Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar     June 23 , 2019 

 Reflection - Storytelling 

 Context :   I am a content marketer and often take on freelance consulting projects to learn more about   different industries . Recently , as a part of one such project , I was asked to review and potentially   rewrite a case study for a tech company that creates business management software for activity- based organizations such as gyms , ballet studios and parks & recreation centers .      Challenge :   The case study was about how the company ’s software had helped improve the day - to - day   operations of a local cheerleading gym thereby improving overall efficiencies , customer service and   coaching . The purpose of the case study was to help the tech company generate leads from the   market segment of gym owners and administrators . When I read the case study for the first time , I   was left with a vague sense of accomplishment and many unanswered questions . The way it was   written was all over the place as it tried to address too many concerns in a hurried fashion without   communicating the impact the tech company ’s software solution had on the gym business .     Selection :   To tackle the rewriting challenge , I chose to use the storytelling tool . As we learned from Raymond Baird of Mars Inc. in week 2 , “ Storytelling is the difference between solving a problem and creating   a cause . ” Stories are based on empathy and therefore are powerful tools to make any problem ,   challenge or situation seem more relatable . The consumer is therefore more inclined to react to a   story than a presentation full of graphs and numbers .      Application :   Simon Sinek urges us to “ start with the why ” to inspire action . What this means is to get people to   do anything , we must get them to understand our purpose . When I began deconstructing the case I   was given , my first step was empathy mapping to answer the question , “ who is reading this case and   why ? ” to put myself in the shoes of the consumer the case was trying to target . To better   understand the plight of gym owners and administrators , I asked myself questions such as “ What are   the top issues faced by cheer gym owners ? ” and “ What do the right tools look like to tackle these   issues ? ” among many others .   Once I had a clear understanding of the gym owners / administrators ’ pain points , I was able to create   a flow for the story I was writing . This included identifying the key problem we wanted to tackle and   explicitly stating it in 1 - 2 lines to establish the purpose of this particular case study . Doing so also   helped me to choose which aspects of the software solution I would highlight in this case study .   Ultimately , I asked the client to identify the quantitative impact the solution had had on the gym   business in the form of time savings and return on investment .      Insight :   Any story is incomplete if it fails to answer the “ so what ” question . The stories that we find most   frustrating / dissatisfying are the ones that raise questions and fail to resolve them . I chose to address   the “ so what ” with a combination of qualitative and quantitative impact . To communicate   qualitative improvements , I leveraged testimonials from the gym owners , coaches and customers to   cover the different perspectives of various stakeholders . To communicate quantitative impact , I   created a simple , easy - to - understand infographic highlighting the top 3 metrics that gym owners   most cared about ( return on investment , reduction in financial reporting errors and time savings ) .   The final step to get people to do something is to give them several opportunities to do it . I did this   by adding multiple calls - to - action in the case study that would allow the consumer to act on a desire   by either requesting a demo or scheduling a meeting or simply learning more about the tech   company and its solutions . 

 Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar     June 23 , 2019 

 Approach :   The transformation of the case study was very evident through the results it generated once it was   published . Not only did the case study surpass the company ’s monthly lead generation average but   also helped the tech company improve visitors ’ time spent on the website and reduced bounce   rates . Considering the success of the case study compared to others , the storytelling approach has   now been adopted by the company to create all of its case studies . 

 Using the design thinking methodology to adopt a more consumer focused approach meant   addressing the consumer ’s concerns instead of trying to sell a solution . Incidentally , we were able to   sell the solution as a happy by - product of this approach ! 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar, Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar
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: Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar     June 23 , 2019 

 Reflection - Storytelling 

 Context :   I am a content marketer and often take on freelance consulting projects to learn more about   different industries . Recently , as a part of one such project , I was asked to review and potentially   rewrite a case study for a tech company that creates business management software for activity- based organizations such as gyms , ballet studios and parks & recreation centers .      Challenge :   The case study was about how the company ’s software had helped improve the day - to - day   operations of a local cheerleading gym thereby improving overall efficiencies , customer service and   coaching . The purpose of the case study was to help the tech company generate leads from the   market segment of gym owners and administrators . When I read the case study for the first time , I   was left with a vague sense of accomplishment and many unanswered questions . The way it was   written was all over the place as it tried to address too many concerns in a hurried fashion without   communicating the impact the tech company ’s software solution had on the gym business .     Selection :   To tackle the rewriting challenge , I chose to use the storytelling tool . As we learned from Raymond Baird of Mars Inc. in week 2 , “ Storytelling is the difference between solving a problem and creating   a cause . ” Stories are based on empathy and therefore are powerful tools to make any problem ,   challenge or situation seem more relatable . The consumer is therefore more inclined to react to a   story than a presentation full of graphs and numbers .      Application :   Simon Sinek urges us to “ start with the why ” to inspire action . What this means is to get people to   do anything , we must get them to understand our purpose . When I began deconstructing the case I   was given , my first step was empathy mapping to answer the question , “ who is reading this case and   why ? ” to put myself in the shoes of the consumer the case was trying to target . To better   understand the plight of gym owners and administrators , I asked myself questions such as “ What are   the top issues faced by cheer gym owners ? ” and “ What do the right tools look like to tackle these   issues ? ” among many others .   Once I had a clear understanding of the gym owners / administrators ’ pain points , I was able to create   a flow for the story I was writing . This included identifying the key problem we wanted to tackle and   explicitly stating it in 1 - 2 lines to establish the purpose of this particular case study . Doing so also   helped me to choose which aspects of the software solution I would highlight in this case study .   Ultimately , I asked the client to identify the quantitative impact the solution had had on the gym   business in the form of time savings and return on investment .      Insight :   Any story is incomplete if it fails to answer the “ so what ” question . The stories that we find most   frustrating / dissatisfying are the ones that raise questions and fail to resolve them . I chose to address   the “ so what ” with a combination of qualitative and quantitative impact . To communicate   qualitative improvements , I leveraged testimonials from the gym owners , coaches and customers to   cover the different perspectives of various stakeholders . To communicate quantitative impact , I   created a simple , easy - to - understand infographic highlighting the top 3 metrics that gym owners   most cared about ( return on investment , reduction in financial reporting errors and time savings ) .   The final step to get people to do something is to give them several opportunities to do it . I did this   by adding multiple calls - to - action in the case study that would allow the consumer to act on a desire   by either requesting a demo or scheduling a meeting or simply learning more about the tech   company and its solutions . 

 Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar     June 23 , 2019 

 Approach :   The transformation of the case study was very evident through the results it generated once it was   published . Not only did the case study surpass the company ’s monthly lead generation average but   also helped the tech company improve visitors ’ time spent on the website and reduced bounce   rates . Considering the success of the case study compared to others , the storytelling approach has   now been adopted by the company to create all of its case studies . 

 Using the design thinking methodology to adopt a more consumer focused approach meant   addressing the consumer ’s concerns instead of trying to sell a solution . Incidentally , we were able to   sell the solution as a happy by - product of this approach !
### Output: 