ASSIGNMENT REFLECTION  Busi Tarek  2019-12      Challenge

Last year, as part of my master’s degree in Digital Marketing, I wrote a professional thesis

about the “what’s for dinner tonight” question. I wanted to understand why, even today with

all the digital tools available, it is still complicated for families to decide easily what to eat at

home on weekday evenings. I learned a lot during my thesis research. But, when I decided

to turn it in a product or service, I felt that my school research was good, but too light to

reflect the true reality of my primary user group. I had plenty pain points on my whiteboard,

but finally no really idea what the real problem was.       Selection

I decided to conduct further individual interviews with a group of ten users, mothers between

25 and 45 years old. I began created an interview guide with a dozen open-ended questions

focusing on my user's behaviors in the kitchen and it was in its first version, the perfect

boring survey. I realized that just asking a question would not bring me the genuine answer.

Especially since in France, it is almost disturbing to say loud and clear that we don't care

about what we eat... this is becoming less and less socially acceptable.   I needed a way to encourage my users to express themselves freely and fully. And that's

when a friend of mine suggested I use images. According to him, images are very useful to

capture non verbal thoughts or emotions. I chose to try this tool called visualization, hoping

that it would unlock any discomfort by placing the user in their daily situations and actions.       Application

This was my first time using this method. I chose to try it on two potentially sensitive

questions : “what does it mean to you to cook?” and “how's mealtime with your kids?”. With

these two questions I wanted to know how important it is for my interviewee to respect and

pass on the principles of good nutrition.   For the first question, I searched on Google and chose 15 images I felt relevant to me ; a

smiling family eating pizzas in front of the TV, a plate of pasta with ham, industrial products

already prepared, a mother and her daughter cooking with joy, a pot overflowing …   For the second question, it’s was more difficult to find a diversity of situations. When you

Google “cook with your kid” or “what children eat?” you just find a lot of cliché pictures. So I

selected 10 ; child sulking in front of vegetables, child smiling in front of an orange juice,

child happy to eat a hamburger…    Each batch of images was put in an envelope and when the question arrived in the interview

I took them out and laid on the table in front of my user. Then, I asked to select the ones that

were meaningful to her. Once the images were separated into two packs, I asked to explain

each choice freely.

Insights

Thanks to this exercise with images, I learned more specific aspects on my targets -

especially with the first question. Their approach to food was much more complex than two

opposing camps, fresh produce versus industrial products. For the majority, food was an

important subject, but the choice of whether or not to cook was subject to multiple

influencing factors such as the weather and the products available, the family's desires and

the mood of the day. However, the visualization tool appeared not relevant for the second

question. The choice of life situations was too limited and didn't really seem to touch the

hearts of my targets. Even if I progressed in my discovering, the insights I collected lacked

something to fully embrace my primary question.      Approach

This experiment convinced me about images on a discovery process. But next time, I’ll do a

little bit differently to gain more precise insights. I’ll select 10 images maximum, because with

more, I had the feeling that users were lost. I will spend more time on the pictures selection

to be sure to express various and relevant situations.   I’ll also try a new approach with dot voting. As I read a post on the MOOC forum about it, I

found this approach very interesting. I am thinking about trying it with images to identify

emotions linked to situations. I plan to choose three colors ; green for feeling at ease, orange

for a neutral emotion, and red for upsetting circumstances.     In any case, I am going to continue exploring design thinking because I really enjoyed this

first experience.


ASSIGNMENT REFLECTION Busi Tarek 2019 - 12 Challenge Last year , as part of my master ’s degree in Digital Marketing , I wrote a professional thesis about the “ what ’s for dinner tonight ” question . I wanted to understand why , even today with all the digital tools available , it is still complicated for families to decide easily what to eat at home on weekday evenings . I learned a lot during my thesis research . But , when I decided to turn it in a product or service , I felt that my school research was good , but too light to reflect the true reality of my primary user group . I had plenty pain points on my whiteboard , but finally no really idea what the real problem was . Selection I decided to conduct further individual interviews with a group of ten users , mothers between 25 and 45 years old . I began created an interview guide with a dozen open - ended questions focusing on my user 's behaviors in the kitchen and it was in its first version , the perfect boring survey . I realized that just asking a question would not bring me the genuine answer . Especially since in France , it is almost disturbing to say loud and clear that we do n't care about what we eat ... this is becoming less and less socially acceptable . I needed a way to encourage my users to express themselves freely and fully . And that 's when a friend of mine suggested I use images . According to him , images are very useful to capture non verbal thoughts or emotions . I chose to try this tool called visualization , hoping that it would unlock any discomfort by placing the user in their daily situations and actions . Application This was my first time using this method . I chose to try it on two potentially sensitive questions : “ what does it mean to you to cook ? ” and “ how 's mealtime with your kids ? ” . With these two questions I wanted to know how important it is for my interviewee to respect and pass on the principles of good nutrition . For the first question , I searched on Google and chose 15 images I felt relevant to me ; a smiling family eating pizzas in front of the TV , a plate of pasta with ham , industrial products already prepared , a mother and her daughter cooking with joy , a pot overflowing … For the second question , it ’s was more difficult to find a diversity of situations . When you Google “ cook with your kid ” or “ what children eat ? ” you just find a lot of cliché pictures . So I selected 10 ; child sulking in front of vegetables , child smiling in front of an orange juice , child happy to eat a hamburger … Each batch of images was put in an envelope and when the question arrived in the interview I took them out and laid on the table in front of my user . Then , I asked to select the ones that were meaningful to her . Once the images were separated into two packs , I asked to explain each choice freely . Insights Thanks to this exercise with images , I learned more specific aspects on my targets - especially with the first question . Their approach to food was much more complex than two opposing camps , fresh produce versus industrial products . For the majority , food was an important subject , but the choice of whether or not to cook was subject to multiple influencing factors such as the weather and the products available , the family 's desires and the mood of the day . However , the visualization tool appeared not relevant for the second question . The choice of life situations was too limited and did n't really seem to touch the hearts of my targets . Even if I progressed in my discovering , the insights I collected lacked something to fully embrace my primary question . Approach This experiment convinced me about images on a discovery process . But next time , I ’ll do a little bit differently to gain more precise insights . I ’ll select 10 images maximum , because with more , I had the feeling that users were lost . I will spend more time on the pictures selection to be sure to express various and relevant situations . I ’ll also try a new approach with dot voting . As I read a post on the MOOC forum about it , I found this approach very interesting . I am thinking about trying it with images to identify emotions linked to situations . I plan to choose three colors ; green for feeling at ease , orange for a neutral emotion , and red for upsetting circumstances . In any case , I am going to continue exploring design thinking because I really enjoyed this first experience .