In phase one, my group and I have made our decision to continue developing UV-Utensils. As exciting as this is we have started to develop the foundation of our business canvas model. The business canvas model helps my group organize our business plan so that there is a perfect match between our customers and the product. As of now, we have a rough draft of our value proposition and customer segment but are still working on it. To improve our value proposition we have conducted in-person interviews attempting to discover who our customers are. These interviews are attempting to highlight the habits of our customers in order to understand their daily routines. We can then use this data to reflect on their intentions and adapt our value proposition to match our customer segment.
While my group has experienced great achievements in the past 3 weeks we have also hit some mental walls. Our class hours have been designed for learning and presentations so far which has left us with minimal time to discuss objectives for that week. Along with busy schedules, we have struggled with communication and voicing our concerns which have resulted in decreased morale. This is something that I expected would happen as it happens with almost every group. However, I look at this mental block as a moment to grow and learn from this experience. In my eyes, this is a positive situation because I rather hit this wall now then later in our business development. In order to fix this situation, I think we need to first address our frustrations so that everything is out on the table. This will allow us to discuss each frustration and develop plans so that we can correct these issues before they develop into any major issues. Also, we need to work on improving communication by being more direct and concise with each other.
Overall, I think phase one has been a learning experience for all of us. We have established roles and are improving our value proposition and customer segment. I think our next phase will have to focus on our product development. This will include product design, materials, and planned marketing strategies. While this is a very exciting phase it also comes with a lot of concerns. We will have to go to the drawing board this week and start sketching up some design ideas to ensure that our customers are pleased with the quality of our product.