Design Thinking Innovation on Learning Launch 

 Challenge 

 I am heading one of the Product Lines in the Packaging Materials company and lead a team of   Product Managers . We work a lot with the new product development , but very often base ideas on   how new products shall look and perform based on our own assumptions and technical capabilities ,   rather than on customer insights and needs . In this assignment , I would like to reflect how we utilized   learning launch on one of the new products . Specific of our business is that it is very capital heavy   and launching new product requires many investments into development work , some production   asset adjustments , promotion , etc . Therefore , if the product does not fly – risk of losing substantial   money is high . 

 Selection 

 Learning Launch is a great tool to test if idea or product can meet customers ’ needs and create value   for them before decisions with big financial impact are done . It can be used to test the entire concept   or specific assumption and from my perspective represents the quintessence of the agile approach .   The aim of using this instrument is not to prove that idea is right , but to test if it fails or not – so   failure is similarly welcomed result as success , important that it happens quick and cheap . 

 Application 

 Starting with the product development – something that has been already done in the past . We had   a need to fill production capacity and decided to develop a product that would fit to the “ sweet spot ”   ( optimal production parameters that gives the highest efficiency ) of production . Our assumption was   that this product could be used for customer segment that is new for us and our assumptions for the   product concept were based on the subjective judgment of that business and product requirements .   Since we were targeting a production sweet spot , it was not difficult to create recipe and produce   material , but we decided to first test that our assumptions were correct before launching new   product . So , we got to the Learning Launch . We produced limited lots of materials and identified   customers who would be potential interested in the product . We approached some of those   customers with presentation of our product and samples . Already after the first round of discussions   we realized that our assumptions about the market were not correct – due to some technical   limitations in the basis weight of the material , that machine can produce , we could address only   niche segment – that helped us to get realistic expectations of needed production capacity . Second   step was to present the material and test our assumption that we have the best visual appearance   then competitors . And we have got this confirmation , however also learned that visual appearance   plays 20 % in the choice of material , while 80 % depends on specific physical properties that we do n’t   even measure ( remember , it ’s a new business segment for us ) . Back home we made measurements   to understand that we are far behind the competition . Good that we produced very limited volumes   of this prototype . We scrapped it and develop new concept that was fundamentally different from   the first one – increased the physical properties , sacrificing visual appearance . We have selected the   size 

 that seamed to be popular , again produced prototype in limited volumes , but more than first time .   We sent new prototype to wider range of customers to test if our material delivers on the physical   properties but is lighter in weight ( competitive advantage ) . And we have got positive feedbacks with   some improvement wishes ! But also learned that selected size does n’t suit all customers and we   need to extend the line with at least two more sizes . Again , we developed 3rd prototype , considering   customers feedback and created it in few extra sizes . This final approach to the customers has shown   that we got to the point ! Only after this we adjusted machinery for the scale production , defined that   name and prepared the proper product launch campaign . 

 Insights 

 Here I would like to share a paradox . I have written earlier that learning launch is a good tool for a   quick test . In fact , using this tool took 6 months longer time vs initial plan . But if we have n’t used it ,   we ’ll spent a lot of money , adjusted production , produced stock and launched new product just to   learn that it does n’t answer the needs of customers and they will not buy it . We have failed relatively   quick and cheap with 3 prototypes to develop good product . This case also helped us to learn that   our assumption are very often biased by our past experience and instead of trying understand real   needs of customers we are looking for confirmations of our assumptions . 

 Approach 

 Learning Launch is definitely good alternative to the conventional approach , when product   development is based only on the desktop study , assumptions and existing technical capabilities . We   have seen the value of involving customers early in the process , testing and iterating . Moreover , we   will apply this approach to other product development projects , as well as to design of the service   offerings . We also would like to use more agile methods in the process , for instance try SCRUM   process . 


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 Innovation on Learning Launch 

 Challenge 

 I am heading one of the Product Lines in the Packaging Materials company and lead a team of   Product Managers . We work a lot with the new product development , but very often base ideas on   how new products shall look and perform based on our own assumptions and technical capabilities ,   rather than on customer insights and needs . In this assignment , I would like to reflect how we utilized   learning launch on one of the new products . Specific of our business is that it is very capital heavy   and launching new product requires many investments into development work , some production   asset adjustments , promotion , etc . Therefore , if the product does not fly – risk of losing substantial   money is high . 

 Selection 

 Learning Launch is a great tool to test if idea or product can meet customers ’ needs and create value   for them before decisions with big financial impact are done . It can be used to test the entire concept   or specific assumption and from my perspective represents the quintessence of the agile approach .   The aim of using this instrument is not to prove that idea is right , but to test if it fails or not – so   failure is similarly welcomed result as success , important that it happens quick and cheap . 

 Application 

 Starting with the product development – something that has been already done in the past . We had   a need to fill production capacity and decided to develop a product that would fit to the “ sweet spot ”   ( optimal production parameters that gives the highest efficiency ) of production . Our assumption was   that this product could be used for customer segment that is new for us and our assumptions for the   product concept were based on the subjective judgment of that business and product requirements .   Since we were targeting a production sweet spot , it was not difficult to create recipe and produce   material , but we decided to first test that our assumptions were correct before launching new   product . So , we got to the Learning Launch . We produced limited lots of materials and identified   customers who would be potential interested in the product . We approached some of those   customers with presentation of our product and samples . Already after the first round of discussions   we realized that our assumptions about the market were not correct – due to some technical   limitations in the basis weight of the material , that machine can produce , we could address only   niche segment – that helped us to get realistic expectations of needed production capacity . Second   step was to present the material and test our assumption that we have the best visual appearance   then competitors . And we have got this confirmation , however also learned that visual appearance   plays 20 % in the choice of material , while 80 % depends on specific physical properties that we do n’t   even measure ( remember , it ’s a new business segment for us ) . Back home we made measurements   to understand that we are far behind the competition . Good that we produced very limited volumes   of this prototype . We scrapped it and develop new concept that was fundamentally different from   the first one – increased the physical properties , sacrificing visual appearance . We have selected the   size 

 that seamed to be popular , again produced prototype in limited volumes , but more than first time .   We sent new prototype to wider range of customers to test if our material delivers on the physical   properties but is lighter in weight ( competitive advantage ) . And we have got positive feedbacks with   some improvement wishes ! But also learned that selected size does n’t suit all customers and we   need to extend the line with at least two more sizes . Again , we developed 3rd prototype , considering   customers feedback and created it in few extra sizes . This final approach to the customers has shown   that we got to the point ! Only after this we adjusted machinery for the scale production , defined that   name and prepared the proper product launch campaign . 

 Insights 

 Here I would like to share a paradox . I have written earlier that learning launch is a good tool for a   quick test . In fact , using this tool took 6 months longer time vs initial plan . But if we have n’t used it ,   we ’ll spent a lot of money , adjusted production , produced stock and launched new product just to   learn that it does n’t answer the needs of customers and they will not buy it . We have failed relatively   quick and cheap with 3 prototypes to develop good product . This case also helped us to learn that   our assumption are very often biased by our past experience and instead of trying understand real   needs of customers we are looking for confirmations of our assumptions . 

 Approach 

 Learning Launch is definitely good alternative to the conventional approach , when product   development is based only on the desktop study , assumptions and existing technical capabilities . We   have seen the value of involving customers early in the process , testing and iterating . Moreover , we   will apply this approach to other product development projects , as well as to design of the service   offerings . We also would like to use more agile methods in the process , for instance try SCRUM   process .
### Output: 