Post 8

Blog 8 - Project Reflection - 4-Dec

By far, the most valuable concept I pulled from this course was deconstructing and rebuilding the business model using the canvas.  The “Business Model Generator” book will remain in my library indefinitely.  This course was my first experience viewing the idea of a healthy business (and the components and aspects that create it) with an easy to apply, easy to remember framework.  In taking on Target’s problem with reaching millenials, by examining Target’s applicable customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships (and how they are built and maintained), key resources, and key activities, we were able to identify underutilized communication channels and resulting opportunities for Target.

As a result of this course, I have a deeper understanding of the current affairs and prominent issues in dealing with customer insights opportunities balanced with customer privacy considerations.  This understanding is twofold.  First, I understand more fully the extent of possibilities for leveraging “big data”, social media, and customers’ interactions with technology for knowledge of customers’ needs and desires.  I also realized through in class discussion, through assigned readings, through research for the Target project, through research for this blog, and through research for my final paper that data is being severely underutilized at current.  The uses seem to be wide and varied, but are infrequently overlapping.  This means that quite often, organizations are using data in a unique fashion but the data would be best leveraged by using all of these methods simultaneously.  In the case of Target, because the research about leveraging data interactions for customer insights was recent in mind, it led me to ask deeper questions about how Target was leveraging its web presence and mobile applications to attract, interact with, and get to know its new target segments.  By applying this research to the Target project, I was able to wrap the context of the “real business world” around the idea of social media and data analytics based customer insights.  This real world context provided me the chance to quickly understand the real world applications and implications of attempting such a project and the hurdles that would be faced in the business world

I think the least useful portion of the Target research project was phase 1 but I do not believe phase 1 should be moved. I think it would be valuable to the project to combine phases 1 and 2 and create a “List Assumptions, Design Persona, Perform Research – Phase 1”, and have the same process performed in phase 2 so that each team would better define their persona, and have a second chance to craft better research.  Taking this approach would mean that the persona design, listing assumptions, and research design would be done half in phase 1 and half in phase 2 but allow a chance to incorporate lessons learned within this project.  For me, in listing assumptions and developing a research plan I realized the faults in my plan after a quick application and I saw the negative effects in my contribution to the group work.  Having one more quick round to re-design or refine my research plan and then use my remaining resources more efficiently would have benefited my project and learning process overall.

Initially my emotion was confusion, if that can be considered an emotion.  Working with a group of all millennial females on a project about millennial females meant that the individuals were working with a more applicable base of knowledge than I was.  I found myself asking quite often “are you speaking for yourself, or for our persona?”  This was done just to make sure I wasn’t missing something.  As things progressed I decided to just listen more and (go figure!) I learned a lot more.  In addition to the concepts delivered in class, I learned a few different perspectives to approaching the idea of how to understand people.  Towards the end, things worked better as our team merged more.  Throughout the process Professor Walls was extremely helpful and always open to chat about concepts in the project.  Professor Wall’s demeanor and approach to the project made it a more pleasant experience than it could have been and also made the process extremely interactive.  Ultimately I think working in a group made this experience more painful BUT also made it more worthwhile because I believe I learned much more than I would have learned working alone.

All things considered, the Target project and CI was a very positive experience.  Without a doubt, I will be digging through my notes to re-learn lessons for a good amount of time to come.