Challenge 

 SS Designs is a women ’s and men ’s clothing boutique that has been around for over a decade . 

 Yet , throughout that time it has been able to achieve more success with its public relations than its   actual sales and customer satisfaction . Customers enter the boutique initially excited to purchase   “ higher end ” and even custom pieces , but usually walk away feeling that the boutique and main   designer are not able to connect with them and match their expectation of what constitutes as sexy and   contemporary bridal , casual , and evening wear . In fact , a frequent complaint targets the business ’   tendency to create dated and overpriced items . Given the surge in popularity of online retailers and the   worldwide squeeze on brick and mortar clothing stores , SS Designs faces a real crisis and must learn to   adapt using the techniques of Design Theory . 

 Selection 

 Mind Mapping , as introduced in Module 3 , is explored by Callegari through the 

 narrative of MeYouHealth . In it , Mind Mapping is extolled as the bridge between two of the earlier   stages of the Design Theory process : what is and what if ? As early on as the lecture covering the success   of The Good Kitchen ( Module 1 ) we learn that “ what is ” is largely an exploratory process used to avoid   myopia . It allows us to expand the idea of what truly is the problem we want to address . In Module 3 ’s   MeYouHealth case study we further identified that “ what if ” is the process of brainstorming various   solutions before experimenting with their validity and chance of success . However , bridging these two   phases was the intuitive and highly engaging tool of Mind Mapping . Using the analogy of a yard sale ,   Callegari walks us through its steps , which involve inviting our target audience members ,   showcasing available ideas and options , amassing the groups ’ opinions , and finally synthesizing the   aforementioned to identify trends and patterns . Mind Mapping was ultimately chosen for its ability to   provide the boutique with clarity and ideas during its most troubling phase – getting from the “ what is ”   to the “ what if ” to eventually understand what would wow and what would work . 

 Application 

 Previous years ’ sales were pored over to identify the demographics that SS Designs were 

 actively attracting as well as the ones that were less present . Using a mixture of previous clients and   interested first - comers , lured by the promise of a generous discount to be applied on a future purchase ,   a pool of largely middle aged women were invited to the boutique ’s showroom . Prior to their arrival we   began going through the motions of “ what is ? ” This involved Module 1 ’s The Good Kitchen ’s journey   mapping . In the prior days , members of our team would accompany secret shoppers as they made their   way throughout the boutique , noting comments , likes , and dislikes . This allowed us to be a fly on the   wall during the same process that many of our customers undergo . 

 Assessing this feedback , we were able to glean important information for use in our Mind 

 Mapping . We learned that while customers liked the fabric and quality of our garments , color and   silhouettes were unsatisfactory . With this is in mind , on the day of our Mind Mapping exercise , we   placed “ vision boards ” throughout the boutique , each displaying images of fresh themes comprising of 

 colors , cuts , and even suggested places ( ie . Work vs. cocktail events ) that the garments could be worn .   Pale muslin was also draped on strategically placed mannequins alongside colored fabric swatches that   could be tacked on and played around with by members to identify color combinations they loved .   There were also snapshots of previously made SS Designs garments that individuals could take and write   notes on the back of , generally expressing their love or distaste for a particular item . 

 Afterwards , all members were invited to discuss their thoughts and opinions of what they had 

 seen earlier that day as well as to talk about previous experiences purchasing our garments in store .   Photos of the garments were also collected and based on the written comments ; positively critiqued   items were placed on one board with the less liked items ’ photos going on another . In speaking with   these potential and past customers , clear trends and patterns began to emerge that would allow us to   proceed to the what if stage and begin brainstorming new rollouts and modifications to both our clothes   and customer experience . 

