Reflection – Visualization

Challenge  My company introduced recently a revised business model and a new market segmentation. The new  market segmentation was developed based on extensive market research and expected growth  potential. As a next step, the existing service offering should be reviewed to unlock the full potential  of the newly introduced market segmentation. In a co-creation process, market experts across the  company reviewed the existing service offering and new ideas were created. The management  decided to validate the reviewed offering and the new ideas in the market. Main questions that were  asked to clarify were:

-  Which elements should be part of the final service offering?

-  Is it necessary to adjust the service offering according to different markets? If yes, how?

-  Does the new service offering create benefit for the customers?

Selection  As learned in Module 1 (see videos “The Good Kitchen Story” and “Visualization Tool”) I selected the  visualization tool to perform the validation of the new service offering with customers. All newly  created service ideas are not yet implemented and therefore not tangible for our customers. The  visualization tool allows to create a tangible (or visual) prototype of the new service offering. By  visualizing the new service offering, I wanted to facilitate the discussion with our customers.

Application  The process started first with the selection of approx. 15 clients per market to ensure to get enough  insights. In a second step, I visualized on a large paper sheet the current service offering and on  another paper sheet the new service offering under a fictive company name (“ACME Ltd”).  Interviews were conducted with all selected customers. During the interviews, the customers were  showed the two different papers, one with the current offering – the other with new offering of the  fictive competitor “ACME Ltd.”. The customers were asked various questions related to the offering  (e.g. is the offering of the other company better than ours?). All feedbacks were directly marked on  the respective paper sheets. In a second round, the customers were asked to mark all services that  create the most benefit to them with a yellow sticker. After the initial discussion with our clients, I  organized a second interview session with our customers at a later point in time to discuss the re- adjusted version of the offering based on the feedback received. With this, I was able to answer all  questions raised by our management.

Insight  As expected, the visualization tool was of great help to facilitate the discussion with the customers.  Services are not tangible and with this tool I found a way to create a prototype on paper were the  customers could provide feedback avoiding a situation were a discussion gets too abstract. By  visualizing a service offering of a fictive company a customer could freely express his opinion on our  ideas without criticizing our company. I gained many insights out of these customer interviews in  terms of market preferences, customer needs and drivers to create added value. In the end I was  able to optimize the entire offering in a way to create the most benefit for the customers and for the

company (“what wows”). The insights out of this exercise helped to answer the questions raised by  our management and lead ultimately to the implementation of the new service offering.

Approach  As highlighted in the Application description, I created a paper-based version to visualize the new  service offering. In this specific use case, a paper-based version is adequate if you have only a few  elements to discuss. In my case, the new offering was more complex and a digital visualization would  have facilitated the discussion with the client even more. A digital visualization would help to  incorporate the customer feedback during the discussion. With this, the customer would instantly  see the result of his feedback and enable a creative discussion.


Reflection – Visualization Challenge My company introduced recently a revised business model and a new market segmentation . The new market segmentation was developed based on extensive market research and expected growth potential . As a next step , the existing service offering should be reviewed to unlock the full potential of the newly introduced market segmentation . In a co - creation process , market experts across the company reviewed the existing service offering and new ideas were created . The management decided to validate the reviewed offering and the new ideas in the market . Main questions that were asked to clarify were : - Which elements should be part of the final service offering ? - Is it necessary to adjust the service offering according to different markets ? If yes , how ? - Does the new service offering create benefit for the customers ? Selection As learned in Module 1 ( see videos “ The Good Kitchen Story ” and “ Visualization Tool ” ) I selected the visualization tool to perform the validation of the new service offering with customers . All newly created service ideas are not yet implemented and therefore not tangible for our customers . The visualization tool allows to create a tangible ( or visual ) prototype of the new service offering . By visualizing the new service offering , I wanted to facilitate the discussion with our customers . Application The process started first with the selection of approx . 15 clients per market to ensure to get enough insights . In a second step , I visualized on a large paper sheet the current service offering and on another paper sheet the new service offering under a fictive company name ( “ ACME Ltd ” ) . Interviews were conducted with all selected customers . During the interviews , the customers were showed the two different papers , one with the current offering – the other with new offering of the fictive competitor “ ACME Ltd. ” . The customers were asked various questions related to the offering ( e.g. is the offering of the other company better than ours ? ) . All feedbacks were directly marked on the respective paper sheets . In a second round , the customers were asked to mark all services that create the most benefit to them with a yellow sticker . After the initial discussion with our clients , I organized a second interview session with our customers at a later point in time to discuss the re- adjusted version of the offering based on the feedback received . With this , I was able to answer all questions raised by our management . Insight As expected , the visualization tool was of great help to facilitate the discussion with the customers . Services are not tangible and with this tool I found a way to create a prototype on paper were the customers could provide feedback avoiding a situation were a discussion gets too abstract . By visualizing a service offering of a fictive company a customer could freely express his opinion on our ideas without criticizing our company . I gained many insights out of these customer interviews in terms of market preferences , customer needs and drivers to create added value . In the end I was able to optimize the entire offering in a way to create the most benefit for the customers and for the company ( “ what wows ” ) . The insights out of this exercise helped to answer the questions raised by our management and lead ultimately to the implementation of the new service offering . Approach As highlighted in the Application description , I created a paper - based version to visualize the new service offering . In this specific use case , a paper - based version is adequate if you have only a few elements to discuss . In my case , the new offering was more complex and a digital visualization would have facilitated the discussion with the client even more . A digital visualization would help to incorporate the customer feedback during the discussion . With this , the customer would instantly see the result of his feedback and enable a creative discussion .