Challenge

I was part of a volunteering team in an NGO. The team had as a project, to work and try to  improve any field or system in Lebanon. As agriculture is a very big sector in our country,  but still neglected, we thought about a way to improve this sector. Most farmers if not all  still live in poverty, mainly because of the low revenues and prices compared to prices in the  market. This is mostly due from the farmers’ ignorance and the long distribution chain to get  the products to the markets. We decided to tackle this issue and try to create a technology  to link farmers to direct buyers in order to increase their revenues.

Selection

We have decided as a team to use the learning launch tool. We believe it’s the best tool  when it comes to creating a mobile application. Since we discovered that most farmers do  not own a smartphone and are not “tech savvy”, this tool will help us improve our project,  working with a prototype and experiment it with farmers to get feedback.

Application

Our launch was focused on providing a simple mobile application with incredible features  like chat and sharing location. Then our next step was to observe the farmers’ interaction  with the platform. And it was following this step that we found out that most of the farmers  didn’t own a smartphone, despite that they liked the idea proposed. Even if this process had  “negative” outcome, it helped us understand more the market, and farmers’ lifestyle.

So what we decided to do was to hold this idea for a while, and meanwhile collecting old  smartphones donations. After gathering enough phones, our team had to make sure to  teach those farmers how to use the devices and especially the application.

Insight

By implementing the learning tool, my team and I had the opportunity to test our project. It  was through the learning process that we found out about the farmers’ lifestyle, which  enabled us to improve our project, which wasn’t going to succeed without this learning  launch. Moving forward through the process, we learned that our project should have been  more a human centered design instead of product centered one. Finally leading to satisfied  farmers.

Approach

I believe that the learning launch tool was the appropriate tool for our project. As it was  very effective for us, I think that it might not always be the case for any project or idea.  There are always other ways of approaching an idea in order to get the ideal solution. That’s  why these design thinking tools are very effective and can be used all together in a project.


Challenge I was part of a volunteering team in an NGO . The team had as a project , to work and try to improve any field or system in Lebanon . As agriculture is a very big sector in our country , but still neglected , we thought about a way to improve this sector . Most farmers if not all still live in poverty , mainly because of the low revenues and prices compared to prices in the market . This is mostly due from the farmers ’ ignorance and the long distribution chain to get the products to the markets . We decided to tackle this issue and try to create a technology to link farmers to direct buyers in order to increase their revenues . Selection We have decided as a team to use the learning launch tool . We believe it ’s the best tool when it comes to creating a mobile application . Since we discovered that most farmers do not own a smartphone and are not “ tech savvy ” , this tool will help us improve our project , working with a prototype and experiment it with farmers to get feedback . Application Our launch was focused on providing a simple mobile application with incredible features like chat and sharing location . Then our next step was to observe the farmers ’ interaction with the platform . And it was following this step that we found out that most of the farmers did n’t own a smartphone , despite that they liked the idea proposed . Even if this process had “ negative ” outcome , it helped us understand more the market , and farmers ’ lifestyle . So what we decided to do was to hold this idea for a while , and meanwhile collecting old smartphones donations . After gathering enough phones , our team had to make sure to teach those farmers how to use the devices and especially the application . Insight By implementing the learning tool , my team and I had the opportunity to test our project . It was through the learning process that we found out about the farmers ’ lifestyle , which enabled us to improve our project , which was n’t going to succeed without this learning launch . Moving forward through the process , we learned that our project should have been more a human centered design instead of product centered one . Finally leading to satisfied farmers . Approach I believe that the learning launch tool was the appropriate tool for our project . As it was very effective for us , I think that it might not always be the case for any project or idea . There are always other ways of approaching an idea in order to get the ideal solution . That ’s why these design thinking tools are very effective and can be used all together in a project .