Design Thinking for Innovation

Peer-graded Assignment Reflection: Learning Launch

Elena Chernov

Challenge & Selection

I have a customer in the consumer goods industry that needed to solve a communication gap with their  manufacturing workforce.  They explored an opportunity to leverage mobile app technology to send  work related content such as plant closures, overtime commitment reminders and plant events to their  3000+ non-technical employees.  They determined that they would build a Minimum Viable Product  (MVP) application for both Android and IOS mobile devices.  It was determined through ethnographic  research that the workforce had a mix of personal device types, devices varied in age and operating  system versions, and simple applications were preferred over applications with too many layers.   Additionally, the staff is non-technical and would need assistance with loading the app on their devices.   My team selected a Learning Launch which is a small experimental test to determine if the idea was  viable in the marketplace or an internal user base, in this challenge.  This tool was a good fit for an  experimental mobile app that was 70% complete with an unknown potential adoption rate.  What my  customer assumed to be true was that the workforce would be interested in receiving work related  content quickly and conveniently through their personal mobile devices.  As indicated by Walton in his  video, my customer had the need to confirm or disconfirm their assumptions which would save them  money and time spent on developing a full mobile app.  Similar to the trade show Learning Launch for  IBM, our team gathered information on additional key factors that would inform the application  content, preferred deployment process and understand any risk or challenges that had not been  discovered to date during the project.

Application

It was agreed upon to roll out the mobile application to one selected manufacturing plant for a (90) day  period.  The application would be deployed in the first two weeks of the learning launch using a mix of  trained contract employees and app team members. A communication plan started 30 days in advance  to notify the employees of the application pilot and invited them to try the test application.   The team  equipped with launch materials set up tables at multiple “high traffic” locations in the plant for visibility.  On day one of the pilot, all team members deployed the application while other team members  watched how the employees reacted, documented any challenges in the deployment process and  questions that were asked by the employees.  Observations were collected after each of the three shifts  for a brief discussion the next morning.  Pivots in deployment processes or explanations of how the  application would be used were done regularly throughout the first two weeks. For instance, the use of  company Wi-Fi was not in scope but the use of personal data became a concern to many pilot users.   After a review with leadership, company Wi-Fi access was opened up to the pilot users which drove  more adopters, but started the discussion on new governance usage policies, and the need to review  possible expansion of the Wi-Fi system to include new wireless access points to improve coverage.  A  technical concern that became a barrier to adoption was the employees concern over “Big Brother” on  their personal devices.  Several questions arose over the concern of tracking and use of location services

at the plant and home which were not part of the application but required explanation.  All of these  concerns would have to be addressed prior to a roll out to the entire manufacturing team nationwide.

The launch was so effective at collecting issues surrounding the use of personal devices, that a second  Learning Launch was added at the half-way point.  The team needed to limit the operating system  versions and size of the phones that they could deploy the application on in order to provide the best  customer experience when using the application during the pilot.  The new launch deployed strategically  placed company shared iPads that had the mobile application already loaded on the device. Employee  sign-ins and content utilization rates for both device types were collected to determine if one, both or  none would be in the final solution at the end of the Learning Launch events.

Insight

What was gained from both Learning Launch events greatly impacted the client considering the  application as a means to provide corporate driven communications to the plant employees.  All the  data collected through the mobile app usage, in-person engagement and deployment challenges the  team faced was aggregated and reviewed to see what worked. Key implementation and support factors  were uncovered during the launch deployment process that would relegate the Apple or Android  minimum device specifications. It was also determined that acceptable use polices for Wi-Fi and shared  devices would need to be drafted and approved through senior leadership and legal.   Adding more  coverage to the plants existing Wi-Fi infrastructure was a hidden cost that would require a new project  and a new budget to ensure high workforce adoption rate and alleviate the employees concern of  depleting their own data packages.   The Design Thinking Framework provided an understanding of ways  that could have been used to uncover some of the basic concerns over how the mobile application  would be used by the company from a user perspective, a design tool such as Journey Mapping during  the ‘What is’ stage could have driven out better interaction points to include the concern for data usage  and company Wi-Fi constraints in the plant.  Many assumptions by the company were confirmed, but  the newly uncovered challenges at this stage provided invaluable insight that could be reviewed to pivot  at a savings to a full deployment of a mobile application that would require re-work and a poor  customer experience with their employees.

Approach

If faced with a similar challenge, I would use a Learning Launch again with the Journey Mapping design  tool.  With Journey Mapping I would hope to gain insights on how they would use it during their day in  the plant and what is/could be of concern while using the application. As a non-technical person, would I  understand that it would not track my location if the services were not turned on in my settings?  I  believe there were several opportunities that could have aided in the preparation of the app team and  educated the pilot base prior to the Learning Launch event.  The Learning Launch is still the right choice  in this scenario.  The employee/app team touch points were both enlightening and provided additional  feedback for alternative tools that the employees were looking for in the future – new ideas/new  opportunity to ‘WoW’.


