Design Thinking for Innovation - Final Assignment 

 Example Reflection – Mind Mapping 

 Challenge : 

 All through out my career I have always been passionate about Information   Technology IT and how it can improve our social   life particularly in our   disadvantage communities in our country , South Africa . So in September 2008 I   started a Computer Literacy Academy in a township next to one of Johannesburg ’s   big suburb , Midrand . My mission was to bridge the digital divide in that township   by opening up a school to teach Basic Computer Literacy for all the people in that   area to come and enrol for the course , attend classes , write exams and receive a   Basic Computer Literacy qualification . My biggest challenge that subsequently led   to the closure of my business was the fact that no one was interested in learning   Computer Literacy and therefore I had very little response and no business   coming in . I had to close my business in 2013 after many attempts to revive the   business in many diﬀerent ways . And also note that at the time I decided to close   the business , because there was no interest , was also an assumption that I had . 

 Selection : 

 Because I have not used Design Thinking before and looking back to “ what could   have been ” for the purpose of this exercise I chose Mind Mapping as I believe it   was the biggest missing approach that could have helped me answer the real   “ what is ” challenges before I even start the marketing part of my business and use   the discovered insights and that deep understanding to structure my marketing   eﬀorts that will have resulted in good turnout and better revenue growth for my   business . Mind Mapping will help me to do a thorough research , Brainstorm Ideas ,   Establish the right marketing approach and develop the right go - to - market   strategies . 

 Application 1 : 

 With my passion for IT and Training and Development I assumed that all people in   our disadvantaged communities will react positively to the kind of concept that I   had in mind and how I am going to roll it out . I went through all the What is / What   if / What Wows / What works process on my own . I believe my idea was not too far 

 oﬀ , there is definitely a Computer Literacy need , however the challenge was how   to come up with good marketing for my business . Thinking back , using the Mind   Mapping methodology , this is the approach and application process I should have   implemented ; 

 Stakeholder engagement - in our township there are diﬀerent stakeholders for   example Counsellors , business owners including doctors owning private surgeries   in the township , Retail shop owners , Government service employees like school   teachers , Librarians etc whom I should have invited as the first part of my mind   mapping process . Perhaps invite one person from each of these multi - layered   structures in one room , give them stationery eg sticky notes , and request them to   write down the ; 

 1 . type of skills they look for when they employ people in their businesses 

 2 .   where do they find their new hires 

 3 . What other skills do they believe their employees should have that will   enhance their business 

 4 . Post these ideas on the board the see the urgent needs , common needs and   perhaps other needs that I did not think oﬀ. 

 Insight : 

 This 1st Mind Mapping process would have given my business an opportunity to ; 

 1 .   discover if there is a computer literacy need in the businesses around my 

 target area ; 

 2 .   if there was no known need , use marketing approach that can educate 

 people especially business leaders on how computer literacy as a resource 

 can enhance their business and increase their revenue 

 3 .   get a buy - in from political , business and other influential stakeholders from 

 my target area 

 Application 2 : 

 My 2nd approach , would have been to target , schools learners in the schools   around my business , school teachers and parents . This process would have gone   well and achieved my desired results if I have engaged the school learners to find 

 our what their desired career aspirations are , which institutions / careers their   parents , as funders , are willing to invest in . I would use a similar approach as the   1st Mind Mapping engagement and request everyone to be in the same room ,   have sticky notes to and write down 

 1 .   what their career aspiration , 

 2 .   where they wish to study them and why . 

 3 .   and draw up a journey - map on a board using the information given , then 

 work out diﬀerent personas and their diﬀerent educational needs and how my   business can add value in their educational aspirations . 

 Insights : 

 I believe this approach would have helped my business discover the real truth   about the people ’s needs and not my assumptions about what I believe was the   need ; 

 1 .   first I believe this would have help me to discover that the learners , even 

 though they see the need for technological advancement in their lives , they 

 do not want to attend their tertiary schooling in the same area that they 

 studied for their high school . That is is important for them to go to suburbs/ 

 big cities for further education . 

 2 .    This would have help me realise that parents also feel proud when their kids 

 leave their area in pursuit for better opportunities and education and 

 therefore that is what they will be willing to fund 

 3 .   this would have help me to perhaps look at my target market as learners 

 who are still in high school and oﬀer my services in the afternoon , after 

 school , and weekends and not have after - high - school - leavers as my primary 

 target . 

 Approach 

 I believe this Mind Mapping   approach would have help me to do the following and   this is the approach I would employ in the future ; 

 1 .   Choose the right target market for my business by using Mind Mapping to 

 do a thorough research 

 2 .   Use the right marketing tools and channels to develop the right marketing 

 concepts that will make my target market see the value of my oﬀering ie 

 informative marketing forums to educate my target market on my oﬀerings , 

 3 .   Involve the government and relevant business stakeholders to influence the 

 community to work on their computer literacy skills perhaps by using 

 Sweet - Spot Marketing programs as my design established marketing 

 programs 

 3 .   Play an influential role in the government and relevant business 

 stakeholders ’ corporate programs by constantly addressing the need for 

 improving IT penetration in our disadvantage communities and educate on 

 the benefits thereof . 

