It was a great experience at the IFA innovation readiness program. We were taken through the depth of design thinking so that we can provide solutions at our placements and in other areas. According to Interaction Design Foundation, Design Thinking is a design methodology that provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It’s extremely useful in tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or unknown, by understanding the human needs involved, by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways, by creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and by adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. We can clearly define this nonlinear process into five stages which are; EMPATHIZE, DEFINE, IDEATE, PROTOTYPE AND TEST.
The interesting part about learning design thinking was that we practically experienced the process in the form of a hackathon. Hackathons are events in which community members collaborate to solve problems.
The hackathon began with a 60 seconds pitch by the fellows on ideas centered around the Education, Health, and Finance sectors of Nigeria. Among the great ideas, the one that caught my attention was solving learning problems so that people could learn in a cheaper manner and also earn from their learning. So, with my interest in Education, I was paired with great team mates who made the hackathon an awesome learning process for me. They are; Ademola Adewuyi, Chukwukere Joy, Idara, and Stanley Egbobawaye. It looked somehow at first but we were able to get along right from the first meeting.
While generating the final idea to work on, I identified the problem that graduates and undergraduates find it difficult to learn a desired digital skill in an easy way and I suggested that there should be a platform to recommend the right learning to them. As good as my contribution seems, my teammates came up with a fantastic one which is that graduates find it difficult to get entry level jobs. So as to identify the right problem and generate the appropriate solution, we had to go through the design thinking process.
THE PROCESS
Empathize
This is the first stage of the Design Thinking process and the purpose is to gain an empathic understanding of the problem we are trying to solve. We need to be in the users position, feel what they feel and understand how it would be to solve their problem. The way we did this was to conduct primary market research with students and graduates.
Define
This is the point where we put together the information we have created and gathered during the Empathise stage. The insight we gained at the end of the PMR was that graduates don’t have learning problems, they have the problem of accessing opportunities to practice what they’ve learned in real scenarios. This was the beginning of JobEase: a platform that matches fresh graduates with entry level job opportunities. The PMR also made us understand that employers have hiring problems, they get thousands of applications for one position and couldn’t easily filter the best at the end of it all. That was how we add another value to JobEase which is to help employees get the best applicants.
Ideate
At this stage, we began to generate ideas to solve the problem since we have been able to define it. We finally agreed on a platform that matches fresh graduates with entry level job opportunities in verified businesses so that they can gather momentum to grow their career. After ideating comes prototyping.
Prototype
A prototype is an inexpensive, scaled down version of the product or specific features found within the product, so the solution providers can investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous stage which was ideation. JobEase was designed as a desktop application where an applicant could signup and complete their profile and also have employers sign up to select from recommended applicants who they desire to interview. The prototype was rapidly designed in Figma and the sign up page for the applicants and employers have been attached below;
PITCH DAY
A pitch is essentially a business plan that one presents verbally to potential investors of a business. The pitch day was when we presented our work so far to our facilitators, fellow trainees, and guest judges. Our pitch was centered around our value proposition, a summary of our business model and a quick oral walkthrough of our prototype. Each of my teammates handled a part of the pitch. The part I handled was the oral walkthrough of our prototype showing how our solution works.
PRODUCT SUMMARY
Problem - Solution Cycle
Underlying Magic - Value Proposition
The Users
Graduates who want to get entry level jobs
Employers who desire to hire entry level staff and want to do away with the stress that comes with hiring process
Revenue Stream
The Prototype
The Prototype
The hackathon experience made me understand that until I empathise with the user, I won't be able to solve their problems. Looking at how we understood our users through the Primary Market Research, I would be able to apply thesame knowledge at a startup by contributing to helping the startup understand her users so that the startup can solve the right problem for the right users.