Design Thinking for Innovation – Final Reflection Paper 

 Challenge & Selection 

 My background and experience for the last 15 + years has been in market research . The structured kind 

 of market research where the work is linear and analytical . We may do qualitative research , but   that ’s primarily to inform our quantitative survey . And , to our customers , whatever the   quantitative survey reveals is truth . After all , the client is always crystal clear on the problem they   are trying to solve and they just need to run a survey to validate their position to management . 

 This course has inspired me to think about market research differently . To challenge my colleagues and 

 clients about the “ problem ” at hand . To ask – what is and what if . It really is about putting the   customer of the center of everything we do – rather than putting ourselves and the center and   expecting the customer to love what we produce . Historically , leaders in my organization are   convinced they know what the customer wants and data is merely a validation tool . Part of my   ambition with this course is to start to change that thinking and to encourage a customer - first   approach and culture . 

 To accomplish this , I have selected Mind Mapping as my tool . In my past career , my team was the 

 producer of the lengthy , market research reports that nobody read . The reports where the client   would either cherry pick the data points that validated their beliefs or ignored if the data did n’t   support their plans . Mind maps are a creative , visual way to present an abundance of data . By   applying the mind mapping tool , I hope to identify patterns and insights in ways that are   compelling , and impossible for my colleagues to ignore . 

 Application & Insight 

 We have a new product under development . There has been lots of traditional market research 

 conducted over the past couple of years to support the development and launch of the new   product . To ensure we ’re on the right path and developing features that serve the unmet needs of   our customers , I am planning to develop a mind map with the exist data and market research   reports . The information has been siloed and we have not effectively engaged stakeholders across   the organization to synthesize and generate insights from all of the reports .   This approach will   bring colleagues together and encourage new , creative perspectives to generate fresh thinking ,   patterns and insights . Given COVID and our work from home situation , we will attempt to do this   using remote videoconferencing tools . 

 I have only planned the exercise and have not had time to actually run the mind mapping session . 

 While I hope we can gain new insights about our customers and what they want from this product   ( or a different product , that we have n’t thought of ) , what I really want to gain is increased   awareness from my colleagues about the powerful opportunities of mind mapping and design   thinking at large . 

 Approach 

 One challenge may be running this mind mapping exercise virtually . When our organization has done 

 these sessions in the past , we get everyone into a room with sticky notes and markers . We can 

 create a virtual environment , but , if given the opportunity , we might do it differently next time   around . 

 I think the visual depiction of the mind map is extremely compelling and I think I would use it in other 

 situations as well . We have so many unread market research reports and leaders have so little time   to read those reports . By getting our customers , colleagues and other stakeholders involved to   inform the creation of a visual depiction of what the customers need , that will be extremely helpful   in ensuring a customer - focused mindset for the next stage of the process - idea generation . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Design Thinking for Innovation – Final Reflection Paper 

 Challenge & Selection 

 My background and experience for the last 15 + years has been in market research . The structured kind 

 of market research where the work is linear and analytical . We may do qualitative research , but   that ’s primarily to inform our quantitative survey . And , to our customers , whatever the   quantitative survey reveals is truth . After all , the client is always crystal clear on the problem they   are trying to solve and they just need to run a survey to validate their position to management . 

 This course has inspired me to think about market research differently . To challenge my colleagues and 

 clients about the “ problem ” at hand . To ask – what is and what if . It really is about putting the   customer of the center of everything we do – rather than putting ourselves and the center and   expecting the customer to love what we produce . Historically , leaders in my organization are   convinced they know what the customer wants and data is merely a validation tool . Part of my   ambition with this course is to start to change that thinking and to encourage a customer - first   approach and culture . 

 To accomplish this , I have selected Mind Mapping as my tool . In my past career , my team was the 

 producer of the lengthy , market research reports that nobody read . The reports where the client   would either cherry pick the data points that validated their beliefs or ignored if the data did n’t   support their plans . Mind maps are a creative , visual way to present an abundance of data . By   applying the mind mapping tool , I hope to identify patterns and insights in ways that are   compelling , and impossible for my colleagues to ignore . 

 Application & Insight 

 We have a new product under development . There has been lots of traditional market research 

 conducted over the past couple of years to support the development and launch of the new   product . To ensure we ’re on the right path and developing features that serve the unmet needs of   our customers , I am planning to develop a mind map with the exist data and market research   reports . The information has been siloed and we have not effectively engaged stakeholders across   the organization to synthesize and generate insights from all of the reports .   This approach will   bring colleagues together and encourage new , creative perspectives to generate fresh thinking ,   patterns and insights . Given COVID and our work from home situation , we will attempt to do this   using remote videoconferencing tools . 

 I have only planned the exercise and have not had time to actually run the mind mapping session . 

 While I hope we can gain new insights about our customers and what they want from this product   ( or a different product , that we have n’t thought of ) , what I really want to gain is increased   awareness from my colleagues about the powerful opportunities of mind mapping and design   thinking at large . 

 Approach 

 One challenge may be running this mind mapping exercise virtually . When our organization has done 

 these sessions in the past , we get everyone into a room with sticky notes and markers . We can 

 create a virtual environment , but , if given the opportunity , we might do it differently next time   around . 

 I think the visual depiction of the mind map is extremely compelling and I think I would use it in other 

 situations as well . We have so many unread market research reports and leaders have so little time   to read those reports . By getting our customers , colleagues and other stakeholders involved to   inform the creation of a visual depiction of what the customers need , that will be extremely helpful   in ensuring a customer - focused mindset for the next stage of the process - idea generation .
### Output: 