Generative Research

1.
What I can’t Live Without
 First and foremost my family is most important to me and my iPhone/iPad allow me to connect with them on a daily basis.   My family drinks a lot of wine  together and yoga makes me feel good.
 What I care About
I care about having enough money to not worry about it and be able to eat as many red velvet cupcakes and French fries as a I can on a St John USVI beaah.
 2.

 
Add: I would add mobile app media, I look at WSJ and CNN everyday and they lead me to other news sources but they are my starting point.
 1. National Newspapers: For my top methods of consumption for news I use national newspapers online the most, this is because I receive Google alerts for the top 10 hit in the news today for the specified topic to my email address and then I click the links to interesting articles.  Most of the links are to online national newspapers.
 2. Facebook: My second most frequently used new source is Facebook.  Facebook is real time and alerts me of breaking news. From there I click the links to find out more about the news piece.
 3. Web Search: I use web search to support all of my news needs.  After I receive an email alert or notice a trend on Facebook I will web search the topic to find out more. 

3.

1. News and HW:  This is the first thing I do in the mornings.  Once my alarm goes off I reach my phone and see what happened while I was sleeping (news or emails).  After I catch myself up in the mornings on the world and national news I turn on the Today show.  They do a good job of giving me more detail about what is going on in the world while also letting me know about the local Austin news like the weather and traffic.

2. Lunch and Meetings:  I use this time to see what else has happened in the world since my classes have been going on.  I first check my email then my news apps on my iPhone or IPad. I also use this time to talk with friends and learn about what is going on in their lives. There is a broad scope of news that I see at this time period.

3. Homework and Dinner:  While cooking dinner I usually have the news on (local and international). Once I am done with cooking and eating dinner, usually with my roommate I then start my home work for the evening.  At this point I usually have to Google a few topics or news stories to learn more about a subject.  I also have a large breadth of news at this time of day. 

Journey Map

Trip Name: Corporate Ski Trip to Lake Tahoe

Goal of the Trip: Ski as much as possible and have fun with work friends outside of a work setting and get a break form the grind of client service

Background: AL is a consultant for a large consulting firm working out of Cleveland.  At the time of the trip he was a consultant and was planning a trip for all the analysis and consultants in his office. This was the fourth time the ski trip was happening for the Cleveland office.

Milestones:

1. Deciding Where to Go

The trip location changed every year so this was the first and the most important step in the planning. Every year the location has changed. The year before it was at Breckenridge, CO. AL decided on the Lake Tahoe area because it was his favorite place he had skied but he had not been in many years.

 Selected the Lake Tahoe area for a few reasons:

1. Close to the Reno airport and close to other airports allowing people to find the best airport and price for them
2. There were many resorts in a small area so they could ski a different place each day
3. There were varied terrain easy slopes for beginners to extreme off trail slopes for the experts.

2. Gauge Interests

AL sent out an email to the Analysts, Consultants and Sr. Consultants in the Cleveland office.  There was about 50 people invited on the trip and about 25 were interested in the trip.  This allowed him to start looking for the housing options and go him very excited since with such a large group this is was going to be a great trip.

3.     Looking for Lodging

AL wanted to find the most fun house he could find. He developed the following criteria:

•       Available for their times
•        Ski in ski out
•        Large enough for all to sleep in beds
•        Hot tub
•        Large common area
•        Game room

There are a lot of houses in the Tahoe area so finding a house with all of his criteria was not that hard to do. Once AL identified the house he was excited to share the news with all that were interested in the trip. His co-planner then told him he had to send out an email requesting deposit money from all interested, he was not happy about this.  He hates asking people for money but he sent out the email and they received all the money they needed for the deposit to secure the house for the trip.

4.     Travel Logistics

All of the participants were coming from different locations all over the US and booked flights in to different area airports.  AL was tasked with figuring out who was landing where and when so then they could share rental cars. He did this by developing a database of the flight information and the deciding whom was arriving around the same time and at the same airport each other. This allowed everyone to share rental cars and reduce the cost of the trip.

5.     Skier Activities

Most of the people on the trip were skiers and wanted to get the best deal they could on lift tickets and rentals.  Many of them had to rent ski equipment because they were traveling for work during the weeks before and after so getting the right equipment at the right price was important.  AL took this as his mission and used his negotiation skills to work with and pit the different companies against each other. Most would have found this a daunting task but AL was excited and treated it as a game. In end he found great deals for the group.

6.     Non-Skier Activities

There were a few people on the trip who were not skiers but wanted to join the fun anyways.  AL had to find activities for them to do while the others were out skiing. His goal was to find activities that were fun and winter focused for the non-skiers.  He did research and found out other options in the Tahoe area. He was able to find a few good ones that everyone enjoyed (snowmobiling, snowshoeing and gambling).

