Project Reflection

I feel like the skill I learned most in this course is what it means to empathize and its importance. Learning to empathize with your customer is at the core of understanding their wants and needs. It allows you to go beyond knowing what they want and understanding the influences in their lives that drive their desires. In the case of our project we interviewed young professional women and got surface level answers. All the information we collected created a persona by the name of Allie. We had to go beyond that though. We had to observe her behavior patterns and look for similarities across different areas of her life. Allie liked things that were consistent and structured. She was new in the "real world" and expected to get in return what she gave of herself. By observing her interests and hobbies we were able to compare and find a desire for structure and quality. This is what it means to gain empathy for someone. Rather than asking them what they want, you have to dig deeper to connect their habits and preferences to motivational drivers. This allows you to better understand her thought process and ultimately realize what she wants as a consumer.

Secondly, I feel that I gained a deeper understanding of brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is not as simple as having a great product or stylish line of products. It reaches into the psychological side of a consumer and is determined by their trust in the company's ability to produce quality products. In our project with Ally we questioned to discover what attracted her to a store or company. After seeing what motivated her and impacted her, we were able to determine what factors determine reliability for her. Her work ethic, involvement outside of work, and personality in general showed that she likes things to be done right the first time. Therefore, we were able to conclude that a main factor of her loyalty was reliability. She wants to be able to count on quickly finding the quality she needs and having that same experience every time she shops.

I cannot say that I found any part of the project not to be useful. I feel like each part was necessary in learning the process as a whole. The only part I think may be less beneficial was the gathering of information and research. It was a very lengthy process out of which we did not obtain an extreme amount of information. By the time the research was completed, we were hustling to analyze it anyway we could and draw up a prototype. I feel like we could have gained more insight into empathizing if we would have been given the research and had to draw conclusions from it and compare across more individuals. This would have allowed us to spend more time failing at our first attempts to gain empathy and receive guidance toward the right mindset. We also would have had more time to try to translate this into an effective prototype.

I had a great time with my group! We bonded really well and there was always a positive energy in our meetings. I am very thankful that our personalities meshed well because there were several times along the way that we had to be patient with each other. So much of our business education has been mathematical or looking at things in terms of equations and products. So much of this project was disregarding that and trying to understand emotions. There were several occasions we asked for guidance and when Ryan or Professor Walls left we were staring at each other and scratching our heads. The most stressful part was developing the prototype. I feel like we planned our work really well throughout the semester, but we were still left with minimal time to create our prototype. I would have liked to better understand the process of generating a useful prototype. I feel like working as a group helped to complete it though. The team was very encouraging, helpful, and insightful. I learned a great deal just form listening to them talk. Listening to different people express their ideas on empathy allowed me to pick apart audible ideas to contribute to my own understanding. 

Generative Research

The Major Decision

Shelby is in her first year of her masters at the University of Texas getting a degree in Science in Business Analytics. She is a rare girl with strong ambition and wisdom. Shelby was in a sorority for 4 years, is a strong believer in her faith, and has the wisdom and maturity of someone older than herself. These character traits have contributed greatly to the amount of thought she has put into her career path and the decisions she made. I initially set out to study the choices made by an undergraduate student, but I thought her story was just as relevant. The Masters in Professional Accounting (MPA) program is somewhat integrated into undergraduate culture in he McCombs School of Business since student’s apply sophomore year and begin work for this program their junior year. Selecting a major is a major decision and Shelby has been working on hers since her sophomore year of high school.

In high school, Shelby was a diligent student. She graduated from a large public school near Houston, Tx and had her sights set on business since her sophomore year. As senior year approached, she decided to pursue business honors and works towards the Masters in Professional Accounting program. A large part of this decision came from the influence of her parents’ suggestions. Accounting was not her main desire, but her desire to excel in business and the reputation of the program had more influence. At this point she was not clear on what she absolutely wanted to do, so she decided she would work hard until she figured it out. This is a strong testament to her determination and desire for success in the business world.

Freshman year bears many distractions. Shelby pledged a sorority, found a new church, and made many new friends. However, none of this was done at the expense of her schoolwork. Social life came second to the goals she set for herself. She and her parents had a clear vision of what the current path was, and that was to do well in the Business Honors Program (BHP) and to begin working towards getting into the Masters of Accounting Program (MPA). Along with her parents came the influence of her classmates. The business school is a competitive place and conversations constantly revolve around classroom success and career direction. Student interactions form a kind of hierarchy of majors and make students want to aim for accounting and the MPA program since it is the most celebrated. Clearly, her strongest influence her sophomore year were the words of her friends. Shelby vividly remembers her first days of school when many business school functions involved bragging on the accounting program.

