Zakaria Hassan

Challenge

I work in an NGO as a Recruitment Lead. My organization’s key product is a Fellowship  program that is open for people who have at least completed their graduation. Though the  program is well established and around a decade old, recent times have seen a steep decrease  in the number of applications coming in from young college graduates. It has been  tremendously tough for the organization to solve this issue (i.e. increase the applications of  fresh college graduates). In my opinion, the only way to solve the issue is by identifying the  key reason which has led to the decline and then working on creating a solution. To identify  the reasons for the decline, we would have to employ historical application data, its analysis  and also look at some qualitative parameters which would include regional context, cultural  quotient, mind-set of the students, etc. Hence, design thinking would have to be adopted for  solving the problem statement: “What has led to a decline in the number of applications  received from fresh college graduates in the past two years?”

Tool selection

The tool I selected for this challenge is “Mind Mapping”. Mind mapping is the best tool to  identify the reasons/ patterns/ trends in the available current scenario. As my challenge is to  identify the root causes of the decrease in application numbers, mind mapping will help me to  flesh out the “What is” part of the bigger problem. Using mind mapping I hope to get a better  picture of all the quantitative and qualitative reasons which would have contributed to the  problem in the first place. Once I can identify and pinpoint the reasons, as Prof. Marian  Moore mentioned in the Week 3 Video 4, I will be able to Segway to “What if” and think  about creative solutions to the problem.

Application

Mind mapping in design thinking is to identify what goes on in the minds of our customer, in  this particular case, we were looking at the minds of the fresh college graduates. As the best  way to do it was to involve a team, I pursued 5 other colleagues of mine to join this process.  My colleagues were picked based on their background of having been college students who  had applied for the program and their experience of having worked on the ground with  college students in the past 4 years.

As the first step, I collated all the materials I had for this study. It included the following:

1.      Primary data from College students: it had details of their passion, short term and  long term goals, career aspirations, their knowledge about the program, knowledge  about the impact, the program will create in their lives, their interests, their source of  information about the program, along with some of their personal details. This was  collected by me during conversations with the students.  2.      Historical data about the number of applications we have received in the past  from these colleges.  3.      Information on demographics of the college students.  4.      The other opportunities which the students have opted for in the past 2 years  5.      The list of all the other social sector programs in the country

All this information was shared with my other colleagues to view. After spending about 45  mins of individual thinking time with the anchoring question “For the larger problem, which  parts of this data will add value?”, the members were asked to note down their observations.

Zakaria Hassan

The observations of the 6 of us were then grouped into 3 large buckets. We then sat down to  interpret the observations to come up with solid insights. With these insights, we came up  with the “Design Criteria” statement.

Insight

The following were the three large observations:

1.      Availability of other opportunities  2.      Incorrect/Lack of the details and impact of the program  3.      Parental pressure.

These three big buckets were then analyzed by the six of us and the root cause of the problem  were led to two main insights about why the application numbers have reduced amongst the  college students:

1.      The messaging about the program sends confusing ideas of what it entails  2.      Lack of strong brand image amongst the youth and their families

These insights have changed my perspective on the issue in general. Till before this activity, I  was convinced that the issue was with the customers and lack of inclination towards the  social sector. These insights have been able to direct my attention towards the change which  is under our control and action can be taken by us to solve the issue.

What should the action be like would be a part of “What if” which is yet to be analyzed.  However, as per our initial goal of identifying the root cause, we were able to come with a  strong answer.

Approach

I would prefer using the same tool as this is the best tool to identify the root causes and  answer to “What is”. Though the project gave really strong insights, I realize that some parts  of it can be improved to give a better result.  A major change I would bring to this approach  when I have to do it for the second time would be to involve a larger group of people in the  activity. With only 6 people (including me), the scope of innovation and thinking seems to be  narrow. In addition to this, the primary survey can be done in a written format with an  increased number of participants to get a better understanding.


Zakaria Hassan Challenge I work in an NGO as a Recruitment Lead . My organization ’s key product is a Fellowship program that is open for people who have at least completed their graduation . Though the program is well established and around a decade old , recent times have seen a steep decrease in the number of applications coming in from young college graduates . It has been tremendously tough for the organization to solve this issue ( i.e. increase the applications of fresh college graduates ) . In my opinion , the only way to solve the issue is by identifying the key reason which has led to the decline and then working on creating a solution . To identify the reasons for the decline , we would have to employ historical application data , its analysis and also look at some qualitative parameters which would include regional context , cultural quotient , mind - set of the students , etc . Hence , design thinking would have to be adopted for solving the problem statement : “ What has led to a decline in the number of applications received from fresh college graduates in the past two years ? ” Tool selection The tool I selected for this challenge is “ Mind Mapping ” . Mind mapping is the best tool to identify the reasons/ patterns/ trends in the available current scenario . As my challenge is to identify the root causes of the decrease in application numbers , mind mapping will help me to flesh out the “ What is ” part of the bigger problem . Using mind mapping I hope to get a better picture of all the quantitative and qualitative reasons which would have contributed to the problem in the first place . Once I can identify and pinpoint the reasons , as Prof. Marian Moore mentioned in the Week 3 Video 4 , I will be able to Segway to “ What if ” and think about creative solutions to the problem . Application Mind mapping in design thinking is to identify what goes on in the minds of our customer , in this particular case , we were looking at the minds of the fresh college graduates . As the best way to do it was to involve a team , I pursued 5 other colleagues of mine to join this process . My colleagues were picked based on their background of having been college students who had applied for the program and their experience of having worked on the ground with college students in the past 4 years . As the first step , I collated all the materials I had for this study . It included the following : 1 . Primary data from College students : it had details of their passion , short term and long term goals , career aspirations , their knowledge about the program , knowledge about the impact , the program will create in their lives , their interests , their source of information about the program , along with some of their personal details . This was collected by me during conversations with the students . 2 . Historical data about the number of applications we have received in the past from these colleges . 3 . Information on demographics of the college students . 4 . The other opportunities which the students have opted for in the past 2 years 5 . The list of all the other social sector programs in the country All this information was shared with my other colleagues to view . After spending about 45 mins of individual thinking time with the anchoring question “ For the larger problem , which parts of this data will add value ? ” , the members were asked to note down their observations . Zakaria Hassan The observations of the 6 of us were then grouped into 3 large buckets . We then sat down to interpret the observations to come up with solid insights . With these insights , we came up with the “ Design Criteria ” statement . Insight The following were the three large observations : 1 . Availability of other opportunities 2 . Incorrect / Lack of the details and impact of the program 3 . Parental pressure . These three big buckets were then analyzed by the six of us and the root cause of the problem were led to two main insights about why the application numbers have reduced amongst the college students : 1 . The messaging about the program sends confusing ideas of what it entails 2 . Lack of strong brand image amongst the youth and their families These insights have changed my perspective on the issue in general . Till before this activity , I was convinced that the issue was with the customers and lack of inclination towards the social sector . These insights have been able to direct my attention towards the change which is under our control and action can be taken by us to solve the issue . What should the action be like would be a part of “ What if ” which is yet to be analyzed . However , as per our initial goal of identifying the root cause , we were able to come with a strong answer . Approach I would prefer using the same tool as this is the best tool to identify the root causes and answer to “ What is ” . Though the project gave really strong insights , I realize that some parts of it can be improved to give a better result . A major change I would bring to this approach when I have to do it for the second time would be to involve a larger group of people in the activity . With only 6 people ( including me ) , the scope of innovation and thinking seems to be narrow . In addition to this , the primary survey can be done in a written format with an increased number of participants to get a better understanding .