 Busisiwe Msimanga 

 22 February 2021 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Busisiwe Msimanga
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 for Innovation - Final Assignment 

 Example Reflection – Mind Mapping 

 Challenge : 

 All through out my career I have always been passionate about Information   Technology IT and how it can improve our social   life particularly in our   disadvantage communities in our country , South Africa . So in September 2008 I   started a Computer Literacy Academy in a township next to one of Johannesburg ’s   big suburb , Midrand . My mission was to bridge the digital divide in that township   by opening up a school to teach Basic Computer Literacy for all the people in that   area to come and enrol for the course , attend classes , write exams and receive a   Basic Computer Literacy qualification . My biggest challenge that subsequently led   to the closure of my business was the fact that no one was interested in learning   Computer Literacy and therefore I had very little response and no business   coming in . I had to close my business in 2013 after many attempts to revive the   business in many diﬀerent ways . And also note that at the time I decided to close   the business , because there was no interest , was also an assumption that I had . 

 Selection : 

 Because I have not used Design Thinking before and looking back to “ what could   have been ” for the purpose of this exercise I chose Mind Mapping as I believe it   was the biggest missing approach that could have helped me answer the real   “ what is ” challenges before I even start the marketing part of my business and use   the discovered insights and that deep understanding to structure my marketing   eﬀorts that will have resulted in good turnout and better revenue growth for my   business . Mind Mapping will help me to do a thorough research , Brainstorm Ideas ,   Establish the right marketing approach and develop the right go - to - market   strategies . 

 Application 1 : 

 With my passion for IT and Training and Development I assumed that all people in   our disadvantaged communities will react positively to the kind of concept that I   had in mind and how I am going to roll it out . I went through all the What is / What   if / What Wows / What works process on my own . I believe my idea was not too far 

 oﬀ , there is definitely a Computer Literacy need , however the challenge was how   to come up with good marketing for my business . Thinking back , using the Mind   Mapping methodology , this is the approach and application process I should have   implemented ; 

 Stakeholder engagement - in our township there are diﬀerent stakeholders for   example Counsellors , business owners including doctors owning private surgeries   in the township , Retail shop owners , Government service employees like school   teachers , Librarians etc whom I should have invited as the first part of my mind   mapping process . Perhaps invite one person from each of these multi - layered   structures in one room , give them stationery eg sticky notes , and request them to   write down the ; 

 1 . type of skills they look for when they employ people in their businesses 

 2 .   where do they find their new hires 

 3 . What other skills do they believe their employees should have that will   enhance their business 

 4 . Post these ideas on the board the see the urgent needs , common needs and   perhaps other needs that I did not think oﬀ. 

 Insight : 

 This 1st Mind Mapping process would have given my business an opportunity to ; 

 1 .   discover if there is a computer literacy need in the businesses around my 

 target area ; 

 2 .   if there was no known need , use marketing approach that can educate 

 people especially business leaders on how computer literacy as a resource 

 can enhance their business and increase their revenue 

 3 .   get a buy - in from political , business and other influential stakeholders from 

 my target area 

 Application 2 : 

 My 2nd approach , would have been to target , schools learners in the schools   around my business , school teachers and parents . This process would have gone   well and achieved my desired results if I have engaged the school learners to find 

 our what their desired career aspirations are , which institutions / careers their   parents , as funders , are willing to invest in . I would use a similar approach as the   1st Mind Mapping engagement and request everyone to be in the same room ,   have sticky notes to and write down 

 1 .   what their career aspiration , 

 2 .   where they wish to study them and why . 

 3 .   and draw up a journey - map on a board using the information given , then 

 work out diﬀerent personas and their diﬀerent educational needs and how my   business can add value in their educational aspirations . 

 Insights : 

 I believe this approach would have helped my business discover the real truth   about the people ’s needs and not my assumptions about what I believe was the   need ; 

 1 .   first I believe this would have help me to discover that the learners , even 

 though they see the need for technological advancement in their lives , they 

 do not want to attend their tertiary schooling in the same area that they 

 studied for their high school . That is is important for them to go to suburbs/ 

 big cities for further education . 

 2 .    This would have help me realise that parents also feel proud when their kids 

 leave their area in pursuit for better opportunities and education and 

 therefore that is what they will be willing to fund 

 3 .   this would have help me to perhaps look at my target market as learners 

 who are still in high school and oﬀer my services in the afternoon , after 

 school , and weekends and not have after - high - school - leavers as my primary 

 target . 

 Approach 

 I believe this Mind Mapping   approach would have help me to do the following and   this is the approach I would employ in the future ; 

 1 .   Choose the right target market for my business by using Mind Mapping to 

 do a thorough research 

 2 .   Use the right marketing tools and channels to develop the right marketing 

 concepts that will make my target market see the value of my oﬀering ie 

 informative marketing forums to educate my target market on my oﬀerings , 

 3 .   Involve the government and relevant business stakeholders to influence the 

 community to work on their computer literacy skills perhaps by using 

 Sweet - Spot Marketing programs as my design established marketing 

 programs 

 3 .   Play an influential role in the government and relevant business 

 stakeholders ’ corporate programs by constantly addressing the need for 

 improving IT penetration in our disadvantage communities and educate on 

 the benefits thereof . 

 Busisiwe Msimanga 

 22 February 2021
### Output: 