 Insight 

 What became clear was that the problems of SS Designs were much broader than initially 

 thought . Not only were our products problematic , the experience of shoppers was also questioned .   Respondents opined that the level of support and options to explore stylistic choices that were present   in the Mind Mapping experiment was something that they wished was replicated in the actual boutique .   According to them , the store did not offer as much support when it came to guiding customers through   the process of choosing and designing their garments . Additionally , when it came to known issues such   as the color and cut of our items , respondents further elaborated that they would be more receptive to   some of our current garments had we provided a comparative context . It turned out that customers   were willing to try bold colors and avant - garde silhouettes , but in their opinion , they would like to be   made aware that these are actual trends occurring elsewhere in other parts of the world . Something as   simple as providing magazines that show other people donning these bolder items or displaying videos   of relevant fashion shows on the store ’s website were all recurring suggestions . 

 Mind Mapping clearly demonstrated to me that the design process is powerful insofar as its 

 ability to unearth even more factors than were previously thought to be at play when attempting to   solve key issues . In this case , Mind Mapping served as an effective reminder that many business   oriented solutions need to be two - pronged . Solutions should place just as much emphasis on assessing   the user or customer experience as reimagining the actual products themselves . Further , Design   Thinking revealed itself to be an invaluable objective instrument that , by involving external parties ,   could counteract internal bias and misconceptions . 

 Approach 

 In the future I would aim to attract a higher number of male participants in our initial pool of 

 interviewees . Due to the higher proportion of female participants we were not able to glean as much   information for our menswear products . This meant that data derived from women in our design   process had to be extrapolated to provide some semblance of a direction for how we would handle 

 improving our male clothing and experience for male shoppers . Additionally , I would recommend   incorporating more elements of visualization . While we implemented Mind Mapping this time , our   audience clearly and positively responded to its more visual tenets . Subsequently , we could utilize   activities such as allowing individuals to sketch designs that they would like considered by SS Designs or   even allow them to draw on pictures of current garments , circling and crossing out clothing details they   prefer and dislike respectively . Visualization , perhaps of all the tools , is especially tied to the clothing   industry and a result , would make for an excellent instrument in future iterations of SS Design ’s design   thinking . 


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: Challenge 

 SS Designs is a women ’s and men ’s clothing boutique that has been around for over a decade . 

 Yet , throughout that time it has been able to achieve more success with its public relations than its   actual sales and customer satisfaction . Customers enter the boutique initially excited to purchase   “ higher end ” and even custom pieces , but usually walk away feeling that the boutique and main   designer are not able to connect with them and match their expectation of what constitutes as sexy and   contemporary bridal , casual , and evening wear . In fact , a frequent complaint targets the business ’   tendency to create dated and overpriced items . Given the surge in popularity of online retailers and the   worldwide squeeze on brick and mortar clothing stores , SS Designs faces a real crisis and must learn to   adapt using the techniques of Design Theory . 

 Selection 

 Mind Mapping , as introduced in Module 3 , is explored by Callegari through the 

 narrative of MeYouHealth . In it , Mind Mapping is extolled as the bridge between two of the earlier   stages of the Design Theory process : what is and what if ? As early on as the lecture covering the success   of The Good Kitchen ( Module 1 ) we learn that “ what is ” is largely an exploratory process used to avoid   myopia . It allows us to expand the idea of what truly is the problem we want to address . In Module 3 ’s   MeYouHealth case study we further identified that “ what if ” is the process of brainstorming various   solutions before experimenting with their validity and chance of success . However , bridging these two   phases was the intuitive and highly engaging tool of Mind Mapping . Using the analogy of a yard sale ,   Callegari walks us through its steps , which involve inviting our target audience members ,   showcasing available ideas and options , amassing the groups ’ opinions , and finally synthesizing the   aforementioned to identify trends and patterns . Mind Mapping was ultimately chosen for its ability to   provide the boutique with clarity and ideas during its most troubling phase – getting from the “ what is ”   to the “ what if ” to eventually understand what would wow and what would work . 

