On October 3, we kicked off learning journey of this year Moms4Moms Fellowship a program. It’s the first of the two design thinking workshops which helped us all coming up with people oriented solutions to solve pain points.
Being a fellow of this year, it is a golden opportunity for me to learn from professional trainers, Lena Wong and Terry Yim. Glad to meet 13 other mums from diverse backgrounds, who are passionate and willing to start their own businesses.
Inspired by trainer Terry Yim, who has shared his startup journey, I learnt about design thinking 5 phrases. Signifying people oriented innovation, user experience is the most significant part of any design. Combined with AI and networking tips, mums had a fruitful experience to observe, present and showcase models all together. While most of us are still focusing on the challenges of parenthood, we are keen to pursue our dreams. Looking forward for more lessons to come.
What you think is not the users’ need
During the course, Terry showed the class a picture of a nicely paved walkway in the park but pointed out that most users took the shortcut, they preferred to walk on the muddy road under the trees rather than the paved road under the sunlight.
User experience is the core of any design. The crucial part we should focus on whenever we begin to design the products. This is totally reflected in the exercise of handbag prototype design.
To start with, we took turn to ask our partners questions about the frequency of using her own handbag, the outfit and so on. When we drilled in, more information we got, we discovered the pain point. My partner, Karina, shared the backpack with her husband, that’s why I’ve designed a two-sided backpack with a zipper at the bottom just like a luggage in case that her husband wanted to increase the volume to store thing. The feminine front side was for Karina, while the more mannish back side was for her husband. That way they could swap to use the same bag with two sides.
During the second exercise, we no longer only focused on the handbag design, we were asked to come up with extended feature that fulfill the requirement of different users. Some of us came up with a tailor-made clothing, a warning robot and alikes. Karina designed a prototype of a mobile app, simulating the connection between all conventional stores. If the customer grabs a drink from those stores everyday, he or she would pay monthly. The business could get the commission from the shop owners, service was provided more than a handbag itself.
The design thinking exercise is just the beginning of our Moms4Moms Fellowship Program. We still have part two to come in next lesson where we will build our persona. Stay tuned.
Kimberly Lau
Moms4Moms 2024/25 Fellow