WK 7

Although the Research Plan was completed, I immediately felt like it could benefit from a re-design after completing it. I suppose that's why design incorporates reiterations as a fundamental component of the process.

So after I put the plan together, I personally felt that some parts of it could use a bit of fine-tuning, particularly since I was already able to see some potential problems (aka project gremlins) that could arise down the line if I didn't attempt to address them now.

Below are the 4 challenges I identified as well as my potential solutions for them.

‍

Challenge #1: Defining a Clear Focus

What if the research identifies multiple issues and pain points?

• Focus on a niche: The issue is highly likely to have multiple pain points. Expect this to happen. Let your research and data guide you to a niche. Don’t try to solve for all.

How do I pick the right niche?

• Listen to users: Ask users what they need most and triangulate it with what industry experts and professors recommend.
• Filter through professors: Talk to your advisors and other professors. Focus more on whether it’s a good niche from an academic perspective. 
• Filter through industry experts: Talk to hiring managers and other industry experts. Ask them what they need the most help with.

Challenge #2: Managing my Time

How I do ensure I keep myself on schedule?

• Define the scope: Identifying the focus area as early as possible helps narrow down to a manageable scope. 
• Create a project plan: The project plan can be iterated upon as circumstances change, of course, but do your best to hit targets and complete milestones.
• Ask for accountabili-buddies: Ask a friend or colleague to hold you accountable (if necessary).
• Ask yourself: “What am I sacrificing in terms of my resources or ability to stay on plan if I do ________?” Think about whether the trade-off is a worthwhile one.

Challenge #3: Dealing with Constraints

How do I deal with resource constraints?

• Identify the constraint: Be precise about what the constraint is.
• Develop a solution: How do I accomplish my priorities given these constraints?
• If there’s no solution: Prioritize your goals and weigh the alternatives. How important is it to expend time and other resources to overcoming the constraint?
• Ask for help: Identify who can help and how. Be precise in your ask.

Challenge #4: Having a Competitive Solution

What about other solutions that already exist to address this problem?

• Identify and dominate a niche: There is no clear winner in this market yet. Focus on dominating a niche and scale from there (don’t try to solve the BIG PROBLEM for everybody, like a large corporation such as LinkedIn is doing and better equipped to do anyway).

What if users don’t really see a need for my solution?

• ‍Test continuously and refine: The need for a solution is very strong, so if the solution isn’t being adopted, then the issue lies with failing to find good product-market-fit (and not that the need was insufficient). Get continuous feedback.

For Next Week

I will continue to iterate on my M3 research plan as I conduct research (both primary and secondary). But in more concrete terms:

Start talking to users, even informally

• Informal talks are not only a great way to get a quick-and-dirty summary of how people are thinking and feeling, they can also make the person more amenable for follow-up interviews afterwards (to explain more about what they already shared).

Start ideating, even now

• Talking to users helps crystalize a lot of things. Some of that can come in the form of potential solutions. It's ok to start ideating now since they are just ideas anyway.

‍

- Iron