 Application 

 Previous years ’ sales were pored over to identify the demographics that SS Designs were 

 actively attracting as well as the ones that were less present . Using a mixture of previous clients and   interested first - comers , lured by the promise of a generous discount to be applied on a future purchase ,   a pool of largely middle aged women were invited to the boutique ’s showroom . Prior to their arrival we   began going through the motions of “ what is ? ” This involved Module 1 ’s The Good Kitchen ’s journey   mapping . In the prior days , members of our team would accompany secret shoppers as they made their   way throughout the boutique , noting comments , likes , and dislikes . This allowed us to be a fly on the   wall during the same process that many of our customers undergo . 

 Assessing this feedback , we were able to glean important information for use in our Mind 

 Mapping . We learned that while customers liked the fabric and quality of our garments , color and   silhouettes were unsatisfactory . With this is in mind , on the day of our Mind Mapping exercise , we   placed “ vision boards ” throughout the boutique , each displaying images of fresh themes comprising of 

 colors , cuts , and even suggested places ( ie . Work vs. cocktail events ) that the garments could be worn .   Pale muslin was also draped on strategically placed mannequins alongside colored fabric swatches that   could be tacked on and played around with by members to identify color combinations they loved .   There were also snapshots of previously made SS Designs garments that individuals could take and write   notes on the back of , generally expressing their love or distaste for a particular item . 

 Afterwards , all members were invited to discuss their thoughts and opinions of what they had 

 seen earlier that day as well as to talk about previous experiences purchasing our garments in store .   Photos of the garments were also collected and based on the written comments ; positively critiqued   items were placed on one board with the less liked items ’ photos going on another . In speaking with   these potential and past customers , clear trends and patterns began to emerge that would allow us to   proceed to the what if stage and begin brainstorming new rollouts and modifications to both our clothes   and customer experience . 

 Insight 

 What became clear was that the problems of SS Designs were much broader than initially 

 thought . Not only were our products problematic , the experience of shoppers was also questioned .   Respondents opined that the level of support and options to explore stylistic choices that were present   in the Mind Mapping experiment was something that they wished was replicated in the actual boutique .   According to them , the store did not offer as much support when it came to guiding customers through   the process of choosing and designing their garments . Additionally , when it came to known issues such   as the color and cut of our items , respondents further elaborated that they would be more receptive to   some of our current garments had we provided a comparative context . It turned out that customers   were willing to try bold colors and avant - garde silhouettes , but in their opinion , they would like to be   made aware that these are actual trends occurring elsewhere in other parts of the world . Something as   simple as providing magazines that show other people donning these bolder items or displaying videos   of relevant fashion shows on the store ’s website were all recurring suggestions . 

 Mind Mapping clearly demonstrated to me that the design process is powerful insofar as its 

 ability to unearth even more factors than were previously thought to be at play when attempting to   solve key issues . In this case , Mind Mapping served as an effective reminder that many business   oriented solutions need to be two - pronged . Solutions should place just as much emphasis on assessing   the user or customer experience as reimagining the actual products themselves . Further , Design   Thinking revealed itself to be an invaluable objective instrument that , by involving external parties ,   could counteract internal bias and misconceptions . 

 Approach 

 In the future I would aim to attract a higher number of male participants in our initial pool of 

 interviewees . Due to the higher proportion of female participants we were not able to glean as much   information for our menswear products . This meant that data derived from women in our design   process had to be extrapolated to provide some semblance of a direction for how we would handle 

 improving our male clothing and experience for male shoppers . Additionally , I would recommend   incorporating more elements of visualization . While we implemented Mind Mapping this time , our   audience clearly and positively responded to its more visual tenets . Subsequently , we could utilize   activities such as allowing individuals to sketch designs that they would like considered by SS Designs or   even allow them to draw on pictures of current garments , circling and crossing out clothing details they   prefer and dislike respectively . Visualization , perhaps of all the tools , is especially tied to the clothing   industry and a result , would make for an excellent instrument in future iterations of SS Design ’s design   thinking .
### Output: 