Preparing for the Individual Portfolio
In response to some queries raised yesterday I have prepared the following notes that may be of use to you and your team as you finalise Task 3 of your portfolio.
Note: A very important thing to keep in mind is that this is an individual task. Each of you is required to complete and test a prototype on an aspect of your team's business idea.
Remember, however, that it is based on your team's business idea; you need to be meeting regularly with your team to settle on a POV about the problem and a working idea that you are happy to proceed to develop individual prototypes for.
I have arranged the following notes to relate to the week 5 tutorials (please refer to these slides for additional information).
Instructions provided on UTS Online (Student Guide)
Task: Draft Prototype of Your Team's Business Idea
In your final tutorial your team will be pitching your business solutions. Prototypes can make your ideas come alive. They provide something tangible that can provoke discussions with people about how an idea can be further developed.
- Individually you are required to develop a draft prototype of one aspect of your team's business idea. (Prototypes could include: drawings/ sketches, models etc.)
- Your Turnitin submission (max 500 words) should include:
1. A description of the aspect of your business idea that your prototype is designed to elicit feedback on
2. A photograph of the prototype (including explanation of any key features)
3. Insights you gained from the testing of your prototype with one potential product/ service user
Key issues to keep in mind:
- You will need to settle on an idea with your teammates before commencing.
- After you've settled on an idea I would suggest agreeing as a team on what aspects of that idea need to be tested with consumers. It's ok if multiple students are developing their own individual prototypes to test the same idea.
- Once you have developed your prototype all you have to do is photograph it or otherwise insert it into your word document.
- You then have to test your prototype with one potential user of the product/ service and write up the insights you have gained.
- This is not an essay (the simplest way to set the assessment out is just to arrange it under the 3 headings above)
- You are not required to reference any academic literature for this assignment.
How to go about the task
Aim? To develop individual prototypes of your team's business idea with a view to testing aspects of your business idea with potential real world users.
Who is a real world user for our team's product/ service? (Whom should I test with?) This is a very important question. In the week 5 lectures I have been encouraging you to think about the job to be done for your consumer group. This is not to discount the idea that there is a correlation between particular market segments and purchase intent, but rather to ask you to think about what practical task your consumer group is actually trying to complete (see week 5 readings). Why do they need your product/ service?
This brings us to the POV statement you have all been developing in your teams in the week 5 tutorials. POV statements, as I indicated in the lectures are actionable statements linking a precise user group to a very specific set of needs (these needs are the result of the task they are trying to complete) and an explanation of why those needs exist.
A simple example of a POV statement (please don't use this one)
Distance education students need access to real time computer support because the university uses computer programs that are not used commercially or at other universities.
Once your POV statement is settled on, you then need to brainstorm for ideas on HMW (How Might We) statements or ideas to address that consumer need.
Detailed instructions are provided on ideation in your tutorial notes. When you are brainstorming ideas remember to think about the following issues:
- What is the job our idea for a product or service will help the user complete?
- What pains and gains (Value Proposition Canvas - Week 5) will our idea minimise and enhance?
As you've seen in the week five tutorials, ideation works best it it's:
- Collaborative and participatory. No idea is off limits, while you might later show that an idea is not feasible or viable, proposing the idea may get your team thinking in new directions.
What it the purpose of prototyping? The purpose of prototyping your idea is to ask questions about it. What hypotheses are you making on its usability for real consumers? Will people actually think your idea is helping them to do their daily jobs better? Are you really providing a solution to the problem?
Is it a failure if no one like my prototype when I test it? No absolutely not. The purpose of prototyping is to test assumptions and figure out why something doesn't work. As I said in the lecture, prototype like you're right, test like you're wrong. If people don't like your idea that's fine, find out why and take these insights back to your team.
Regardless of whether your prototype is a model, storyboard, napkin sketch, wall of post it notes (or anything else) it needs to be something your chosen consumer can experience and engage with.
Things to keep in mind when building a prototype (Also look at the Week 5 reading from the book Value Proposition Design)
- Don't be afraid to use basic materials from around the home (lego pieces, cardboard, aluminium foil, bottle tops and sticky tape work great for building physical models).
o But hang on isn't that really basic? The final product would be so much more sophisticated if we were theoretically to build it. The answer to that question is yes it is basic. But remember the aim is not to spend too long on your prototype (if you do you'll get invested in it and want to defend it). You want to develop something tangible people can engage with and then not be afraid to move on and design a prototype that better meets their needs.
- Remember that your napkin sketch (like the one you did in tutorials) is designed to illicit feedback. It's not just about drawing your idea, but rather is a drawing to allow your user to engage with the idea. Will you draw the physical look of the overall product? Will you show the user the customer interface? Etc.
Once we've assembled our prototype, how should we test it?
Some general rules of thumb for testing:
- Be absolutely clear in your own mind what the objective of the test is.
- Consider working in pairs with one of your teammates when testing (one of you can talk to the interviewee, the other teammate can take notes)
- Let your user experience the prototype. Show don't tell. Put your prototype in the user's hands (or your user in the prototype) and give just the minimum context so they understand what to do. Don't explain your thinking or reasoning for your prototype.
- Have them talk through their experience. For example, when appropriate, as the host, ask "Tell me what you are thinking as you are doing this."
- Actively observe. Watch how they use (and misuse!) what you have given them. Don't immediately "correct" what your user tester is doing.
- Follow up with questions. This is important; often this is the most valuable part of testing. "Show me why this would [not] work for you." "Can you tell me more about how this made you feel?" "Why?" Answer questions with questions (i.e. "well, what do you think that button does").
This source, which is produced by the Stanford D-School contains some great insights on the whole design thinking process and is well worth a read.