7.     In-House Activities

The trip was around the time of the winter Olympics and therefore they wanted to incorporate the winter Olympics into their trip.  AL planned a “winter Olympics” for the whole house one night. This was a lot of work on his part but enjoyed planning an event that had the potential for being a lot of fun for everyone.

8.     Meals

Meals were actually the easiest part for AL because he outsources the mail planning to two other people on the trip.  They went to Costco before the trip and bought everything they needed to feed the 25 people on the trip and then included the costs into the final payment amount. 

Below is the Journey Map for this trip.

Empathy Map

My chosen person lets call him Bob, is a 60-year-old male who works as a Hospital Administrator helping then improve failing areas within the hospital with an affinity for sailing.

      What does he or she think and feel?

Bob is a man who cares for his family and friends deeply and will do what ever it take to help them in their time of need. He is a supportive husband who will sacrifice his drive to find a new job so his wife can go back to school and have her own business.

He loves his job but is becoming tired of the long hours working at the hospital.  Bob is worried about supporting his family for the long term but he is looking to retire soon.  Retirement is a dream for him and a long way off, his retirement planning was hit hard in 2008 when the markets collapsed and now he is looking a lot more years of working than he had originally planned on.

Bob has two grown children who he does not financially support anymore but is still very involved in their lives. His son is married and he is always thinking and hoping that his sons marriage is going well and will be successful in his job. His daughter is more into traveling the world than relationships; he worries about her safety when she is in developing nations.

      What does he or she see?

Bob wakes up everyday early on his boat with his wife.  He is getting up at 4 or 5am so he can lead his first team meeting with the night shift for the day. Driving to work over the bridge so early in the morning bridge allows him the privilege of watching the sunrise while listening to morning radio news. Since not many coffee places or restaurants are open this early in the morning he stops at McDonalds for a soda and some breakfast, its quick and easy but not as healthy as it good be. This leads to some of his health issues. Walking into work he sees many doctors and nurses completing their jobs as best as they can with the cut resources and lack of sleep.

      What does he or she say and do?

Every morning Bob checks the lines on his boat to make sure everything is secure then checks his email on his iPad.  This device is great for his life it is small enough he can carry it with him but large enough he can see it without using his glasses all the time. The ability to check his email on the boat on a lightweight device that he can see is a huge improvement in his ability to communicate; using his android cell phone to check emails was straining his eyes.  At work he is being forced to cut more to save costs. His hospital is one of very few making a profit and because of that he has to cut costs, it does not make much sense to him but he has to do it because that is what the board is telling him to.  Making theses decisions are hard, they affect the lives of his employees and the care they are able to give their patients. Cutting costs when you are making only pennies on the dollar or in many cases losing money on the dollar makes it hard to keep morale up at times.  Bob leads at least two team meetings a day (one for the night shift and one for the day shift), this keeps him at the hospital for longer hours than he would like.

Bob has a positive attitude, in most situations but he has a solid head on his shoulders.  Most people go to him for advice either in life or far career decisions. Most organizations he is a member of at some point or another will ask him to be on the board. He is 60 now, he has been on the board of many organizations throughout his years.

When Bob is not working he is focusing on helping his family and fixing his boat.

      What does he or she hear?

Bob hears the same thing most people hear at work, “we need to save and cut costs.” He has been hearing this for years but this time is more than normal.  He has already cut all the expenses he can and he has cut hours of employees.  His final step is to start cutting staff.  While he is reducing the costs of doing business per dollar spent he is asked to increase the patient service with less money and less staff, an impossible task but some how he and his team does it.

Outside of work he is hearing that he needs to save more for retirement and family vacation and maybe a new bigger boat.  His friends are always inviting him and his wife out for drinks or over for dinner. They have more plans than a normal 20 something. His family is worried about his health and tries to nudge him to eat better and drink less soda but he feels he needs it and does not stop.

What are his or her pain points?

Bob is worried that he is cutting to much at work and literally cutting the feet off his organization but he has to do what he is told to survive, they will not receive more money than they did last year and they will probably receive a lot less.

Retirement is a sensitive topic, Bob would like to retire soon but the 2008 crisis really hurt his savings and now he is just working to survive and saving as much as he can. Hopefully his wife will be able to use her education to find some new clients and land big deal that could help them out.

      What does he or she hope to gain?

Bob is successful when he is able to save a significant amount of money into his retirement fund.  That means he is one step closer to retirement. He would like to buy a new boat and take some more family vacations. He is looking to complete the goals that are set for him at work but sometimes feels he is set up for failure. He wishes the best for his children and their significant others. Bob wants his wife to be happy and enjoy her job, she has worked so hard for.