Challenge: We are two Mexican friends that have always had the concern for the preservation  and rescue of our indigenous cultures. We both have a sustainable development background,  which has helped us to broaden our perspectives as we need to consider all possible  stakeholders’ perspectives into our projects to create the most ‘sustainable’ solution. So we  decided to start an entrepreneurship where we aim to teach and walk through indigenous  artisans, in the process of creating and designing a brand of their own, so they can avoid selling  to intermediates and hence have more profitability for themselves. Our main goal is to provide  them with knowledge and skills, that otherwise they do not have access to due to costs, cultural  differences (like language), and distance; so they can develop themselves both as individuals  and communities,  and hence increase their quality of life, preserve their culture and stop  migrating to the cities.

At the end of last year, we had interviewed some people from this communities, living in city, to  understand better the precise cause of why they left their towns, how was their life in the city and  what were their main problems to survive in that environment. Due to the pandemic, our  challenge was to visit directly their communities and interview some of them, in order to know if  the topic was of interest and made sense for them and if they were willing to complete a 4 month,  free course. This is important to mention as they usually have vastly different routines, as well  as responsibilities within their community, than people living in the cities. Also, the idea of taking  a mix course between women and men is not appealing as they keep gender traditions (in some  cases) where men and women do not do the same activities. Likewise, we needed to know if  indigenous communities had lived to some extent the digital era, if they had access to internet  and how they have adopted it in their lives, if so.

Selection: We decided to go for Learning Launch as there is no research data at all, on how  indigenous communities have adapted to the digital era, how they access it or if they even have  access to it. If they do, we do not know if they use internet and social media, if its accessible,  affordable, and valuable for them. We had our hypothesis: indigenous people flee from their  hometowns expecting to have a better life in the city, as the only know how to make handicrafts  as a job, but they sell them unbelievably cheap because they do not have a better business  approach to sell their products, they keep having a poor-quality life. If we provide them with the  knowledge and skills for creating their own business through digital resources (mainly social  media), they will increase their quality life and stop migrating.

As we had a lot of unknown information that we needed to address first-hand, we used the Best  Innovation Practices Questions that Andreas Schmidt pointed out during his presentation on Learning  Launch. After answering them, we realized we had an hypothesis and key assumptions that  needed to be tested right away in a cheap way to know if wanted to develop that idea, or find  another one more suitable for our purposes.

Application: As in our previous interviews people had told us that they had only learnt to use  desktops and cell phones to access social media, specifically FB, we decided to go on that  platform and pay for a 3 day add (a cheap option), to promote one free class for artisans on how  to “Design from colour” in very specific locations along south Mexico. One day before we had  researched on the internet where were the biggest indigenous populations located in South  Mexico, as it is the area where we live.  Immediately after creating the FB add, we created a FB  page where potential customers could contact us and within the first ten minutes, we received  around 5 messages asking for more details. For us, the number 5 was a huge deal, as indigenous  population is only around 5% of the total in Mexico and we did not expect that whole percent to  have internet nor social media. But then we realized that our add did not specify that it was  intended for indigenous artisans only, so another type of customers started to show.

Since the beginning we had a screening questionnaire to decide whether if the potential  customer was our ideal client (an indigenous artisan) and had the need that we aimed to target.  If it was, then we applied a second questionnaire to start collecting data of what we needed to  know for our idea, which mainly was to know if they: had access to internet, were interested in  taking a full course on the topic, had availability to attend the course during weekends, the time,  their type of artisan work, where they were from, their age, gender, indigenous community, and  so on. After the 3-day period, we scheduled our first session via FB for the next weekend to  continue retrieving data from out selected population.

First, we wanted to confirm if people where actually going to take the course, because when  things are free, people do not feel the pressure to show up. In this case we had 32 out of 40  customers that did show up. Then, we started the Learning Launch, and most data confirmed  our idea, as we were interacting in a real time scenario with the customers and their feedback  was positive. They confirmed the session to be what they were looking for without even  acknowledging it, and they demonstrated a huge interest in virtually attending the 4-month  course. After that, we also asked each one for some general feedback on the platform, the length  of the session and other inputs that they could possibly had. After that, we decided to scale the  idea.

Insight: To be honest, I’m usually a fixed mind person, so I would not have tried this approach  if it was not for my friend who encouraged me. I have got to admit that this broaden my  perspective on how to approach problems in a more efficient way. For me it was real cheap and  fast this tool as within a week we tested our idea, it was positive, so we continued to developed  it, being certain that we do address a customers real need. We still need to run a few more tests,  in my opinion, but we are certain to keep using design thinking because it helped us to gather  information directly from the source so we have a better understanding of the problem. I think  we should deepen further in our customers mind so that way we can also start integrating other  stakeholders that could contribute to the cause.

Approach: Next time, I would like to try a customer co-creation approach, after the Launching  Learner, because not all the stakeholders of the problem were taken into consideration. In this  case, government institutions, social organizations and even others that we might have not  thought before. I consider that incorporating other tools will enrich our solution and broaden it in  benefit for everyone.


