Reflection - Learning Launch

Challenge

I am a part of the IT team (2 people) in a newly created financial technology startup and the  given mandate from our shareholder is to provide an alternative financial product to large  segment of society whom other financial players do not serve. The team that is in charge of the  product, consists of Operation, Marketing, Finance and HR. Our main mission is to provide  financial product to those who “need” it, not only to those who “want” it. Apart from that, our  shareholder is also expecting a profitable business model from it, while at the same time we  have limited marketing budget and initial capital/fund to build the financial product itself.

Selection

Our team has already gone through several design thinking activities/tools, so we are ready to  try the learning launch tool. This learning launch exercise is small real life test where we can  justify our hypothesis of the new product to a small and segmented group of users with  expectation to cultivate the feedback fast thus we can learn faster from it.

Application

For our first learning launch, we focused on the financial product itself as well as the customers  segment. This tested our assumption that middle and low class of society whom Banks cannot  afford to serve, they need an alternative  lending products which they can access easily and  fast. Our team went to several public markets at the city to directly meet with potential  customers, offer them the product and ask what their most painful experience, especially when  it comes to access to lending products, as well as for some of them, we asked how they fulfill  their needs on the lending itself. From those customer meetings, we learned that most of the  society in middle and low class, are not served by the Banks (most of the Banks either reject  them or take a massive amount of time to assess their credit worthiness). Furthermore, we also  learned, they want to have faster and easier assessment process during the loan application  itself and interestingly, they do not care that much on interest rate, as long as they can afford  paying the installment. The main reason is currently they available loan provider for this  segment is Loan Sharks that charges a huge interest rate.    For our second learning launch, we focused on the channel distribution of the product. Our main  hypothesis, in this digital era, customers expect they can have access to their loan, not only  applying but also monitoring the process until the payment, from online presence, either mobile  app or website. We created a MVP (minimum viable product) for our website and mobile app,  then launch it to market. We provided them some campaigns in Social Media and Search  Engine with a limited online marketing budget. From this second launch, we learned that market

acceptance of digital channel for distributing the lending product has a huge potential, especially  in mobile app. This supported by smartphone penetration and proved by number of downloads  we got within a short period of time with a limited budget.

Insight

By applying the learning launch tool, our team could easily identify our hypothesis and designed  launches to test these hypotheses. Additionally, we thought through anticipated results,  expecting to find that an alternative lending product which is provided to middle and low class of  customers whom other Financial Institutions do not serve, is the product specification we will  focus on for our new business. Furthermore, digital channels provide an easy access to this  market segment. Our actual result was already inline from what we anticipated, however since  we have a limited budget, to have very effective launch, our focus will be on mobile app for our  channel, since it brought better number of customers. Moving forward, our team will move to  launch the product within limited cities and number of customers to serve. This limitation is set in  order to get more insights on the credit assessment model which needs to be fast, yet still cover  the risk of unpaid customers.

Approach

Given that our team has already gone through several design thinking activities/tools and are at  this stage, the learning launch is the appropriate tool. As previously mentioned, our team needs  to review the credit assessment process to have faster, yet safe to minimize risk of unpaid  customer during the upcoming launch. Future next launch, we are expecting to be closer to full  launch condition of the product itself.


Reflection - Learning Launch Challenge I am a part of the IT team ( 2 people ) in a newly created financial technology startup and the given mandate from our shareholder is to provide an alternative financial product to large segment of society whom other financial players do not serve . The team that is in charge of the product , consists of Operation , Marketing , Finance and HR . Our main mission is to provide financial product to those who “ need ” it , not only to those who “ want ” it . Apart from that , our shareholder is also expecting a profitable business model from it , while at the same time we have limited marketing budget and initial capital / fund to build the financial product itself . Selection Our team has already gone through several design thinking activities / tools , so we are ready to try the learning launch tool . This learning launch exercise is small real life test where we can justify our hypothesis of the new product to a small and segmented group of users with expectation to cultivate the feedback fast thus we can learn faster from it . Application For our first learning launch , we focused on the financial product itself as well as the customers segment . This tested our assumption that middle and low class of society whom Banks can not afford to serve , they need an alternative lending products which they can access easily and fast . Our team went to several public markets at the city to directly meet with potential customers , offer them the product and ask what their most painful experience , especially when it comes to access to lending products , as well as for some of them , we asked how they fulfill their needs on the lending itself . From those customer meetings , we learned that most of the society in middle and low class , are not served by the Banks ( most of the Banks either reject them or take a massive amount of time to assess their credit worthiness ) . Furthermore , we also learned , they want to have faster and easier assessment process during the loan application itself and interestingly , they do not care that much on interest rate , as long as they can afford paying the installment . The main reason is currently they available loan provider for this segment is Loan Sharks that charges a huge interest rate . For our second learning launch , we focused on the channel distribution of the product . Our main hypothesis , in this digital era , customers expect they can have access to their loan , not only applying but also monitoring the process until the payment , from online presence , either mobile app or website . We created a MVP ( minimum viable product ) for our website and mobile app , then launch it to market . We provided them some campaigns in Social Media and Search Engine with a limited online marketing budget . From this second launch , we learned that market acceptance of digital channel for distributing the lending product has a huge potential , especially in mobile app . This supported by smartphone penetration and proved by number of downloads we got within a short period of time with a limited budget . Insight By applying the learning launch tool , our team could easily identify our hypothesis and designed launches to test these hypotheses . Additionally , we thought through anticipated results , expecting to find that an alternative lending product which is provided to middle and low class of customers whom other Financial Institutions do not serve , is the product specification we will focus on for our new business . Furthermore , digital channels provide an easy access to this market segment . Our actual result was already inline from what we anticipated , however since we have a limited budget , to have very effective launch , our focus will be on mobile app for our channel , since it brought better number of customers . Moving forward , our team will move to launch the product within limited cities and number of customers to serve . This limitation is set in order to get more insights on the credit assessment model which needs to be fast , yet still cover the risk of unpaid customers . Approach Given that our team has already gone through several design thinking activities / tools and are at this stage , the learning launch is the appropriate tool . As previously mentioned , our team needs to review the credit assessment process to have faster , yet safe to minimize risk of unpaid customer during the upcoming launch . Future next launch , we are expecting to be closer to full launch condition of the product itself .