Reflective Essay

This past year has been very significant in both my academic and personal life, New Venture Design (NVD) unlike any other university module, presented itself as a catalyst for something I never expected, the developing of a new type of thinking in me. I have grown more in the period of this module than ever before in my life, this essay will highlight the relationship of this new me and the module known as BS6702.

I found myself in a lecture unlike any other, facing challenges unlike what I expected I would find in a business based course. Corrine is someone I came to identify myself with very strongly as it felt to me that her way of seeing the world is very similar to how I have been viewing it. Her method of passing unto the students the academic material is very unorthodox and in my own way I tend to not follow the norm of things in life, this came to light in the first semester with the emphasis of the recurring theme of innovation.

The first few lectures presented the module to be what I had been wanting. The module flowed so fluidly through Corrine where creativity and thinking outside the box was the essence. The varied topics of discussion as well as the non-rigid format it was discussed in created an atmosphere where I felt more comfortable to be myself than with any other lecturer and set of students.

Unexpectedly, the first lesson I learned was discipline. In my interpretation I viewed the module almost as a life teaching in itself, teaching one how to learn as well as the skills and knowledge involved in Venturing into my own business if it is to be the case one day. Blogging has always been something I’ve wanted to do in a regular fashion, but something I’ve failed to even start. After writing the first blog I set to dedicate my Wednesdays to NVD blogs, and kept this promise true, often spending hours on a single piece of writing, looking up and reading about peripheral topics of interest like quantum teleportation as an example of a paradigm shift or incredibly inventive products like BMW’s R1200GS.

Focusing on Innovation, the first few lectures shaped the way I would see the module for the rest of the year. Products, workarounds and paradigm shifting innovation created a student friendly path to reach the first goal within the module of creation of a product or service that would be presented to the dragons. By nature being a curious person the method of teaching affected me positively where I was able to explore with my colleagues and lecturer a wide span of topics while feeling confortable to be able to speak and speculate about the development of invisibility when the original topic is paradigm. This encouragement passed on to promote me speaking more often in other lectures.

The first blog covered an innovative product, mine being the newest model of a trail motorcycle. I viewed it in a way I wouldn’t have if not given the task. The intricacy of engineering and technology put together to create a machine that pushed innovation, efficiency and physics to their limits. The four P’s of innovation became known to me, Product, Process, Position and Paradigm.

The varied topics of discussion in lectures allowed me to explore many topics in my blogs and so I formed an opinion in a very hot topic in the global social level. Workaround was a term I came to me to learn in this lecture, and in the struggle to find one in my personal life I look into a large scale of things with the theme of use of non-renewable resources. The task opened my thinking to the process of things, attempting to shed light in all variables of a process in order to gain some control over it or improve it in some form. From the simplicity of changing simple actions to using products to make life more efficiently I was able to understand how this can help an business entrepreneur as he/she would gain a fuller knowledge of the product/service itself as well as all the details of its relationship to people. The User, designer and community became a critical factor into thinking about my own development of a product or service. Particularly what and how they connected to each other was a think I came to think about, in many cases with rules, objects and skills implied or necessary to make the process full, like money is an object often present in the process of a purchase as well as a skill being present when someone sells a service like plumbing.

The following task given was to critically analyze a flawed system, identify the people, objects, skills and rules involved and present a creative and innovative solution. The service provided by the in-campus Subway is incredibly inefficient and inconsistent, so I am able to explore the potential possibilities behind making it able to cope with the high demand.

But viewing a full picture of what it takes to become a business entrepreneur meant looking outwards. The attitude towards the business and dedication to a dream were evidently factors that were coherently viewed in the success behind a product, service or overall business. Further viewing of Dragons Den and Branding came into play.

Branding is a topic that abundantly was talked about in a marketing course so I came in with considerable amounts of knowledge, unlike many models like the already discussed triangle map or paradigm shifting innovations of the past. The importance of branding was highlighted again to me as a critical factor to a successful product, and when challenged to find a successful product with weak branding I seem to fail to find one. The key factor is distinction and uniqueness, although, other factors play a role in branding that vary from competitors, to social trends, to the product itself as well as even the way the people involved in the business interact with the public.

I had the chance to create a product and a service, one in each semester I finally was able to implement all learnt on the creation of a portable smart device charger.  It felt like I had incorporated the knowledge to create a product that could work in our market very fast. Including concepts designed to find problems in a product or service following an ample array of questions to ask yourself about the product. As well as learning to deal with the people involved, as well as learning to find the problem and learning in an effective manner how to go around the problem and incorporating a solution. Additionally, information acquisition, questionnaire designs, what to ask and what not to ask in an interview. Knowing to be aware of all factors because the structuring questions in certain ways will influence the answer.