The year that had the most introverted influence on her choice was sophomore year. It was a year of hard work and many late nights spent in the business school. The first semester was similar to her freshman year, but the second semester was stressful because of the approaching application date to the MPA program. There was the stress of making the grades, along with the constant conversations amongst classmate about the application date and who they thought would and would not make it. Shelby began to feel like she had to be very political in school. Had to be careful what she said and tried not to engage in conversations started up about other class mates. She just tried to focus on her work and take care of herself.

Shelby was accepted into the MPA program the summer before her junior year which was an exciting time and a big relief. Her first semester she started her classes geared toward MPA program. They were more challenging, but she continued through the motions of diligence that she always had. Her fall semester ended and it felt just like all the others. When she got back in the spring, she began to look for her first internship. After she finished her spring semester and started her internship, she began to have her first doubts about the MPA program. Her interests were changing and she was beginning to discover and acknowledge her passions. Shelby decided to continue through the MPA program and try a different area of Accounting.

Shelby’s summer internship had a large influence in changing her perspective on her major and her senior year began the last leg of her time in the MPA program. She did her major internship in the spring of her senior year and it was enough to convince her that she no longer wanted to study accounting. She made the decision to drop MPA, graduate from business honors, and went into a Master of Science in Business Analytics program. She said the decision to change was extremely tough. "The time from January to now has been a marathon of death." People gave her a hard time for dropping and the school was not very enthused to drop a student from their program. Shelby chose to stand strong though, and move forward to her true interest.

Empathy Map

Effective marketing requires a strong understanding of your customer. In order to do that, you must gain empathy for your target market to understand what it is they want and need. It is important to recognize their stage of life, their environment, and to consider their thoughts and feelings. I am doing this observation of empathy in order to understand someone at a different life stage than me. I am hoping to grow in the ability to observe a person and understand what things are most important to them.

 

My specimen, Brian, is someone I met recently that has become a role model for me. Brian is a 26 year old male beginning his navigation through the working world. He graduated from a large university and worked in a large company for a couple years before realizing he was ready to start his own business. He left his “safe” job and chased his passion of technology. Brian has a good amount of savings from his last job, but is making sure to save where he can while building his business and reputation.

 

 

 

Brian works from home. He conducts no business in his house other than through his computer, so a professional atmosphere is not a major concern outside of his workspace. Work is in cyber world and social life is in the physical world. Time is spent in the area of Dallas where many other young professionals live. He likes to go out and experience new things with his friends like traveling, concerts, and just interacting with all people.

 

 

 

 

The life of a young entrepreneur is fast paced and exciting. Brian has a high level of energy and is very outgoing. His entrepreneurial spirit is always chasing adventure and looking for new experiences. People’s perception of him is right in line with who he is, for the most part. With a normal day consisting of computer work and friends, Brian is usually dressed casually, but clean and professional. He seems youthful in spirit, but mature at heart. When you first meet him, he only wants to hear about you and is genuinely interested in you as a person. He may be a new friend, but feels like an old friend very quickly. Brian is eager to know and help anyone he can.

 

 

Brian seeks input from important people in his life. He has a close friend group from college that has a large influence on his life. All of his friends work, and many of them are married. He is not married yet, but may feel some subconscious pressure to move that direction from the amount of marriage talks he hears from close friends. A young professional his age is trying to balance home life, work life, and love life. The pursuit of a partner is probably a thought that lingers at the front of his mind.

 

Chasing dreams is an act of courage. There is a great deal of risk that comes with pioneering your way into an industry rather than walking a path laid out by a company. Brian is chasing his dream of technology and learning to be flexible while learning his trade and customers every day. He worries that he will not be able to meet his customers’ expectations and occasionally the stability of his field. He also has the task of building a reputation and acquiring new business. The choice to be in Dallas over California is also a hurdle. There is a high concentration of technology developers out in California where he could be more competitive, but wants to be successful in Texas. Aside from professional concerns, Brian works to keep his personal life balanced. Working for yourself, from home can cause you to lose touch with personal relationships. A balance between working alone and time with people close to him is important to keep up emotional health. On some level, I assume he may also even fear never settling down. Regardless of what he actually wants, the“norm” is that he finds someone soon. I feel this may conflict with the world he loves to see and the experiences he likes to chase.

 

There are many ways to aid Brian in increasing his day to day efficiency. The things he is most interested are his family, friends, and the development of his career. Any ability to improve his ability to balance his life would be beneficial. He would like to grow his business, maintain important relationships, and find someone to settle down with. I think he will measure his success by all these dimensions of his life. Monetary success is by no means his utmost focus. He wants to do the things he loves and be with the people he loves. The only thing that could stand in his way of continuing in the direction he wants to go is losing his balance in life. Each aspect is so important that he would not be as happy if one started to take over another.