Reflection -   Learning Launch 

 By Joe Ferrara 

 Challenge 

 As a member of a team who manage a large portfolio of critical IT projects for a big national company , I ’m   invited regularly to collect the needs from my clients , launch and manage new projects , and especially to   meet the deadlines , the budget and requirements . It ’s such as successive challenges I faced in my business   life , especially when client ’s requirements and needs changes continuously . This is the reason why I was   always wondering the following : When I have a challenge , how do I approach it ? In reality , even in our   personal life , we face many problems and we go through different challenges every day . We solve most   of them every day too .   The most important thing I learned from this “ Design Thinking ” course is that we   should resist the temptation to jump directly to a solution and that the value is in realizing that we can   create something that can help people make their lives easier . 

 Selection 

 There are several tools and techniques of understanding the needs of a user , client or a customer , but in   my point of view , Learning Launch is the most effective way . To rephrase “ Learning Launch ” , it is a manner   of creating a minimum viable product that let customers or users test their key assumptions and get an   answer to the big question “ What if ? ” . The point is to start creating a minimum and test it , then we quickly   get more feedbacks and clearer ideas that led us to a prototype . We could also iterate this operation as   much as we need until we get sufficient prototypes , and finally choose the appropriate prototype for our   project or product . 

 Application 

 In one of our first learning launch application , I focused on providing an online platform to our users . This   platform was technically complex as it exchanges many encrypted informations with a couple of high   secured systems , using different communication protocols . We were facing another major constraint   when client changes some of their needs every time . We did n’t have any other choice , but adapting our   work and processes to be more agile . After organizing an agile workshop and training to all staff members ,   we started being more flexible and soft after receiving any change request from the client . After testing   every milestone of the deliverable , we conducted interviews with users to understand their experiences   and to find out if this new prototype meets their expectations with a priority to ensure that users could   use the platform easily . 

 Insight 

 By applying this learning tool , we designed and tested our solutions / product following the agile   methodology . Through the learning process we got to improve our online platform to meet client ’s   expectation even if it was changed a lot of times all along the project phase . It ’s through this process we   realized which version of platform that users were more comfortable with . We also realized how agile   approach can improve our processes . From now on , all team members and stakeholders welcomed any   new requirement ’s change and accepted to review the task ’s priorities according to the new change of   needs . 

 Approach 

 Therefore , I ’m convinced that the Learning Launch is the ideal and appropriate tool four our kind of IT   businesses . Since I already experienced this experience in my professional path , I would recommend this   approach in the future in case of similar activities and/or circumstances . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Joe Ferrara
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 

 By Joe Ferrara 

 Challenge 

 As a member of a team who manage a large portfolio of critical IT projects for a big national company , I ’m   invited regularly to collect the needs from my clients , launch and manage new projects , and especially to   meet the deadlines , the budget and requirements . It ’s such as successive challenges I faced in my business   life , especially when client ’s requirements and needs changes continuously . This is the reason why I was   always wondering the following : When I have a challenge , how do I approach it ? In reality , even in our   personal life , we face many problems and we go through different challenges every day . We solve most   of them every day too .   The most important thing I learned from this “ Design Thinking ” course is that we   should resist the temptation to jump directly to a solution and that the value is in realizing that we can   create something that can help people make their lives easier . 

 Selection 

 There are several tools and techniques of understanding the needs of a user , client or a customer , but in   my point of view , Learning Launch is the most effective way . To rephrase “ Learning Launch ” , it is a manner   of creating a minimum viable product that let customers or users test their key assumptions and get an   answer to the big question “ What if ? ” . The point is to start creating a minimum and test it , then we quickly   get more feedbacks and clearer ideas that led us to a prototype . We could also iterate this operation as   much as we need until we get sufficient prototypes , and finally choose the appropriate prototype for our   project or product . 

 Application 

 In one of our first learning launch application , I focused on providing an online platform to our users . This   platform was technically complex as it exchanges many encrypted informations with a couple of high   secured systems , using different communication protocols . We were facing another major constraint   when client changes some of their needs every time . We did n’t have any other choice , but adapting our   work and processes to be more agile . After organizing an agile workshop and training to all staff members ,   we started being more flexible and soft after receiving any change request from the client . After testing   every milestone of the deliverable , we conducted interviews with users to understand their experiences   and to find out if this new prototype meets their expectations with a priority to ensure that users could   use the platform easily . 

 Insight 

 By applying this learning tool , we designed and tested our solutions / product following the agile   methodology . Through the learning process we got to improve our online platform to meet client ’s   expectation even if it was changed a lot of times all along the project phase . It ’s through this process we   realized which version of platform that users were more comfortable with . We also realized how agile   approach can improve our processes . From now on , all team members and stakeholders welcomed any   new requirement ’s change and accepted to review the task ’s priorities according to the new change of   needs . 

 Approach 

 Therefore , I ’m convinced that the Learning Launch is the ideal and appropriate tool four our kind of IT   businesses . Since I already experienced this experience in my professional path , I would recommend this   approach in the future in case of similar activities and/or circumstances .
### Output: 