Queuing System – Learning Launch

Challenge

I am a leader of a team in charge of new technologies within the engineering arm of a technology  company. We are always tasked with generating new ideas (technical) that could be potential products  of the company. One challenge we were asked to find a solution for is how to make procedures within  government entities more efficient for their customers (individuals and companies). The challenge  seems very broad and unfocused due to the diversity of government entities, their customers and type  of services.

Selection

For the company’s point of view, it made more sense to have a solution that is generic and applicable to  all entities, customers and services. Whatever this solution could be, we decided to use Learning Launch  as a tool to verify the effectiveness of the solution. Learning Launch is the most logical design thinking  tool that we could think of to test our concept in a cheap and rapid way. The prototype or proof of  concept that we will develop and use in learning launch campaign would provide great insight on the  future product and valuable feedback from potential users and customers.

Application

Even though we selected learning launch as a design thinking tool, we had to start from the beginning of  the design thinking process to identify the problem and find a solution for. The best way was to interact  with real customers and governmental entities. We formed teams that had to visit different  governmental customer service centers and perform interviews with real customers waiting in line for  their service. Furthermore, we went the extra mile and made some of our team members to apply for  some services on those centers and write down notes and collect feedbacks. Such trips and feedbacks  were very useful in providing the necessary data that helped us to identify core and common challenges  within those entities. We found out that there was one common complaint and challenge between all  centers and that was the waiting time that customer needed to endure in order to be served. And those  issues are all related to the queuing system in place.

We started with a hypothesis that what if customers could retrieve their tickets in the queue (waiting  line) through the internet (a mobile application for instance) and receive real time updates on the status  of the queue. Therefore, customers can utilize their waiting times in more valuable way than just waiting  on the service centers. We developed a small prototype that was a mobile friendly web page with  simple interface that communicates with a local server (hence, users during the test phase do not have  to download and install an application). We arranged a test scenario on a nearby university campus  where we set our mock service center. Our service was free donuts and our customers were students  and faculty members. Customers had to interact with our team and answer some questions about the  prototyped queuing system we developed.

Insight and Approach

The test bed we had set was very useful and informative. We got a lot of improvement suggestions from  the students on how they expect the system to work and how they wish to interact with the system. Too

many insights on the user interface itself (although it was a beta version) were collected that helped  produce a better user friendly interface for the product phase. Furthermore, we were surprised by the  number of stories that our customers started telling us about their experiences within government  entities and how the prototyped concept could made their experience better. Hence, the learning  launch experiment provided more data that enriched the data we collected during the study and  observation phase.

The approach we followed in implementing learning launch tool was very useful and it reduced the cost  and development time. Furthermore, it provided great insights on how the product could be developed  and how users would interact with the system in the future. In addition, it reduced the risks of entering  an unknown territory in respect to our company’s current portfolio. However, I think there are ways we  could do better and shorten the learning launch phase and as well as reduce the cost of prototype  development. I think we could follow another approach that does not require the development of a beta  version in order to test. We could invite our customers to our mock service center and let them interact  with a mock system that is manually controlled. Perhaps, we could give our customers the freedom to  manipulate the user interface system as they think more convenient instead making them interact with  a baseline design. That way, the design would have been improved greatly due to the fact that it would  be open to a more diverse designing team.


Queuing System – Learning Launch Challenge I am a leader of a team in charge of new technologies within the engineering arm of a technology company . We are always tasked with generating new ideas ( technical ) that could be potential products of the company . One challenge we were asked to find a solution for is how to make procedures within government entities more efficient for their customers ( individuals and companies ) . The challenge seems very broad and unfocused due to the diversity of government entities , their customers and type of services . Selection For the company ’s point of view , it made more sense to have a solution that is generic and applicable to all entities , customers and services . Whatever this solution could be , we decided to use Learning Launch as a tool to verify the effectiveness of the solution . Learning Launch is the most logical design thinking tool that we could think of to test our concept in a cheap and rapid way . The prototype or proof of concept that we will develop and use in learning launch campaign would provide great insight on the future product and valuable feedback from potential users and customers . Application Even though we selected learning launch as a design thinking tool , we had to start from the beginning of the design thinking process to identify the problem and find a solution for . The best way was to interact with real customers and governmental entities . We formed teams that had to visit different governmental customer service centers and perform interviews with real customers waiting in line for their service . Furthermore , we went the extra mile and made some of our team members to apply for some services on those centers and write down notes and collect feedbacks . Such trips and feedbacks were very useful in providing the necessary data that helped us to identify core and common challenges within those entities . We found out that there was one common complaint and challenge between all centers and that was the waiting time that customer needed to endure in order to be served . And those issues are all related to the queuing system in place . We started with a hypothesis that what if customers could retrieve their tickets in the queue ( waiting line ) through the internet ( a mobile application for instance ) and receive real time updates on the status of the queue . Therefore , customers can utilize their waiting times in more valuable way than just waiting on the service centers . We developed a small prototype that was a mobile friendly web page with simple interface that communicates with a local server ( hence , users during the test phase do not have to download and install an application ) . We arranged a test scenario on a nearby university campus where we set our mock service center . Our service was free donuts and our customers were students and faculty members . Customers had to interact with our team and answer some questions about the prototyped queuing system we developed . Insight and Approach The test bed we had set was very useful and informative . We got a lot of improvement suggestions from the students on how they expect the system to work and how they wish to interact with the system . Too many insights on the user interface itself ( although it was a beta version ) were collected that helped produce a better user friendly interface for the product phase . Furthermore , we were surprised by the number of stories that our customers started telling us about their experiences within government entities and how the prototyped concept could made their experience better . Hence , the learning launch experiment provided more data that enriched the data we collected during the study and observation phase . The approach we followed in implementing learning launch tool was very useful and it reduced the cost and development time . Furthermore , it provided great insights on how the product could be developed and how users would interact with the system in the future . In addition , it reduced the risks of entering an unknown territory in respect to our company ’s current portfolio . However , I think there are ways we could do better and shorten the learning launch phase and as well as reduce the cost of prototype development . I think we could follow another approach that does not require the development of a beta version in order to test . We could invite our customers to our mock service center and let them interact with a mock system that is manually controlled . Perhaps , we could give our customers the freedom to manipulate the user interface system as they think more convenient instead making them interact with a baseline design . That way , the design would have been improved greatly due to the fact that it would be open to a more diverse designing team .