Example Reflection – Learning to Launch

Challenge:

The context for this problem is the product launch in my startup. We launched our first  product “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) products for midscale real estate developers and the  product was an economical failure. Upon a thorough post-launch analysis of the product, it was  determined that the demands and pain points of the customers were not addressed completely by the  product. Determined to keep the company afloat me and my co-founder got back to the drawing board  and decided to launch the customer relationship management (CRM) product. This launch was very  crucial because we were very low on budget and the future of the startup depended on the success of  this product.

Selection:

The tool selected is learning launch tool. This was the tool selected because we have already  built the minimum viable product and wanted to improve the product further only based on the  feedback and the inputs from the customers. We wanted to perfect the “What wows” aspect of the  design thinking process as described in the lecture 2.

Application:

The initial set of customers, who would use the minimum viable product, were identified  and were sent the product to do a trial run. The product only had the basic functionalities and nothing  better than the product they were currently using. However, after a week of them using the product we  conducted two in-depth interviews with 18 people using the product. The purpose of the interview was  just to find out what features they liked and what features they did not like. After completing the  interview of 18 of our customers, we went back to the drawing board and dropped all the features that  were voted down. To put things in perspective we had few features that worked and we were back in  the “What if” stage. We brainstormed a couple of ideas and mapped all the ideas that would enhance  the features that were voted up by the customers. The ideas finalized were developed and incorporated  into the product.

The product was sent again for trial and this time again we interviewed the people using the product  with the sole intention of finding which features eased their work and used more frequently than  others. Our product development cycle repeats, we were brainstorming ideas only on the features that  our customers loved and we were focused on making those features the best in the market. The other  features which were not liked by our customers, we completely stopped the development of those  features.

Third time is the charm, we enhanced the features a bit and sent them for a trial again and asked them  to use the product for 2 weeks. But this time, we interviewed the managers of the people using the  product to understand their perception on the productivity of their teams. The idea was to identify

which aspects of the product were driving the productivity and made an economic sense for the  decision makers. The aspects they highlighted were eye-openers because nearly 40% of the features  appreciated by the daily users of the product had actually made no significant changes in the  productivity but the other 60% of the features had increased the productivity of the teams by 25%.  Incorporating the features suggested by the managers had made our product widely useful and our  sales increased just based on the word of mouth.

Insights:

If there is one take away from the complete process it would be to make your customers an  integral part of the product development. The insights from the customers and the managers were mind  numbing because we sketched 30 features and it turned out that only 8 of them were useful. As a  startup this information is very critical considering the resource and finance constraints. Eliminating the  features with least utility has freed up many of our resources to invest in the features that work.

Approach:

If I had to do the complete process once again, I would further categorize my customers into  segments and would try to come up with a categorization of a segment just as done by “Daily  Challenge”. I would go ahead and test the minimum viable product on the different segments and then  customize the product according to the segment. Doing this would make my product equally appealing  to all the customer and would lead to faster adaptability.


Example Reflection – Learning to Launch Challenge : The context for this problem is the product launch in my startup . We launched our first product “ Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP ) products for midscale real estate developers and the product was an economical failure . Upon a thorough post - launch analysis of the product , it was determined that the demands and pain points of the customers were not addressed completely by the product . Determined to keep the company afloat me and my co - founder got back to the drawing board and decided to launch the customer relationship management ( CRM ) product . This launch was very crucial because we were very low on budget and the future of the startup depended on the success of this product . Selection : The tool selected is learning launch tool . This was the tool selected because we have already built the minimum viable product and wanted to improve the product further only based on the feedback and the inputs from the customers . We wanted to perfect the “ What wows ” aspect of the design thinking process as described in the lecture 2 . Application : The initial set of customers , who would use the minimum viable product , were identified and were sent the product to do a trial run . The product only had the basic functionalities and nothing better than the product they were currently using . However , after a week of them using the product we conducted two in - depth interviews with 18 people using the product . The purpose of the interview was just to find out what features they liked and what features they did not like . After completing the interview of 18 of our customers , we went back to the drawing board and dropped all the features that were voted down . To put things in perspective we had few features that worked and we were back in the “ What if ” stage . We brainstormed a couple of ideas and mapped all the ideas that would enhance the features that were voted up by the customers . The ideas finalized were developed and incorporated into the product . The product was sent again for trial and this time again we interviewed the people using the product with the sole intention of finding which features eased their work and used more frequently than others . Our product development cycle repeats , we were brainstorming ideas only on the features that our customers loved and we were focused on making those features the best in the market . The other features which were not liked by our customers , we completely stopped the development of those features . Third time is the charm , we enhanced the features a bit and sent them for a trial again and asked them to use the product for 2 weeks . But this time , we interviewed the managers of the people using the product to understand their perception on the productivity of their teams . The idea was to identify which aspects of the product were driving the productivity and made an economic sense for the decision makers . The aspects they highlighted were eye - openers because nearly 40 % of the features appreciated by the daily users of the product had actually made no significant changes in the productivity but the other 60 % of the features had increased the productivity of the teams by 25 % . Incorporating the features suggested by the managers had made our product widely useful and our sales increased just based on the word of mouth . Insights : If there is one take away from the complete process it would be to make your customers an integral part of the product development . The insights from the customers and the managers were mind numbing because we sketched 30 features and it turned out that only 8 of them were useful . As a startup this information is very critical considering the resource and finance constraints . Eliminating the features with least utility has freed up many of our resources to invest in the features that work . Approach : If I had to do the complete process once again , I would further categorize my customers into segments and would try to come up with a categorization of a segment just as done by “ Daily Challenge ” . I would go ahead and test the minimum viable product on the different segments and then customize the product according to the segment . Doing this would make my product equally appealing to all the customer and would lead to faster adaptability .