Learning Launch for a 2 Day Training Course 

 Challenge and Selection   The Design Thinking tool I chose was the Learning Launch . We use this to quickly and cheaply test an   idea and prove or disprove our assumptions . This is an approach I ’ve used in business many times   when we ’re trying something new and want to ensure we ’re doing the right thing before we roll   something out fully – a fast , cheap experiment before we jump into the unknown . 

 The project in question was to sell , develop , deliver and get accreditation for a 2 day training course   for project managers . After a series of brainstorming sessions on new ideas we could do we had a   hunch the training course was something project managers would be interested in but it was   different to our other offerings and to offerings from our competitors . We wanted to know that the   material covered in the course was most likely what the target project managers were interested in   and that they would pay to attend the training . In short , we wanted to test our key assumptions   regarding the course content and whether it was attractive to the market . To develop the entire   training course , get accreditation and then find out our potential customers were n’t interested   would have been expensive and time consuming so we decided to run a Learning Launch to find out   if we were more likely to succeed before we invested fully in developing the training . 

 Application   We started the process by looking at the learning objectives for the accreditation of the course and   putting together a course description and outline which both matched the learning objectives and ,   in our view would be interesting to project managers . 

 Rather than jump into developing the course and gaining accreditation we took the course outline   and created a PDF document , scheduled some courses nationally ( we ’re in New Zealand so it ’s only a   small country ) and added them to a course schedule on our website . Any interested project   managers could download the course outline PDF to review the course content and if they wanted   to attend they could register and pay for the training course online . Of course , in scheduling the   courses we gave ourselves enough time to develop the training course and get the material   accredited if our assumptions were proven . If they were n’t proven then we could either pivot and   adjust our course outline or park the idea for another time . 

 We then had key people from each of our 3 main offices talk to our corporate clients who had a   ‘ Project Management Office ’ and asked them to look at our website and review the course outline .   We asked for feedback on the content and were conscious not to push people to sign up for the   training . We left that in their hands , knowing that if they did it was because the course looked   attractive – our assumptions would be proven . The ultimate test for us was if people registered and   paid for the training . Getting users to ultimately pay for the training course was the ultimate   indicator to us that the course content was something project managers wanted . 

 Insight and Approach   What we learned from conducting this exercise was that the training course was indeed attractive to   project managers . Within 2 weeks one of our courses in our largest city had enough registered   participants to know it would definitely go ahead . The feedback from our existing clients had been   positive too . There were a couple of topics not covered in the course outline or learning objectives   that they were particularly interested in too so we made sure to include them in an updated course   outline and in the course material once it was created . 

 We then set about putting together a ‘ Lean Business Canvas ’ ( a really light business case ) to get   some internal funding to create the course material – this involved some staff setting aside key time   and a set number of hours to develop the material and gain accreditation so there was a reasonable   cost component for the company . Given that we ’d already undertaken a Learning Launch and   proved our assumptions ( with a few tweaks of the content ) and had a course already confirmed with   paid participants , approval was a mere formality . 

 This Learning Launch approach is now seen as a successful way to experiment with new initiatives   innovations quickly and cheaply across the company . 

 If we were to undertake this project again I think I would separate the feedback of the course outline   from the course registration process . I think we were lucky that the course content was hitting the   mark and project managers registered for the training . If they had n’t have registered we would have   been stuck in a quandary of not knowing if the course outline was the objection , or if they liked the   outline but the price for the course was too high . In future we might not be so lucky . I ’m now more   conscious of combining assumptions and making sure we ’re not testing too many assumptions at   once ( price and content outline in this example ) but in this case the Learning Launch proved   successful in that it validated our assumptions and meant we were more confident of success once   we developed the course material . 


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: Learning Launch for a 2 Day Training Course 

 Challenge and Selection   The Design Thinking tool I chose was the Learning Launch . We use this to quickly and cheaply test an   idea and prove or disprove our assumptions . This is an approach I ’ve used in business many times   when we ’re trying something new and want to ensure we ’re doing the right thing before we roll   something out fully – a fast , cheap experiment before we jump into the unknown . 

 The project in question was to sell , develop , deliver and get accreditation for a 2 day training course   for project managers . After a series of brainstorming sessions on new ideas we could do we had a   hunch the training course was something project managers would be interested in but it was   different to our other offerings and to offerings from our competitors . We wanted to know that the   material covered in the course was most likely what the target project managers were interested in   and that they would pay to attend the training . In short , we wanted to test our key assumptions   regarding the course content and whether it was attractive to the market . To develop the entire   training course , get accreditation and then find out our potential customers were n’t interested   would have been expensive and time consuming so we decided to run a Learning Launch to find out   if we were more likely to succeed before we invested fully in developing the training . 

 Application   We started the process by looking at the learning objectives for the accreditation of the course and   putting together a course description and outline which both matched the learning objectives and ,   in our view would be interesting to project managers . 

 Rather than jump into developing the course and gaining accreditation we took the course outline   and created a PDF document , scheduled some courses nationally ( we ’re in New Zealand so it ’s only a   small country ) and added them to a course schedule on our website . Any interested project   managers could download the course outline PDF to review the course content and if they wanted   to attend they could register and pay for the training course online . Of course , in scheduling the   courses we gave ourselves enough time to develop the training course and get the material   accredited if our assumptions were proven . If they were n’t proven then we could either pivot and   adjust our course outline or park the idea for another time . 

 We then had key people from each of our 3 main offices talk to our corporate clients who had a   ‘ Project Management Office ’ and asked them to look at our website and review the course outline .   We asked for feedback on the content and were conscious not to push people to sign up for the   training . We left that in their hands , knowing that if they did it was because the course looked   attractive – our assumptions would be proven . The ultimate test for us was if people registered and   paid for the training . Getting users to ultimately pay for the training course was the ultimate   indicator to us that the course content was something project managers wanted . 

 Insight and Approach   What we learned from conducting this exercise was that the training course was indeed attractive to   project managers . Within 2 weeks one of our courses in our largest city had enough registered   participants to know it would definitely go ahead . The feedback from our existing clients had been   positive too . There were a couple of topics not covered in the course outline or learning objectives   that they were particularly interested in too so we made sure to include them in an updated course   outline and in the course material once it was created . 

 We then set about putting together a ‘ Lean Business Canvas ’ ( a really light business case ) to get   some internal funding to create the course material – this involved some staff setting aside key time   and a set number of hours to develop the material and gain accreditation so there was a reasonable   cost component for the company . Given that we ’d already undertaken a Learning Launch and   proved our assumptions ( with a few tweaks of the content ) and had a course already confirmed with   paid participants , approval was a mere formality . 

 This Learning Launch approach is now seen as a successful way to experiment with new initiatives   innovations quickly and cheaply across the company . 

 If we were to undertake this project again I think I would separate the feedback of the course outline   from the course registration process . I think we were lucky that the course content was hitting the   mark and project managers registered for the training . If they had n’t have registered we would have   been stuck in a quandary of not knowing if the course outline was the objection , or if they liked the   outline but the price for the course was too high . In future we might not be so lucky . I ’m now more   conscious of combining assumptions and making sure we ’re not testing too many assumptions at   once ( price and content outline in this example ) but in this case the Learning Launch proved   successful in that it validated our assumptions and meant we were more confident of success once   we developed the course material .
### Output: 