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MGT 5985
Author Archives: LEONARDO D'AURIA-GUPTA
Posts: 11 (archived below)
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The Soothing Beanie
The Soothing Beanie is a modern beanie and scarf combo to soothe your worst migraines!
Unbutton the flap to block out harsh light and stay warm with a wool body and a cashmere lining for comfort. Connect the Soothing Beanie to any outlet using a convenient magnet connection on each side. When connected, the stretchy carbon tape woven inside the fabrics heats up. When the scarf is buttoned to the beanie, both heat up! Rotate the trendy pom pom on top to tighten a net of fibers for a 360-degree compression massage. Press the pompom down to lock it in place or let go and feel it return to its original shape.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TjKIfIB6QM
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Assumption Map
Assumption Map
Critical Assumptions Justifications
Lilijana is not currently satisfied with the solutions she is using
- If Lilijana does not believe there is a problem, she will not buy the Weekend Kapuch.
Lilijana likes the style of the Weekend Kapuch
- If Lilijana does not think the Weekend Kapuch is “cute” as she would describe it, she would not wear it despite other potential benefits. As noted in assignment 2, this is why the overall style, color, and pom pom were all thoroughly considered.
Lilijana finds the Weekend Kapuch comfortable
- If it is not comfortable, she will not wear it. Whether from harsh light or the cold, the entire goal of the product to make her more comfortable.
Lilijana wants a new hat
- If Lilijana is not willing to buy a new hat because it would mean wearing her other hats less, she will not buy the Weekend Kapuch. Lilijana loves her current hats so it would be important to assess what kind of attachment she has to them.
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Assignment 2 – The Weekend Kapuç
The Weekend Kapuç
The customer is Lilijana, my girlfriend’s mother. She is middle-aged and works full-time as a teacher and school director.
Lilijana is always cold and suffers from frequent migraines. Because of this, she wears a beanie in all conditions, inside or out, summer or winter. If she has a migraine on her days off, you can find her on her couch covered from head to toe with blankets when the light is too irritating.
The Weekend Kapuç (pronounced “Kah-pooch”) is a warm and breathable beanie made out of a technical vegan fabric styled in pink with a pompom on top. On the forehead portion of the Weekend Kapuç, there is a flap fastened by cute buttons. Once unbuttoned, the flap folds down, turning into an eye mask, blocking out the light which can be very harsh while experiencing a migraine. Last but not least, the Weekend Kapuç can be heated up in the microwave which warms a band of beads inside the headband. The Weekend Kapuç allows Lilijana to stay warm all year round, wear her favorite clothing accessory, and gain relief from migraines.
Potential Issues
- It may be hard to create a light material that can be heated up through a microwave, does not get dangerously hot, stays hot for a reasonable amount of time, and is light enough for a thick beanie.
- Coolness seems to be recommended more than heat to help with migraines.
- It may be expensive to protype
Challenges while using TinkerCad
- My design became essentially uneditable, would crash, whenever I made an edit it would immediately revert.
- Per advice found online, I duplicated the entire project which solved the issue.
- I also had difficulty making rounded shapes as I was trying to simulate fabric.
A special thanks to Lilijana for being the inspiration for this product idea. She is a loving mother who makes sure I am well fed and always looks out for me. Whether this idea solves her issue or not is to be determined, but I hope to help her find a solution to her daily problems!
Note: Everything in the design is mine besides the pompom.
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Lego Man
As I child I loved legos! I would look forward to every holiday planning out which lego set I would ask for next. As my collection increased, I would break them apart and create new things along with a story in my head to follow. I hope to one day play with legos with children.
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Expert Interview
The expert I am reaching out to is Upright, a company that creates a wearable that vibrates when you slouch to remind you to fix your posture. I want to speak with someone at Upright because I have found them to be the most noticeable solution online, have read multiple positive reviews, and believe that I could learn valuable insights as they seem to have been successful over the past seven years.
Some questions I want to ask are:
- What have you learned about consumer preferences regarding wearables and price?
- I want to challenge assumptions I made about consumers, that they do not want to wear a device and that the solution needs to be inexpensive.
- How do you measure your KPI’s?
- The website has these KPIs listed in multiple places, I want to learn how these are measured.
- How did you test the product?
- The website notes, “After an incredible amount of research, discussions with doctors, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and product testing, Upright was officially born in 2014.” I want to learn how they tested the product as I think it will lead to design, consumer, and scientific insights.
- How do you find and attract customers? I’ve noticed many videos and articles created reviewing the Upright Go 2.
- Their most recent product, Upright GO 2 seems very popular online, having multiple articles and numerous youtube review videos made by third parties discussing it. I want to learn if this was purposeful and how this has affected the business.
