Karen Gardner 

 Design Thinking for Innovation Assignment     Challenge     I am a water resource engineer with responsibility for the repair of leaks in the northern district under the operations   department and my challenge is to improve the process for transmitting leak reports into my repairs unit to increase   the number of leaks that are repaired by the unit as well as improve the operations department ’s leak repair   metrics .   The project scope includes the operations department which consists of fifteen resources , the customer   service department ( managing the 800 - LEAK phone line ) , and the field services departments with whom we work   closely . The project consists of internal resources ( i.e. , budget and employee time ) . The project should not exceed   20 business days and the solution should be a collaborative effort with all team members . We will focus on the key   stakeholders ( team members , operations department , customer service , field services ) and what they understand   to be the pain points in the current leak reporting process .       Selection       Our team will be using the learning launch tool this is understood to be a carefully designed experiment or prototype   designed to test the key underlying value - generating ideas . As mentioned in the video by Daniel Schumann , we need to   figure out what the customer ’s need is by going out and talking to the customers and it all begins with an idea we   have that can solve their problem and testing that idea to see if it being them value . We will be utilizing this tool to   quickly test the assumptions made by the team on the issues faced by the repairs unit and see if what we come with   solves the problems using input from the key stakeholders .        Application       We completed two learning launch experiments , in the first one we focused on the execution of the leak report   transmission tasks by the customer service and field service departments . In particular , we wanted to see if we could   identify the gaps between the information that is transmitted into the repair unit from the various sources ( via   email , phone calls , forms ) and the jobs scheduled for repair . This tested our assumption that the reporting format   was inconsistent among the sources and lead to inaccurate information and delayed repairs . Our team conducted a   five - day workshop with the various stakeholders to develop a standardized template for the reporting of leaks .        In our second learning launch , we focused on the transmission timeframe with in the process . In particular , we   wanted to see how long a leak report takes to reach the repairs unit from each source . This tested our assumption   that the delivery timeframes were different for each source and impacted the repair time . We conducted another   workshop with the key stakeholders this time including members from the performance reporting department . Over   two weeks , we developed a policy document for leak management reporting where we received an agreement for   the timeframes for each step in the leak reporting process .        Insight      By applying the learning launch tool , our team was able to identify our assumptions and design the experiments   needed to successfully test them . Our initial intention was to focus mainly on the operations department ’s   perspective but fortunately , we opted for workshops bringing in stakeholders from all the touchpoints extending   into the performance reporting department . The workshops were not run without challenges as we had to keep the   group ’s focus on the task at hand as there were a few sceptics among us . Nonetheless , we were able to develop   solutions that not only have a positive impact on the repairs unit but on the customer service , field service , and   performance reporting departments as well . This method proved useful as we were able to quickly test our   assumptions and provide value to our users in - house without the need to bring in a consultant . I can see the   outcomes from this undertaking easily feeding into a future project to automate the leak management process .      Approach    This is the first time our team has used design thinking activates / tools and at this stage is it quite appropriate for   our needs . Based on the team ’s feedback this approach has helped them quickly push through what would have   been a lengthy and maybe expensive undertaking if the traditional methods were used . As the team shares the   insights gained from this initiative , we see the learning launch tool being utilized for future projects as we work   towards the incremental improvement of the processes and systems of the organization . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Karen Gardner
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: Karen Gardner 

 Design Thinking for Innovation Assignment     Challenge     I am a water resource engineer with responsibility for the repair of leaks in the northern district under the operations   department and my challenge is to improve the process for transmitting leak reports into my repairs unit to increase   the number of leaks that are repaired by the unit as well as improve the operations department ’s leak repair   metrics .   The project scope includes the operations department which consists of fifteen resources , the customer   service department ( managing the 800 - LEAK phone line ) , and the field services departments with whom we work   closely . The project consists of internal resources ( i.e. , budget and employee time ) . The project should not exceed   20 business days and the solution should be a collaborative effort with all team members . We will focus on the key   stakeholders ( team members , operations department , customer service , field services ) and what they understand   to be the pain points in the current leak reporting process .       Selection       Our team will be using the learning launch tool this is understood to be a carefully designed experiment or prototype   designed to test the key underlying value - generating ideas . As mentioned in the video by Daniel Schumann , we need to   figure out what the customer ’s need is by going out and talking to the customers and it all begins with an idea we   have that can solve their problem and testing that idea to see if it being them value . We will be utilizing this tool to   quickly test the assumptions made by the team on the issues faced by the repairs unit and see if what we come with   solves the problems using input from the key stakeholders .        Application       We completed two learning launch experiments , in the first one we focused on the execution of the leak report   transmission tasks by the customer service and field service departments . In particular , we wanted to see if we could   identify the gaps between the information that is transmitted into the repair unit from the various sources ( via   email , phone calls , forms ) and the jobs scheduled for repair . This tested our assumption that the reporting format   was inconsistent among the sources and lead to inaccurate information and delayed repairs . Our team conducted a   five - day workshop with the various stakeholders to develop a standardized template for the reporting of leaks .        In our second learning launch , we focused on the transmission timeframe with in the process . In particular , we   wanted to see how long a leak report takes to reach the repairs unit from each source . This tested our assumption   that the delivery timeframes were different for each source and impacted the repair time . We conducted another   workshop with the key stakeholders this time including members from the performance reporting department . Over   two weeks , we developed a policy document for leak management reporting where we received an agreement for   the timeframes for each step in the leak reporting process .        Insight      By applying the learning launch tool , our team was able to identify our assumptions and design the experiments   needed to successfully test them . Our initial intention was to focus mainly on the operations department ’s   perspective but fortunately , we opted for workshops bringing in stakeholders from all the touchpoints extending   into the performance reporting department . The workshops were not run without challenges as we had to keep the   group ’s focus on the task at hand as there were a few sceptics among us . Nonetheless , we were able to develop   solutions that not only have a positive impact on the repairs unit but on the customer service , field service , and   performance reporting departments as well . This method proved useful as we were able to quickly test our   assumptions and provide value to our users in - house without the need to bring in a consultant . I can see the   outcomes from this undertaking easily feeding into a future project to automate the leak management process .      Approach    This is the first time our team has used design thinking activates / tools and at this stage is it quite appropriate for   our needs . Based on the team ’s feedback this approach has helped them quickly push through what would have   been a lengthy and maybe expensive undertaking if the traditional methods were used . As the team shares the   insights gained from this initiative , we see the learning launch tool being utilized for future projects as we work   towards the incremental improvement of the processes and systems of the organization .
### Output: 