher value for the customers than monetary costs and this lead to sumarize one of the principal findings . Steffen - 64 years old – Marketing university teacher – Physiotherapy center : Kaiser Permanente Kim - 60 years old – Housewife – Physiotherapy center : Purolator Inc. Kim - 25 years old – Graphic designer – Physiotherapy center : Purolator Inc. Kim – 30 years old – Soft skills Trainer – Physiotherapy center : Rollin , Kaiser Permanente , Lince City Hall , Purolator Inc ..