1. Design Thinking Action Lab 2013 1
Malini Sengupta , Age 30 , Stakeholder - student
She is a PhD student and her area of research is about plant (to be
specific chickpeas) genome and their DNA sequencing. She had
joined NGPR ( a research institute ) as a part of her PhD program,
as a junior researcher 6 years ago and now she is a senior
researcher and hopeful to finish her PhD this year or next year.
Currently though she feels she has taken a bit more time than
usual but her tenacity and passion, do keep her on track and help
her persevere. She is really bugged with her thesis guide’s
professional insecurities and insensitive Indian university
educational standards but she knows she has to somehow get her
way through. She is quite aware of the competitive world outside.
She is quite hopeful after PhD she will find a good Job. She has
become a part of various social networking groups and connecting
individual people. Though her real passion lies in being an
entrepreneur but to have financial stability and making
connections with the right people in her field, She will start her
career in job as a scientist.
User Sketch

2. Design Thinking Action Lab 2013 2
How might we help Malini build appropriate connections for a successful
career as an entrepreneur ?
Problem Statement

3. Design Thinking Action Lab 2013 3
Pedo-preneur
Normally I feel while we pursue our dreams we forgot to maintain a healthy work life
balance. Its so important to be fit and healthy. Moreover to sustain as a entrepreneur
you need to also have courage, gut , determination and perseverance. I think this can
be achieved through various outdoor activities. It’s a app which connect you to relevant
people ( similar people who are pursuing same ideas, VC’s, experts, relevant blogs ,
portals, upcoming ideas and future perspectives ) provided you finish monitored
outdoor tasks . Which can be hiking , camping, cycling, running, walking……as this will
be a group activity, there would be serendipitous connections which will be developed
over time both in person and through virtual medium, which would have never
happened ever before. You also learn a lot during the process about life, different
perspectives. Also you collect points and rewards at the end of the day with relevant
information which is customized to your career needs aspirations and Goals.
Selected Idea

4. Design Thinking Action Lab 2013 4
Prototype and Testing
Method of Prototyping : Paper prototyping –
For this presentation I created two concepts and tried to test with users . For the
first prototype I tested the design first made certain improvements based on user
feedback and tested again.

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Idea Manual – To give an user an overview of my idea

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Concept 1- prototype 1 –mobile app

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What worked ?
The idea resonated well with users.
Mobile app works fine as there are no investment as such except buying the app ( if paid )
Users were able to get through tasks and understand the app. They like the learning by doing
motto of the app
What could be improved ?
Data points can be more precise, like points earned, time and benefits ( health too ).
Questions ?
How do I create more engagement points.
How effectively can the end results circulated and be extremely useful ?
Ideas ?
Integrate everything into one page ……take away navigation have one map.
Why not tie up with some gym and other stakeholders. Connect earned points to free coupons….

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Concept 1- prototype 2 mobile app

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Concept 1- prototype 2

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What worked ?
App works looks more fluidic now , should appeal to the users.
Targeted data points works fine with users, now.
What could be improved ?
Realtime sharing opportunity should be there .
How can we measure feedback ? ( useful or not wont connect with users and sound lame).
Introduce opportunities , freebies etc….. ( like things happening in the city type )…..
Questions ?
How will we measure the credibility of the candidate about completing the task ? Should we have
some human intervention or solve this problem by GPS tracking API’s.
How can we build likeness of the users in the system ?
Ideas ?
What if a point system is also introduced for the VC’s and experts….. They can redeem those points
anywhere..

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Concept 2- prototype 1 Connected systems

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What worked ?
People liked the concept and connection to the old weight ticketing system which can be redeemed.
They liked the non dependability on any device to use.
What could be improved ?
Are users willing to invest in a shoe ?…….cost perspectives. What other products do people use and
carry with themselves ….
Having a weight machine looks cool but will surely run rough on investment and lack of ubiquitous
facilities.
Questions ?
Can we bring down the cost of the shoe somehow ??
Ideas ?
What if I can use the sensors into some cheap utilitarian product which we carry always like key chains
?? Users can just carry this keychain it records and then transfers data to the mobile / cloud ?

13. Design Thinking Action Lab 2013 13
My Reflections-
What did you learn by testing your prototypes ?
Prototyping is a way of thinking. You can see what works , what doesn’t , what needs to be added
what needs to be changed. The most important thing I found out what is we need to be wearing
empathy glasses when we are testing our ideas. This will enable us capture users reactions and
sometimes alternative ways to see the same thing. In my case while testing the second prototype
users suggested that instead of shoes we can look at cheaper options like key chains etc. another
important thing I found out was the users you are testing your solutions with should be totally
connected with your ideas / problem you are trying to solve so that they can immerse
themselves into your ideas.
What would you do next if you want to continue on this project ?
I will try to combine both solutions as I found merit in both, maybe test with users again maybe
with scenario acting now. Then I will try to make a more defined prototype maybe using video
etc. or on mobile. Maybe then if I feel there is a market demand I will try to connect with some
of my engineering friends and make a functional prototype, ask my friends to use it. At the same
time connect to various stakeholders too. Talk to some VC’s for funding if we have good traction.
But on the way I will surely use my product pedo-preneur to become a successful entrepreneur.

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Bibliography – ( Incase someone wants to refer to ideation and previous stages- comments are most welcome )

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Ecosystem analysis

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Ideation

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3 ideas
i. the most practical idea (one that could be easily implemented)
Pedo-preneur
Normally I feel while we pursue our dreams we forgot to maintain a healthy work life
balance. Its so important to be fit and healthy. Moreover to sustain as a entrepreneur
you need to also have courage, gut , determination and perseverance. I think this can
be achieved through various outdoor activities. It’s a app which connect you to relevant
people ( similar people who are pursuing same ideas, VC’s, experts, relevant blogs ,
portals, upcoming ideas and future perspectives ) provided you finish monitored
outdoor tasks . Which can be hiking , camping, cycling, running, walking……as this will
be a group activity, there would be serendipitous connections which will be developed
over time both in person and through virtual medium, which would have never
happened ever before. You also learn a lot during the process about life, different
perspectives. Also you collect points and rewards at the end of the day with relevant
information which is customized to your career needs aspirations and Goals.

18. Design Thinking Action Lab 2013 18
ii. the most disruptive idea (one that would make a huge impact, regardless of how feasible
or affordable it is)
Senso R–
Every week you need to take a lemon tart ( or anything you like from a nearby sensomatic
bakery – coffee shop) it contains edible sensors. It goes inside you understand your neural
networks , your need ,aspirations, development ,fear anxiety. It then connects to your
sensors on phone which will be loaded with web bots ( emotional virtual robots) and then
bring you relevant information and connections over a period of time till the sensor is
digested.

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iii. your favorite idea (one idea that you are excited about for whatever reason... you
don’t have to justify why)
Pedo-preneur
Described earlier……
Crystal Ball
Bringing fairy tale back……. A extremely personal experience…….