The persona became central to the second semester, the core aspect of creating a product unlike of the first half of the module. The module now required more of me than before by the creation of the persona and actual extensive research with the designated group. A depth understanding of what ‘persona’ really meant was achieved out of the lecture hall. Alan Watts paints a clear picture of persona in the context of history, where it translates to ‘mask’ used in Greek plays in the Roman Empire era. In our context it became clear that I was to create a set of personalities that would accurately distinguish who it is that the product is for. When creating one myself I realized how the level of detail would influence my product as well as the problems within this group of people. A thorough persona leaves smaller room for error and improves chances to get things right, but makes research very difficult and excludes many people from the potential market, so a balance is essential. The highlight of types of needs (cognitive, emotional and physical) complement very well the material of semester one.

The last significant lesson I learned from NVD was to ‘keep asking why’. This was intended to draw to the surface the needs of the persona but I found it useful on other aspects such as critically viewing the product/service being created. My group and I were able to exercise this in our primary research, being mostly group interviews with university students this philosophy gave us extensive reports on the progress of the service, this is something I will take to all projects I take part in the future.

The method of teaching was very advantageous in interacting with the students but I found to be inefficient in transferring means. I did enjoy the countless discussions and stories shared in class and I think more modules should follow this format, however a more mechanical, textbook style can be more effective in passing consistent means. Having said that, another solution could lie in the amount of content, towards the end of the module, lectures were concluding faster. Despite so, I feel like the overall experience enhanced my university experience, but more importantly allowed me to become the person I am today. The personality of the lecture was made in a way I heavily identify with, where exploration of non-definite models was possible when creativity is cultivated while maintaining a guideline of disciplines that permit the business venture to flourish in a challenging, engaging and enjoyable way. 

‘Keep asking why’

Understanding the persona is one thing, being able to use it effectively is another. The one worded question ‘why?’ is actually the answer in this case. The persona has an obscure role in my opinion, it doesn’t seem essential to the creation and development of a business or generation of a product or service. 

Despite so it can help and its function is related to understanding the audience, the real audience, the people who will actually buy and consume the product or service being created. The lecture following the persona opened my eyes further to how everything being taught works in symbiosis with each other, each tool, taught, each method and model to measure or quantify and facilitate has its place in the process of coming up with an entrepreneur idea, or business plan in our case. 

This week I have been taught the value of asking why. The idea behind it is that of probing information that will complement the research for the development of a product or service. The aim is to keep asking the people who correspond the persona until there is no shadow on the level of understanding of them. The closer the product/service creator is to the user and customer the higher the likelihood of him/her succeeding. And if in doubt ask why!

I came to think from the lecture to now that this doesn’t only apply to this sense of business or product generating but it does serve one in a very generalised way, potentially helping anyone in their life as a whole. Of course it has its limit, the last thing anyone wants is someone literally and constantly asking why. Although if the others are patient enough I don’t see much of a problem there either, I just contradicted myself…. 

Like anything, the concept can be abused. But in the sense I have learned I intend to use it for productiveness and personally to expand as a person. I do think this is a bigger lesson than it is apparent over the surface. I do hope my colleagues get something from this. The thing is that it feels like it could have been a easily missed out thing from the lecture as it was just a line that stood out to me. ….Just a line that stood out to me….

The Persona

Complementing all that was learnt on semester one, right at the start it was apparent what would become the center of the second half of the module. The persona! although a bit vague in meaning at first soon it became clear to me what its purpose was to the context of business venturing. 

But what do we know of persona. In the lecture we understood that it is making up a person in order to know who we as a business are targeting. I was unclear, despite having used this tactic before in previous projects. The difficulty was, understanding what the use was to us students other than creating more work, there ought to be something after the emphasis it was unveiled in. 

Coincidentally I came across in my leisure time a description of the word persona through its original context, the original meaning and how it came to shape our society through the somewhat distorted change in meaning it underwent over time. So this is what Alan Watts has to say about it: Persona comes from the Greek, it is referred to the character theatre actors would play while wearing a mask with a cone opening to the mouth in order to amplify the sound. Essentially something based in a act and unreal. He connects it to how it is viewed today where as a ‘person’ it means putting on an act. When this is clear, the entire meaning of this exercise becomes clear and the original meaning represent through clues what its function in the New Venture Design setting is. 

