Reflection – Learning Launch Tool     Challenge   My goal is to develop new consumer goods products for our organization that will significantly grow our   company , both on the top line ( Sales ) and on the bottom line ( Profits ) .   The challenge I have is to   prevent the organization from jumping on the first idea that comes along , launching a product similar to   what our competition just launched , or have the owners / top management determine what is important   to the end user without asking them .          Selection   Over the last few years , I have been implementing a process that utilizes Learning Cycles ( Learning   Launches ) based on book by Katherine Radeka “ The Shortest Distance Between You and Your New   Product , ” which are very similar to the Learning Launches as explained in the video in Lesson 4 –   Learning Launch Tool by Thomas Stark .   The Learning Cycles provides a process to integrate the end user to   quickly get their input on different ideas . To have a higher success rate of launching new products , I   realized we need to do something different and make sure we determine what we do n’t know early in   the process and engage the end user in the process to get the “ truth ” ( Learning Cycles ) .     Application   On our recent product development projects , we go through a two - step process .       Step 1 – Determining what we do n’t know   Taking the needs from marketing , the cross - functional team ( including marketing , engineering , industrial   design , operations and quality ) reviews each one and determines if we already have the knowledge to   address this need or not .   If not , it is considered a knowledge gap .    These knowledge gaps are then separated into three categories : 

 a ) Low risk – team develops solutions “ Just do it ”   b ) Technical challenge – which is resolved by engineering   c ) End User input required – which is resolved by Learning Cycles ( see below ) 

 Step 2 – Learning Cycles   For the knowledge gaps where the teams do not have enough of the facts to decide on what feature   would meet / exceed the end user needs , we follow the Learning Cycle ( Learning Launch ) process which is   as follows : 

 1 ) Convert the knowledge gaps into questions / hypotheses , such as what the best feature is to 

 accomplish a need of the end user . 

    Example : What is the best grip design for this product ? 

 2 ) Develop a PLAN to answer these questions / hypotheses 

    Develop the Grip characteristics that are possible solutions such as Size , Material(s ) ,   Grip areas , etc . 

 3 ) Develop DESIGNs 

    Have the Industrial Designers / Engineers design multiple grips that the end users can use   in the application and compare .   We intentionally create multiple grips to provide good   stimuli to get valuable feedback . 

 4 ) Build and Test 

    Prototype the grips 

    Test with end users including getting the following information : 

  Is the grip important to you ?    What rating would you give each grip ?    What do you like / dislike about each grip ? 

 5 ) Review Results 

    After testing with end users , the team meets to review the results and determine what   was learned and what knowledge gaps still exist . 

 6 ) Continue to next Learning Cycle to eliminate any existing knowledge gaps until the risk has been 

 reduced to a reasonable level . 

 Learning Cycle – Typically 4 - 6 weeks for one cycle 

 Insights     Over the last 5 years , we have been able to significantly improve our success rate of launching new   innovative products using Learning Cycles / Learning Launch Tool .       Key learnings : 

    Confirm that the feature you are developing is important to the end user , which is   confirmed by our questions “ Is the grip important to you ?   It is critical to make sure you are   providing features to the end user that are of value to them . 

    Having multiple products for the end user to compare was critical to get valuable feedback .    We found that it is very difficult for an end user to explain why they liked a design when   there was no reference .   As soon as they had more than one prototype the end user would 

 compare one to the other such as ; I like this one because it is larger and fits my hand better   or these grooves make sure my hand does not slip , etc . 

    Make sure you make the prototype such that it can be used in the real application , such as   connect the grip to a handle and shovel so they can use it . 

    Get a rating from the end user so that different observers make conclusions based only on   the observation or words provided .   This also provides a relationship between the different   prototypes . 

