Perle Kamdem  Design Thinking – Retirement Coaching Mind Mapping    Challenge & Selection

I’ve been observing the challenges realized by recent and soon-to-be retirees face as they transition  from one phase of their lives to another. As a trained coach, I’m aware of how helpful coaching can be  through transitions and find myself wanting to help individuals as they struggle through the process. In  fact, an acquaintance who retires in just a few days confided that he doesn’t have an answer to the  question everyone is asking him, “What are you going to do when you retire?” The challenge is this: as a  coach, what services could I provide to help retirees understand that they should have an answer to this  question and what should I offer once they come to this realization?

According to the lecture given by Sophia Zamora, mind mapping looks, “for patterns and insights in a  large quantity of data you collected during your exploration of what is the current reality.” Because my  goal is to establish criteria for the what-if idea generation phase, I chose this tool for this iteration in my  design thinking journey.

Application

Because my network of recent and soon-to-be retirees is geographically disbursed, I wanted to be  creative in my approach to the “art gallery” and make it a virtual event. Before this, though, I needed to  add to my own observations and ideas with qualitative data on retirement coaching. I verified that the  need is real and gained further insight into angles that can be taken to address the needs of retirees. I  also outlined information I’ve noted from conversations I’ve had like the one above, noticing what  unmet needs have surfaced.

I complied a series of “napkin pitches” from this data that included ideas for individual coaching in  person or via Skype, group coaching, discovery sessions, lectures, etc. I was careful to cover areas that I  found compelling but also those that might not personally interest me. I’m not the target customer,  after all! Once I had these to a manageable set, I created a PowerPoint “gallery” to share with my group  of about a dozen gallery goers. I encouraged them to use the notes section of each slide to share their  ideas as they would on a sticky note, had we been in person.

While I couldn’t bring the entire virtual team together to make observations, I enabled the help of a few  close by so we could find themes in the ideas.

Insight

This application of the mind mapping tool helped provide insight to move forward with potential  services for recent retirees.

As expected from the data, this target audience often isn’t aware of services available to fill this unmet  need. A few services surfaced as more compelling to those who are unfamiliar with coaching and/or  don’t see it as a fit for them at the time of a retirement transition. Introductory services that include  community lectures and group discussions or even retirement classes are more approachable for people  in this group.

Approach

I’d like to iterate on the above ideas and bring them to a larger group of potential retirees. My focus for  a second round would focus more on services that would ease them into the idea of talking about

Perle Kamdem  Design Thinking – Retirement Coaching Mind Mapping    retirement in a way they hadn’t previously considered. Through this my research would build on what  was found in the original mind mapping exercise. I’d also focus on services that help fill a social need, as  this came up both in data and mind mapping as an area of immediate impact for retirees. Finally, I’d like  to find “gallery goers” who are already open to the idea of retirement coaching to find out what one-on- one conversations would be most helpful to them through a separate mind mapping.


Perle Kamdem Design Thinking – Retirement Coaching Mind Mapping Challenge & Selection I ’ve been observing the challenges realized by recent and soon - to - be retirees face as they transition from one phase of their lives to another . As a trained coach , I ’m aware of how helpful coaching can be through transitions and find myself wanting to help individuals as they struggle through the process . In fact , an acquaintance who retires in just a few days confided that he does n’t have an answer to the question everyone is asking him , “ What are you going to do when you retire ? ” The challenge is this : as a coach , what services could I provide to help retirees understand that they should have an answer to this question and what should I offer once they come to this realization ? According to the lecture given by Sophia Zamora , mind mapping looks , “ for patterns and insights in a large quantity of data you collected during your exploration of what is the current reality . ” Because my goal is to establish criteria for the what - if idea generation phase , I chose this tool for this iteration in my design thinking journey . Application Because my network of recent and soon - to - be retirees is geographically disbursed , I wanted to be creative in my approach to the “ art gallery ” and make it a virtual event . Before this , though , I needed to add to my own observations and ideas with qualitative data on retirement coaching . I verified that the need is real and gained further insight into angles that can be taken to address the needs of retirees . I also outlined information I ’ve noted from conversations I ’ve had like the one above , noticing what unmet needs have surfaced . I complied a series of “ napkin pitches ” from this data that included ideas for individual coaching in person or via Skype , group coaching , discovery sessions , lectures , etc . I was careful to cover areas that I found compelling but also those that might not personally interest me . I ’m not the target customer , after all ! Once I had these to a manageable set , I created a PowerPoint “ gallery ” to share with my group of about a dozen gallery goers . I encouraged them to use the notes section of each slide to share their ideas as they would on a sticky note , had we been in person . While I could n’t bring the entire virtual team together to make observations , I enabled the help of a few close by so we could find themes in the ideas . Insight This application of the mind mapping tool helped provide insight to move forward with potential services for recent retirees . As expected from the data , this target audience often is n’t aware of services available to fill this unmet need . A few services surfaced as more compelling to those who are unfamiliar with coaching and/or do n’t see it as a fit for them at the time of a retirement transition . Introductory services that include community lectures and group discussions or even retirement classes are more approachable for people in this group . Approach I ’d like to iterate on the above ideas and bring them to a larger group of potential retirees . My focus for a second round would focus more on services that would ease them into the idea of talking about Perle Kamdem Design Thinking – Retirement Coaching Mind Mapping retirement in a way they had n’t previously considered . Through this my research would build on what was found in the original mind mapping exercise . I ’d also focus on services that help fill a social need , as this came up both in data and mind mapping as an area of immediate impact for retirees . Finally , I ’d like to find “ gallery goers ” who are already open to the idea of retirement coaching to find out what one - on- one conversations would be most helpful to them through a separate mind mapping .