Creating a hypothetical person who fits a set of standards that is required to generalise and group up many individuals into a definitive category. This in practical terms proved to be effective, allowing a measurable society, it defines who is and who isn’t of interest to our project. A thorough persona meant more definitive results but also proved more difficult to do research on as the number of people falling inside the persona’s criteria is lower generating a higher consumption of time when conducting research as well as being costly in the real world of research.

Let’s see how it unfolds further as the primary research is conducted for our group project.

Dragons Den 2.0

This time the work is multiplied. I must now deal with both group members and dragons. I’ve always been someone to better work alone, I like it more that way, provided I am motivated enough to even work at all. I like things done right, nothing with half effort. This characteristic in itself makes it difficult to work alone. I feel the need to be ready to do things, and these generally take time. 

I am looking forward to working with my friends though and exploring the possibilities of product or service ideas through their eyes  and possibly merging it with my own ideas. Despite being someone rigid in how thing should be I am quite open to ideas, and don’t necessarily feel that things need to go my way. Life is a ride and cooperation is part of it, a big part of it….

I do feel anxious though in the sense that I have never worked with two of my group mates, and even though I am conformable with them I don’t know them as well as I’d hope. I don’t know their philosophy to work and how serious they take it, some people tend to have a problem with that. Also, working with authoritarian people is challenging. I doubt any of them are authoritarian… Similarly narrow-mindedness can be equally damaging to the group.

I guess this in itself is somewhat motivating to work, the infinite social variable are interesting to work with. I expect a cool idea for a product or a service where each one of us can apply something from them into the project, so it can become a Frankenstein of an idea including characteristics of each member. The grade is important too, I want to have it validated by the assessors of the module. I guess I feel insecure on the ability of my fellow colleagues. But ultimately as well as not let down, I don’t want to let anyone else down either.

Semester 2

New Venture Design has been a peculiar module, in a good way. It has been the most different and one of the most enjoyable modules I’ve taken part in since the beginning of my university life. I feel very lucky to have had it this way, it is a fulfilling module and I guess I do have a lot to thank to Corrine since she is the brains behind all articulations of the programme. In this blog post I will be reflecting on the first semester of the module and looking at some expectations for the second one.

I loved the way that lectures develop in this module. Unlike any other, the class is more encouraged and more rewarded to speak out their opinion, ideas, suggestions and stories. Many moments were shared where it seemed to me that we were all gathering as friends telling each other stories. I happen to be a sucker for storytelling, I love the formality of aesthetic, I love detail, I love beautiful formation of words, I love to hear someone gifted to speak trying to describe something indescribable. New Venture Design sheltered this type of social exchange. The creative liberty allowed by Corrine made Thursdays often the highlight of my week in knowledge acquisition.

In a way it all was very good, but there is a loss, there is an exchange in potentialities. Corrine, if you are reading this, don’t feel like this is a criticism, it is just how I feel, it may not even be true, in fact I rather it remain like this than not, and more I feel New Venture Design should be an example to break successfully from the rigid pattern of theory teaching. The exchange I feel occurs is that it lacks theoretical depth often (which often is the case that it is a dream for the student). I felt at some points that it was difficult to keep objectivity in what was actually being attempted to be achieved. Sometimes I could not figure out what the next step should have been. 

Nevertheless it was the module I enjoyed the most so far. It is a good hit with all the practical work and input the students complement to the lecture. 

I would like to see it more, but at the same time I would like to be indecisive less often or not at all, regardless of it all I like a challenge, so bring it on! 

Dragons Den Presentation!

The Time to present had come… this was something that was haunting me for a while, I’ve come to grow as a person to the point where I don’t feel shy or even uncomfortable to present an idea in front of people (something completely against my nature of being quiet and reserved). What kept troubling me was the fact that it was something that could be potentially irreversibly damaged if not done right. I don’t like this feeling at all in any respect, even if it is in my personal life in a relatively minor choice, as long as it is a long lasting effect it will trouble me. I guess I don’t feel confident enough to say that I have the ability to sweep the Dragons off their feet with the gift of the gabs. I simply don’t seem to have (at least just yet).

 

Despite so, amongst the anxiety there was also hope and high expectation as I do tend to enjoy being in these situations. I am not sure if it is the novelty, the knowledge that after it is done, well… it is done. Whether it is a genuine love for speaking and being given the power to potentially amaze people with words. I like to believe it is this. Not to necessarily eliminate the other options.