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Assignment 1 – Competitor Analysis
Conducting a competitor analysis forced me to understand what current solutions are available and how they actually differed from mine. It would have been much easier to have “blinders” on and assume that people are waiting in line for me to release mine but as the competitive analysis demonstrated, this is not the case. I want to differentiate from MacBreakZ by targeting Baruch students who are less likely to have repetitive strain injuries but many still experience pain from improper computer use. Furthermore, I want to improve on personalization through a calendar integration and on activity tracking via the webcam. MacBreakZ has the competitive advantage of having a well-built product that has only required minor maintenance over many years. I have a feeling this will not be as great for students as I originally thought as I believe many students lay in their bed since the pandemic started and so it might work better for working professionals or other people, who are more prone to RSIs. That being said, maybe there is a way to better tailor the solution to students who are often in “non-traditional” workspaces such as their bed or couch. I think this is a gap in the market that is not being adequately fulfilled. MacBreakZ is also not available on Windows but Workrave is the next most similar competitor. The cons of WorkRave is that its UI is outdated and it has inferior timing personalizations and usage tracking. The questions that I now have are: is the white space large enough to justify building this product and will it be effective enough? Another interesting note is where I found much of my information from. For example, a teacher from CollegePrep posted a short video about ergonomic workspaces and mentioned it in the video. The unconventional places were important as Publicsquare.net,, the company that created MacBreakZ does not seem to be a large company and had limited information.
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Assignment 1 Reflection
Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that can look different in every scenario. It is a powerful system that I intend to learn more about and apply to my work outside of school to solve difficult problems that I have not succeeded in the past. As I described in Assignment 1, I am currently using the early stages of design thinking to create a better proposal for a potential client, to increase the probability of being hired. I look forward to practicing design thinking as I believe I will improve at it each time. I can see myself empathizing more, bringing fewer assumptions, forgoing solutions early on to sufficiently immerse myself in the problem. I would like to learn more about how design thinking is used for non-product, more abstract problems such as structures.
Assignment 1 allowed me to hear others’ thoughts about design thinking, comparing their words, and contrasting their actions. I found the IDEO shopping cart video particularly interesting as I think it led to insights about their process. For example, the way interviewee talked about their organizational structure was flat made sense when they emphasized not shooting down ideas and even enforced it by publicly calling them out. Also, how a more junior member was a group leader simply because was better suited to the task. A final example is how they leverage experts on the problem they are solving rather than learning everything themselves. Creating a more meritocratic, open-minded culture allows them to better work together and leverage their resources.
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Lean Canvas 1 – Posture
Problem
I personally suffer from chronic back/neck pain from sitting at a computer for most hours of the day and my problems have increased since going remote due to the Pandemic. My posture has become poorer and it is harder to sit properly for many hours during the day. When I am on video calls with other students, for class, clubs, etc. I notice their posture is not the greatest, usually slouching, and particularly for the students without expensive chairs (I also do not use one).
Solution
The solution should be at the cause of the problem, poor posture, which takes place at your computer. That is why the solution will be accessible from any computer. I am a culprit of downloading apps with the goal of improving my health and productivity but don’t use them because of a lack of motivation and difficulty getting started. The smart tasks must be convenient and realistic otherwise they will become just another notification on our devices. The app is useless and potentially annoying unless the user wants to follow it so Posture will be designed to make it as easy as possible.
Unique Value Proposition
Dynamic smart tasks make it as easy as possible to complete. The tasks will fit around your schedule, can be completed in 15 seconds, and while sitting down. Posture will be designed with psychological principles of motivation and gamification to incentivize users to complete the tasks. The smart tasks will change based on the data collected (did a user complete the task, how many did they complete, etc.). Similarly, how your favorite social media and gaming apps send you notifications to hook you, Posture aims to do the same with productive and hyper-quick tasks
Unfair Advantage
Many solutions require a physical device such as a brace that stretches you or something you stick on your body. Both of these can be costly, cumbersome when getting started, and interfere with clothing. Posture will only require your computer and will be inexpensive or free.
Customer Segments
The target customers are Baruch students. This will increase to all students and then to professionals working from home, and eventually all sedentary workers. I believe many desk workers live overly sedentary lifestyles and as a result, suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain is something many people can relate to and spend a significant amount of money to alleviate.
Existing alternatives
Upright, MacBreakZ, Posture Man Pat, and Apple watch reminders are some of the many existing alternatives. While these may work for some people, (more research is required), I think they can be improved through calendar integrations and utilizing psychological principles of motivation to build lasting habits in an easy way.