 Approach going Forward     Over the last 5 years , we have been able to significantly improve our success rate of launching new   innovative products through the use of Learning Cycles / Learning Launch Tool .   We will continue to   utilize and improve this process to focus on the aspects that are critical to the end user and get faster at   completing these Learning Cycles / Learning Launch Tool to improve our time to market and continue to   grow the company .         Thomas Stark   11 - Feb-2018 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Thomas Stark
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: Reflection – Learning Launch Tool     Challenge   My goal is to develop new consumer goods products for our organization that will significantly grow our   company , both on the top line ( Sales ) and on the bottom line ( Profits ) .   The challenge I have is to   prevent the organization from jumping on the first idea that comes along , launching a product similar to   what our competition just launched , or have the owners / top management determine what is important   to the end user without asking them .          Selection   Over the last few years , I have been implementing a process that utilizes Learning Cycles ( Learning   Launches ) based on book by Katherine Radeka “ The Shortest Distance Between You and Your New   Product , ” which are very similar to the Learning Launches as explained in the video in Lesson 4 –   Learning Launch Tool by Thomas Stark .   The Learning Cycles provides a process to integrate the end user to   quickly get their input on different ideas . To have a higher success rate of launching new products , I   realized we need to do something different and make sure we determine what we do n’t know early in   the process and engage the end user in the process to get the “ truth ” ( Learning Cycles ) .     Application   On our recent product development projects , we go through a two - step process .       Step 1 – Determining what we do n’t know   Taking the needs from marketing , the cross - functional team ( including marketing , engineering , industrial   design , operations and quality ) reviews each one and determines if we already have the knowledge to   address this need or not .   If not , it is considered a knowledge gap .    These knowledge gaps are then separated into three categories : 

 a ) Low risk – team develops solutions “ Just do it ”   b ) Technical challenge – which is resolved by engineering   c ) End User input required – which is resolved by Learning Cycles ( see below ) 

 Step 2 – Learning Cycles   For the knowledge gaps where the teams do not have enough of the facts to decide on what feature   would meet / exceed the end user needs , we follow the Learning Cycle ( Learning Launch ) process which is   as follows : 

 1 ) Convert the knowledge gaps into questions / hypotheses , such as what the best feature is to 

 accomplish a need of the end user . 

    Example : What is the best grip design for this product ? 

 2 ) Develop a PLAN to answer these questions / hypotheses 

    Develop the Grip characteristics that are possible solutions such as Size , Material(s ) ,   Grip areas , etc . 

 3 ) Develop DESIGNs 

    Have the Industrial Designers / Engineers design multiple grips that the end users can use   in the application and compare .   We intentionally create multiple grips to provide good   stimuli to get valuable feedback . 

 4 ) Build and Test 

    Prototype the grips 

    Test with end users including getting the following information : 

  Is the grip important to you ?    What rating would you give each grip ?    What do you like / dislike about each grip ? 

 5 ) Review Results 

    After testing with end users , the team meets to review the results and determine what   was learned and what knowledge gaps still exist . 

 6 ) Continue to next Learning Cycle to eliminate any existing knowledge gaps until the risk has been 

 reduced to a reasonable level . 

 Learning Cycle – Typically 4 - 6 weeks for one cycle 

 Insights     Over the last 5 years , we have been able to significantly improve our success rate of launching new   innovative products using Learning Cycles / Learning Launch Tool .       Key learnings : 

    Confirm that the feature you are developing is important to the end user , which is   confirmed by our questions “ Is the grip important to you ?   It is critical to make sure you are   providing features to the end user that are of value to them . 

    Having multiple products for the end user to compare was critical to get valuable feedback .    We found that it is very difficult for an end user to explain why they liked a design when   there was no reference .   As soon as they had more than one prototype the end user would 

 compare one to the other such as ; I like this one because it is larger and fits my hand better   or these grooves make sure my hand does not slip , etc . 

    Make sure you make the prototype such that it can be used in the real application , such as   connect the grip to a handle and shovel so they can use it . 

    Get a rating from the end user so that different observers make conclusions based only on   the observation or words provided .   This also provides a relationship between the different   prototypes . 

 Approach going Forward     Over the last 5 years , we have been able to significantly improve our success rate of launching new   innovative products through the use of Learning Cycles / Learning Launch Tool .   We will continue to   utilize and improve this process to focus on the aspects that are critical to the end user and get faster at   completing these Learning Cycles / Learning Launch Tool to improve our time to market and continue to   grow the company .         Thomas Stark   11 - Feb-2018
### Output: 