 

I do find myself more and more seeking to have this ability to be able to speak extensively on creatively ample topics I have an interest in. I did prepare to talk about my product, the electromagnetic charger, for a long period of time. I would refrain to do so as my time presenting was limited, so I structured the time to, half of it being me presenting the basic idea and have another set of knowledge to answer the Dragon’s question about the product, the market I was attempting to enter, the competition, the social aspect, the technology itself, the economic factors and so on. I did it all knowingly that it would not be possible to be completely spoken about in only 7 minutes.

 

The presentation itself went well! Somewhat close to my expectation, excluding one little hiccup that became a barrier to perfection. While attempting to describe extensively the target audience, I stumbled on the adjectives where I could not remember the adjective I had carefully selected to describe the user. After a 5 second pause I apologised and moved one. Somewhat disappointing experience but essential for learning, especially for me. I did enjoy the experience, plus wearing a suit isn’t too bad either. The experience seem to be consensual that it was okay. Something I learned from experience of speaking to a public of some sort is that it tends to be better when the real thing is happening rather than a practice run, interestingly enough…

 

I leave the Dragons’ Den with a feeling of accomplishment, as if in a way I did actually slay the dragons, but I did sustain some battle scars that will help me in the future when facing other behemoth type creatures.

 

Branding

What is the importance of branding? A brand image can be shaped and manipulated by a business owner, marketer, advertiser and so on. It is incredibly important to the owner(s) to be aware and somewhat in control of the brand image. An image can be created through a variety of ways, including advertising, business ethics, how it interacts with its costumer, objects and images like logo and images associated with the business, setting/decoration of a physical location, layout and etc, very importantly it is however how the customer perceives the company, product, service or a combination.

Almost every action you take has an effect on the way the audience can perceive the organisation. Successful business and organisations spend a lot of time and resources thinking and acting upon the factors that affect brand image. Branding is incredibly important, as an owner you may have a clear idea of what the product is capable of, what the service involves, who they want to target, how the interaction is and etc but customers at first don’t. Branding can answer these questions to the customer and consumers who may have never have heard of the company. This can be used to prevent a bad experience from a customer that had expectations different from reality or attract customers with very specific needs and wants from a service or product.

There are three elements to branding: Brand, identity and DNA. Brand represents everything that creates an experience for the customer. Identity is consisted of the visual aspects of the brand like logo, colours, layout and advert designs. Lastly DNA is the unique message the company wants to portray in all its use of media.

Last lecture we looked at the how Virgin America branded themselves and why they brand themselves in that way. Looking at the three elements mentioned above we studied their safety video advertisement. As a class we concluded Virgin to have a glamorous, serious tone aiming to please the customer, and create a happy experience. Their identity is somewhat complex, on this specific advert they use neutral colours but maintain simplicity and clarity, red is their colour, it is used in their logo and in very specific details in the advert like part of the attendant’s uniform and lipstick creating an iconic image. The message they portray is that the customer is their priority and that even though they don’t take themselves as serious the customers are very important to them, different than other airlines.

How the design and style of company text and logo affect perception is also fascinating. Font, typeface and graphics can portray something individually to each viewer. Straighter and neater fonts may present a company as reliable or serious, while rounder font may give an air of not so serious yet caring, bold text may represent strength and italic may represent and portray a forward looking image. Similar characteristics may be represented through the design of logos and other graphics. Styles of design also may trigger different reactions and perceptions, these can be manipulated by the creators and made to generate specific perceptions by the audience, it is all in the creation process.

Viewing and analysing branding points out its importance in any organisation. Millions are spent by organisations in order to create the messages and images desired. Knowing what to do when branding and how it can be done can be very beneficial to a business.

Dragons Den and Successful ideas

A lot of factors are involved in understanding what creates a successful product, and merging this idea with Dragons Den’s pitches, or any sort of pitch of an idea. So I decided to look into that in more detail and find what are the missing links to some people in succeeding with a new innovative idea.

It is a shame that it has to take more than a good product to be able to sell. It could be a product that would revolutionise society but in the condition our capitalistic society runs it would encounter too many barriers before reaching a considerable amount of people’s hands. That would probably be the case, because our society is dependent on the flow of money for survival and with the current over population of the world, there are too many products in the market. Good or bad, without something for it to stand out and ‘prove itself worthy’, a revolutionary product would look like any other in the shelf of a store.