Design Thinking for Innovation Peer - graded Assignment Reflection : Learning Launch Elena Chernov Challenge & Selection I have a customer in the consumer goods industry that needed to solve a communication gap with their manufacturing workforce . They explored an opportunity to leverage mobile app technology to send work related content such as plant closures , overtime commitment reminders and plant events to their 3000 + non - technical employees . They determined that they would build a Minimum Viable Product ( MVP ) application for both Android and IOS mobile devices . It was determined through ethnographic research that the workforce had a mix of personal device types , devices varied in age and operating system versions , and simple applications were preferred over applications with too many layers . Additionally , the staff is non - technical and would need assistance with loading the app on their devices . My team selected a Learning Launch which is a small experimental test to determine if the idea was viable in the marketplace or an internal user base , in this challenge . This tool was a good fit for an experimental mobile app that was 70 % complete with an unknown potential adoption rate . What my customer assumed to be true was that the workforce would be interested in receiving work related content quickly and conveniently through their personal mobile devices . As indicated by Walton in his video , my customer had the need to confirm or disconfirm their assumptions which would save them money and time spent on developing a full mobile app . Similar to the trade show Learning Launch for IBM , our team gathered information on additional key factors that would inform the application content , preferred deployment process and understand any risk or challenges that had not been discovered to date during the project . Application It was agreed upon to roll out the mobile application to one selected manufacturing plant for a ( 90 ) day period . The application would be deployed in the first two weeks of the learning launch using a mix of trained contract employees and app team members . A communication plan started 30 days in advance to notify the employees of the application pilot and invited them to try the test application . The team equipped with launch materials set up tables at multiple “ high traffic ” locations in the plant for visibility . On day one of the pilot , all team members deployed the application while other team members watched how the employees reacted , documented any challenges in the deployment process and questions that were asked by the employees . Observations were collected after each of the three shifts for a brief discussion the next morning . Pivots in deployment processes or explanations of how the application would be used were done regularly throughout the first two weeks . For instance , the use of company Wi - Fi was not in scope but the use of personal data became a concern to many pilot users . After a review with leadership , company Wi - Fi access was opened up to the pilot users which drove more adopters , but started the discussion on new governance usage policies , and the need to review possible expansion of the Wi - Fi system to include new wireless access points to improve coverage . A technical concern that became a barrier to adoption was the employees concern over “ Big Brother ” on their personal devices . Several questions arose over the concern of tracking and use of location services at the plant and home which were not part of the application but required explanation . All of these concerns would have to be addressed prior to a roll out to the entire manufacturing team nationwide . The launch was so effective at collecting issues surrounding the use of personal devices , that a second Learning Launch was added at the half - way point . The team needed to limit the operating system versions and size of the phones that they could deploy the application on in order to provide the best customer experience when using the application during the pilot . The new launch deployed strategically placed company shared iPads that had the mobile application already loaded on the device . Employee sign - ins and content utilization rates for both device types were collected to determine if one , both or none would be in the final solution at the end of the Learning Launch events . Insight What was gained from both Learning Launch events greatly impacted the client considering the application as a means to provide corporate driven communications to the plant employees . All the data collected through the mobile app usage , in - person engagement and deployment challenges the team faced was aggregated and reviewed to see what worked . Key implementation and support factors were uncovered during the launch deployment process that would relegate the Apple or Android minimum device specifications . It was also determined that acceptable use polices for Wi - Fi and shared devices would need to be drafted and approved through senior leadership and legal . Adding more coverage to the plants existing Wi - Fi infrastructure was a hidden cost that would require a new project and a new budget to ensure high workforce adoption rate and alleviate the employees concern of depleting their own data packages . The Design Thinking Framework provided an understanding of ways that could have been used to uncover some of the basic concerns over how the mobile application would be used by the company from a user perspective , a design tool such as Journey Mapping during the ‘ What is ’ stage could have driven out better interaction points to include the concern for data usage and company Wi - Fi constraints in the plant . Many assumptions by the company were confirmed , but the newly uncovered challenges at this stage provided invaluable insight that could be reviewed to pivot at a savings to a full deployment of a mobile application that would require re - work and a poor customer experience with their employees . Approach If faced with a similar challenge , I would use a Learning Launch again with the Journey Mapping design tool . With Journey Mapping I would hope to gain insights on how they would use it during their day in the plant and what is / could be of concern while using the application . As a non - technical person , would I understand that it would not track my location if the services were not turned on in my settings ? I believe there were several opportunities that could have aided in the preparation of the app team and educated the pilot base prior to the Learning Launch event . The Learning Launch is still the right choice in this scenario . The employee / app team touch points were both enlightening and provided additional feedback for alternative tools that the employees were looking for in the future – new ideas / new opportunity to ‘ WoW ’ .