Challenge : We are two Mexican friends that have always had the concern for the preservation and rescue of our indigenous cultures . We both have a sustainable development background , which has helped us to broaden our perspectives as we need to consider all possible stakeholders ’ perspectives into our projects to create the most ‘ sustainable ’ solution . So we decided to start an entrepreneurship where we aim to teach and walk through indigenous artisans , in the process of creating and designing a brand of their own , so they can avoid selling to intermediates and hence have more profitability for themselves . Our main goal is to provide them with knowledge and skills , that otherwise they do not have access to due to costs , cultural differences ( like language ) , and distance ; so they can develop themselves both as individuals and communities , and hence increase their quality of life , preserve their culture and stop migrating to the cities . At the end of last year , we had interviewed some people from this communities , living in city , to understand better the precise cause of why they left their towns , how was their life in the city and what were their main problems to survive in that environment . Due to the pandemic , our challenge was to visit directly their communities and interview some of them , in order to know if the topic was of interest and made sense for them and if they were willing to complete a 4 month , free course . This is important to mention as they usually have vastly different routines , as well as responsibilities within their community , than people living in the cities . Also , the idea of taking a mix course between women and men is not appealing as they keep gender traditions ( in some cases ) where men and women do not do the same activities . Likewise , we needed to know if indigenous communities had lived to some extent the digital era , if they had access to internet and how they have adopted it in their lives , if so . Selection : We decided to go for Learning Launch as there is no research data at all , on how indigenous communities have adapted to the digital era , how they access it or if they even have access to it . If they do , we do not know if they use internet and social media , if its accessible , affordable , and valuable for them . We had our hypothesis : indigenous people flee from their hometowns expecting to have a better life in the city , as the only know how to make handicrafts as a job , but they sell them unbelievably cheap because they do not have a better business approach to sell their products , they keep having a poor - quality life . If we provide them with the knowledge and skills for creating their own business through digital resources ( mainly social media ) , they will increase their quality life and stop migrating . As we had a lot of unknown information that we needed to address first - hand , we used the Best Innovation Practices Questions that Andreas Schmidt pointed out during his presentation on Learning Launch . After answering them , we realized we had an hypothesis and key assumptions that needed to be tested right away in a cheap way to know if wanted to develop that idea , or find another one more suitable for our purposes . Application : As in our previous interviews people had told us that they had only learnt to use desktops and cell phones to access social media , specifically FB , we decided to go on that platform and pay for a 3 day add ( a cheap option ) , to promote one free class for artisans on how to “ Design from colour ” in very specific locations along south Mexico . One day before we had researched on the internet where were the biggest indigenous populations located in South Mexico , as it is the area where we live . Immediately after creating the FB add , we created a FB page where potential customers could contact us and within the first ten minutes , we received around 5 messages asking for more details . For us , the number 5 was a huge deal , as indigenous population is only around 5 % of the total in Mexico and we did not expect that whole percent to have internet nor social media . But then we realized that our add did not specify that it was intended for indigenous artisans only , so another type of customers started to show . Since the beginning we had a screening questionnaire to decide whether if the potential customer was our ideal client ( an indigenous artisan ) and had the need that we aimed to target . If it was , then we applied a second questionnaire to start collecting data of what we needed to know for our idea , which mainly was to know if they : had access to internet , were interested in taking a full course on the topic , had availability to attend the course during weekends , the time , their type of artisan work , where they were from , their age , gender , indigenous community , and so on . After the 3 - day period , we scheduled our first session via FB for the next weekend to continue retrieving data from out selected population . First , we wanted to confirm if people where actually going to take the course , because when things are free , people do not feel the pressure to show up . In this case we had 32 out of 40 customers that did show up . Then , we started the Learning Launch , and most data confirmed our idea , as we were interacting in a real time scenario with the customers and their feedback was positive . They confirmed the session to be what they were looking for without even acknowledging it , and they demonstrated a huge interest in virtually attending the 4 - month course . After that , we also asked each one for some general feedback on the platform , the length of the session and other inputs that they could possibly had . After that , we decided to scale the idea . Insight : To be honest , I ’m usually a fixed mind person , so I would not have tried this approach if it was not for my friend who encouraged me . I have got to admit that this broaden my perspective on how to approach problems in a more efficient way . For me it was real cheap and fast this tool as within a week we tested our idea , it was positive , so we continued to developed it , being certain that we do address a customers real need . We still need to run a few more tests , in my opinion , but we are certain to keep using design thinking because it helped us to gather information directly from the source so we have a better understanding of the problem . I think we should deepen further in our customers mind so that way we can also start integrating other stakeholders that could contribute to the cause . Approach : Next time , I would like to try a customer co - creation approach , after the Launching Learner , because not all the stakeholders of the problem were taken into consideration . In this case , government institutions , social organizations and even others that we might have not thought before . I consider that incorporating other tools will enrich our solution and broaden it in benefit for everyone .