Then there is money. The cost of production needs to be lower than the price people are willing to pay for it. May sound obvious but products like solar power panels today are revolutionary but still is more expensive than coal or oil to generate electricity. Perhaps with the development in technology and the raising price of fossil fuel power there will be an intersect between the dropping cost of solar and increased price of oil, then, it will be economical to switch to solar energy.

As an inventor/creator/entrepreneur you must ask yourself some questions while making your product with the intention of selling it and making a profit. These are:

1. What do people currently do to address this problem?
2. Is there already an established market solving this need?
3. Are you able to manufacture this service/product at a price below what people are willing to spend?
4. Is there a market large enough to produce a profit that will sustain your business?
5. Is this something you enjoy doing? Do you care about the needs of your customers in a real way?

So marketing and finances are the main aspects to focus on assuming you are tackling a need with high demand with a revolutionary product. I will not go into details of marketing strategies or efficient production due to its relativity to the market and product itself. What I will say is that focusing on your customer will be far more beneficial than going only by your own instinct? I do believe that is a far more effective way to seek success and though it may sound obvious to some, others are struggling to get a product in an over saturated market place and to compete with multimillion pound organisations that have been doing business for dozens of years sometimes. I propose, look at what the people you want to sell to are doing, look at what they already buy and why they buy it, create something that will touch them in an emotional level and at the same time make it affordable (again affordable is relative but when aiming to sell in quantities of thousands or more, affordability is incredibly important).

What other needs does the target audience has? How is the distribution made? What other stakeholders are critically involved in the success of an idea? Are there investors to please? Balance is key. A recommendation I would make is looking at the idea/business from a 3^rd person perspective, ‘is the creator attempting to make a process easier/more efficient? Or is he just using his creation as a form to express him/herself?’ take a step back and critically analyse what has been done.

To conclude, focusing on your customer may be a large step to take, but may be the definitive factor to success. It doesn’t only take a good idea to succeed. In Dragons Den we can see that a good pitch consists of several elements, including body language, a appealing idea and very importantly pleasing the investors, if they don’t like the idea/entrepreneur they won’t invest.

“How to innovate something we are all familiar with”

To introduce, last lecture was very practical, something very unusual and very enjoyable, it got me thinking. Products play a huge role of our everyday lives, feeding us, clothing us, entertaining us, informing us, transporting us, sheltering us, bringing us closer together and even amazing us. If there is a need it is likely someone made something to address it, and that stimulated us all to think innovatively about every day products.

Last session in class we explored the possible improvement of different products, looking at a mobile phone, a shoe and a heart defibrillator. Looking at their functions we see a pattern of number of use, from highest to lowest: Phone, shoe and defibrillator. Each one theoretically more difficult to innovate than the other, the easiest being the defibrillator for having one a single function. The fact that a phone has so many functions create huge obstacle to make the product user friendly without compromising parallel functions.

It was also looked at, how to make the product successful in the first place. Is innovation needed for these products? From the discussions in class the answer is yes, though it could be argued. However, if the product does fulfill a need previously unaddressed, then the answer is absolutely YES! How can you meet a need without an innovative solution? I can’t see it being done, even when it uses ordinary products.

According to one theory presented in lesson, for a successful product a balance of three aspects is needed. Function, Price and want. Does this product successfully do what it is supposed to? Is it affordable to the general public? And do people need and want this product? If the answer is ‘yes’ to the three questions when looking at any product, then you are likely to be examining an innovative product.

An aspect we didn’t look too much into detail is aesthetics and ergonomics, factors I constantly think about on my daily life about everything. Having some background on Product design I like to see, hear, smell, feel and try products, measuring how ergonomic/aesthetic it is to me. I tend to be very diverse on which to focus on depending on the product. I would definitely choose a shoe based on its appearance alone, where as a chair I’d put comfort first.

Exploring products we came to the method of discovering a need. One can simply ask someone else for what they need, but that might not be a great way to find out, as momentary feelings, wants and needs may interfere. Catching someone on time of need is an alternative way to understand a need, putting the designer on the shoes of the user, creating the feeling of need, frustration, want and so on in order to illustrate the gap the product needs to fill more accurately. So the example of the emergency room showed this really well, simulating the need of urgency and physical discomfort, ingenious.

And from this the discussion about creating a persona arose. I particularly liked this way to demonstrate a need, as it creates an emotional link from the intellectual knowledge of the need to the creator, much like the designer putting the user’s shoes. Emotions are far more effective communicators than words.

Followed the great lecture about creativity, the themes are all very interesting to me, and last week’s didn’t disappoint. Products make our everyday life, it is ultimate human instinct to create things.