Key Metrics
It is important to know if users are actually using the app and for how long. This data will help us improve posture and understand if we are actually making the tasks easier for users to perform and if we are motivating them. The percentage of users who complete the tasks will further help this (users will press a button when completing a task).
High-level Concept
Chrome web-extension or app that integrates with your calendar and at appropriate times, gives you a convenient task to improve posture and alleviate pain. Data analytics are used to customize the app to improve the amount and difficulty of tasks completed.
Channels
Social media is where people are spending their time. If we can communicate how Posture allows you to become more confident, productive, attractive, and pain-free, we can tap into thoughts already spurred up by the content users are viewing through social media. Also, maybe LinkedIn is an appropriate place for ads as people may use it more at their desk during working hours.
User references are also important as if my friend says this helped improve their posture, I will be very motivated to try it. This can also be tied into gamification as the app improves.
Early Adopters
The Baruch undergraduate student population is a great customer segment to test and release as almost all classes are online and have been for the last two semesters. Even while on campus, the library is always packed with tired students hunched over in chairs without a great ergonomic design.
Using this feedback, we can look at other people who spend many hours on a daily basis on a computer such as other college students or even people who work from home.
Assumptions
One assumption that must be true for this idea to succeed is that other young people suffer from chronic pain and are looking to improve it. Maybe other students don’t care about their posture as they never turn on their camera and the pain is only an inconvenience and not a problem.
Another assumption is that Posture can actually reduce chronic pain and improve posture enough in the beginning when the tasks are easy and infrequent enough to encourage users to continue using the app. While the smart tasks may be easy enough, users will stop doing them and using the app if they don’t notice a change.
Finally, are the smart tasks able to help change a user’s habits outside of when they are completing the tasks?
I welcome all feedback!
– Leo
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Posture
Since the pandemic hit the U.S. in March of 2020, it has become an extremely easy and common place for me to sit at my computer almost all day. Most of my daily activities are tied solely to a computer, including work, school, school organizations, socializing remotely, gaming. As my lifestyle has become more sedentary and I could not go to the gym, I developed poor posture causing pain and discomfort in many places including my neck, shoulders, and back. I’ve tried certain solutions such as stretching in the morning and trying to sit up straight when I notice myself slouching. While the stretching helped, throughout the day my posture would progressively get worse without a reset and I would often not even realize that I am slouching.
The solution is an app or Chrome extension called Posture. Posture sends you smart notifications with specific tasks to improve your posture that take 15 seconds. Posture syncs with your calendar to not disturb you during meetings and works around your schedule. Posture is fully customizable allowing you to change the amount, frequency, and types of tasks, for example stretches that don’t require you to stand up. In the future, there will be breathing exercises and other smart breaks included. When a task appears the user must confirm that they completed it or quit it off and posture will use this information to tailor the tasks to you. Camera-enabled features include analyzing your sitting posture to improve the tasks, monitoring the head position throughout the data, and ergonomically aligning your desk setup. Posture will allow everyday undergrad students who are doing school and much more from home to improve their health, focus, and feel better throughout the day with no more than 15 seconds and without ever leaving your chair.
From my preliminary research, Posture may be a perfect fit for students. Posture does not require a physical device and is inexpensive (free or $.99) unlike many of the solutions which can be at least $100 and only have reminders to fix your posture. Many competitors are not device agnostic and phone-only. Two roadblocks that I anticipate in the future of Posture is that I am not a developer nor am I a health professional. Despite this, I could see myself and others using this product.
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What Does Innovation Mean to Me?
Innovation occurs when something new is created. I typically think of it through the lens of business but innovation can be anything from the new improving the camera on the new iPhone every year to a new way of doing something. Simply put, innovation is doing something or creating something new that has benefit. I view innovation in my personal life as a perpetual process, as I try to improve one day to the next, from changing my diet, implementing a new routine, or using a new product, all with the goal of making my life more enjoyable in one form or another.
It is easy to confuse innovative ideas with true innovation as innovative ideas have no value unless acted upon, which in doing so is innovation. This is also clear to me in my personal life, as me hearing about something I could do to improve my life doesn’t actually improve my life unless I actually do it. The same is for businesses, innovative ideas must be implemented in order to create value.
It is also important to recognize that innovation doesn’t only come from ground-breaking ideas such as the iPhone but it can be a small improvement in the way we approach a problem or complete a process that can have a tremendous impact over time.
The question, “What does innovation mean to me?” implies that there are many definitions of innovation and people use different ones interchangeably. Whichever definition we choose to use, we should make sure that we focus on not only how we can foster innovative ideas but how we can implement them to benefit from true innovation.
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