Design Thinking Reflection – Mind Mapping      Challenge  When working and living in Mexico, you become aware that a large part of the population has  misinformed eating and living habits and beliefs that lead to health issues. Working in the B2B food  industry, there are many benefits that can be incorporated in food products, like for example a  higher amount of fibers, less sugar, less fat, no gluten and less salt. The challenge is however if  consumers are able to connect those benefits to their specific diet or health issue and in which  products do they look for those benefits. Developing a solution is a time and resource consuming  process. Heading the Marketing and Innovation area, it was relevant for me to understand where to  focus on our efforts, and thus to decide where we saw the biggest potential for in the future.     Selection  The tool that I decided to apply was the mind mapping tool explained in module 3 of the course, in  order to identify our insights from this research and agree on product design criteria. The tool  seemed most appropriate for insight generation, making sure we took our different viewpoints,  experiences and information from the research into consideration and coming up with insights,  followed by criteria we would need to validate and consider in a later product development phase.     Application  We started tackling this issue with an ethnographic study, accompanying 10 persons with different  health issues and diets. We had a set of two persons per ‘disease’, like diabetes, heart health issues,  overweight, gluten intolerance and two persons without any health issues but striving for a healthy  lifestyle. We also interviewed a supermarket floor manager, a domestic employee, a nutritionist and  a sports instructor, persons who observe, prepare or advise others on their diets and lifestyles. When  applying the mind mapping tool, I gathered about 9 people, those in my marketing team, innovation  colleagues and the portfolio management team, most closely involved in this research project. We  had the research agency and the market research team explain to us how the research was  conducted, share photographs of the consumers, and an exercise they did with them; consumers had  to empty their kitchen cupboards and putting what they perceived to be healthy items on one side of  the table and unhealthy items on the other side of the table. They were also accompanied doing  their daily food shopping routine and questioned about their decision-making process. We also  looked at market data, the amount of population affected by certain diseases, products already  available in the market, etc. We gathered our observations and insights in that group.     Key Insights  We realized that consumers follow a specific, more controlled diet, when the problem becomes  unbearable, e.g. when they are about to lose a toe or are suffering from pain, but afterwards they  tend to return to their unhealthy habits. Consumers with allergies like gluten intolerance are often  self-diagnosed and not well informed on what they should and shouldn’t eat, leading us to believe  that a large portion is not truly gluten intolerant but belief it to be the case. Consumers are often  badly informed on what type of food should be consumed to support a healthy lifestyle but are  interested in healthier solutions in certain food categories. By using the tool we were all aligned on  the available information, but also on how to interpret the information, the insights it gave us and  how it connected to our own product development process. It helped us stay focused for several  hours on the situation in understanding the consumer’s viewpoint and challenge, putting the  consumer and by that also our customers at the center of the discussion, rather than jumping to  conclusions.

Approach:

Being concerned that colleagues not close to the research or with a Marketing mindset might disturb  the process, I invited like-minded colleagues to that process from more or less one and the same part  of the organization, being supportive of the project to the meeting. In hindsight and taking the  learnings from this course into consideration, it was a great opportunity to gain buy-in from other  stakeholders in the organization, involving them in the process. We also did discuss with the whole  group, rather than in sub-groups. To foster a broader generation of design criteria in the end, a split- up in subgroups what have taken more time, but been supportive for a richer result.


Design Thinking Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge When working and living in Mexico , you become aware that a large part of the population has misinformed eating and living habits and beliefs that lead to health issues . Working in the B2B food industry , there are many benefits that can be incorporated in food products , like for example a higher amount of fibers , less sugar , less fat , no gluten and less salt . The challenge is however if consumers are able to connect those benefits to their specific diet or health issue and in which products do they look for those benefits . Developing a solution is a time and resource consuming process . Heading the Marketing and Innovation area , it was relevant for me to understand where to focus on our efforts , and thus to decide where we saw the biggest potential for in the future . Selection The tool that I decided to apply was the mind mapping tool explained in module 3 of the course , in order to identify our insights from this research and agree on product design criteria . The tool seemed most appropriate for insight generation , making sure we took our different viewpoints , experiences and information from the research into consideration and coming up with insights , followed by criteria we would need to validate and consider in a later product development phase . Application We started tackling this issue with an ethnographic study , accompanying 10 persons with different health issues and diets . We had a set of two persons per ‘ disease ’ , like diabetes , heart health issues , overweight , gluten intolerance and two persons without any health issues but striving for a healthy lifestyle . We also interviewed a supermarket floor manager , a domestic employee , a nutritionist and a sports instructor , persons who observe , prepare or advise others on their diets and lifestyles . When applying the mind mapping tool , I gathered about 9 people , those in my marketing team , innovation colleagues and the portfolio management team , most closely involved in this research project . We had the research agency and the market research team explain to us how the research was conducted , share photographs of the consumers , and an exercise they did with them ; consumers had to empty their kitchen cupboards and putting what they perceived to be healthy items on one side of the table and unhealthy items on the other side of the table . They were also accompanied doing their daily food shopping routine and questioned about their decision - making process . We also looked at market data , the amount of population affected by certain diseases , products already available in the market , etc . We gathered our observations and insights in that group . Key Insights We realized that consumers follow a specific , more controlled diet , when the problem becomes unbearable , e.g. when they are about to lose a toe or are suffering from pain , but afterwards they tend to return to their unhealthy habits . Consumers with allergies like gluten intolerance are often self - diagnosed and not well informed on what they should and should n’t eat , leading us to believe that a large portion is not truly gluten intolerant but belief it to be the case . Consumers are often badly informed on what type of food should be consumed to support a healthy lifestyle but are interested in healthier solutions in certain food categories . By using the tool we were all aligned on the available information , but also on how to interpret the information , the insights it gave us and how it connected to our own product development process . It helped us stay focused for several hours on the situation in understanding the consumer ’s viewpoint and challenge , putting the consumer and by that also our customers at the center of the discussion , rather than jumping to conclusions . Approach : Being concerned that colleagues not close to the research or with a Marketing mindset might disturb the process , I invited like - minded colleagues to that process from more or less one and the same part of the organization , being supportive of the project to the meeting . In hindsight and taking the learnings from this course into consideration , it was a great opportunity to gain buy - in from other stakeholders in the organization , involving them in the process . We also did discuss with the whole group , rather than in sub - groups . To foster a broader generation of design criteria in the end , a split- up in subgroups what have taken more time , but been supportive for a richer result .