A Recap of the Final Project

Throughout the semester, I really enjoyed working with my group to determine a market segment, research that segment, gain insights from them, and develop a product to meet their needs in a specific room in the house. Our group worked with 10 – 13 year old boys in the backyard. Although I feel the project was a success, there were many roadblocks along the way.

One concept in particular that I now truly comprehend is the process of gaining insights and how important that is to developing a product. When I first signed up for this course, Customer Insights, I was unsure exactly what it would consist of. Through this project, I was able to understand the concept of customer insights. By creating a project that focused more on the insights and the segment than the final product, we were able to produce a more appealing final product. Throughout the semester, I actually forgot that the purpose of the project was to create a product because we were so focused on the segment. We were able to perform research pertaining to the segments’ attitudes, hobbies, interests, and opinions. This allowed the group to truly understand our segment. By getting a clear and consistent image of the segment, we were able to design a product that had multiple features directly reflecting their wants. It was incredibly interesting to learn the process of gaining insights and to see how beneficial those insights are when creating a product.

Another skill that I now have a better understanding of is the process of research. The project proved that without adequate research methods, marketers cannot gain the appropriate insights needed to develop a product. It was very difficult to initially decide what methods of research our group would utilize. The group finally decided to perform surveys, interviews, and observation. After deciding on the methodology, the next important step was to construct the survey. This part was very difficult because surveys are so complex. We had to decide the amount of questions that would provide adequate responses, without becoming grueling for respondents. Once we determined the length of the survey, we had to decide on the amount of open-ended and multiple-choice questions that would be effective for our research. It was especially difficult designing a survey that would be easily understandable for young boys, but would still provide thorough insights. Finally, deciding on the wording of questions was also tough since we did not want to be leading or influence answers. I think that the survey could have been formulated more effectively; however, it did serve its purpose for our project.

Working on a group for this class, I was able to make strong connections with teammates. It was interesting to see the ideas that each member came up with. I think that working in a group allows for more creativity because teammates collaborate onto other ideas to make a final product. The process is much more effective when working with a group. I also liked working with a group because different teammates had access to the segment. It is also great to see how each member contributes, not only to the idea for the final product, but also to the project as a whole. Each teammate has his or her own role: organizing the meetings, keeping the team on task, making sure deadlines are met, putting together the presentation, etc. I also think that Professor Walls was able to give us constructive feedback that helped us to improve the following updates.

To conclude, I would just like to say that I really enjoyed this class. Professor Walls was a great teacher. He made the material interesting and he always made me laugh! The classmates were great too. We really seemed to feed off each other’s comments during discussions, making the class more interactive. I am really glad that I finally had a chance to take one of Professor Walls’ classes!