portfolio 2020
Hui Ying | Design Researcher
1
Hello!
2
I’m Hui Ying and this portfolio is a collation of my experience as a Design Researcher. I feel that a designer has the ability to observe interesting patterns from seemingly trivial and mundane happenings of everyday life, seeing people’s needs through these lens and making the right connections to create better experiences through services and products.
3
Projects
Customer Research | Finance
01.
Parents Immersion Research Customer Research | Wellness
02.
Customer Research & Journey Mapping Business Strategy | Retail
03.
Strategic Growth in a Post-covid Future Training Design | Government
04.
Training Design for Business Advisors
5
Customer Research | Finance
Parents Immersion Research
| Parents Immersion Research
Project Objective
To find opportunities for a local bank to be a partner to parents of Primary School children on their parenting journey.
8
Background
The trigger for this research project began with the local bank’s initiative to introduce digital finance to children at a young age, enabling Primary School students to make payment digitally through a smart watch. As this initiative garnered increasing interest, the local bank gradually brought together a community of parents through a Facebook group. They saw this as an opportunity to do more for the parent’s community, and provide beyond what is commonly prescribed from a bank in terms of financial aid. Through this project, the local bank would like to uncover the needs and concerns of parents of primary school children to find out what more can financial institute provide for the parenting community. 9
| Parents Immersion Research
Research Scope
Understanding the needs of parents in 4 key areas of Education, Activities, Parenting and Finance Parenting is a daunting and broad topic to tackle with an endless list of topics concerning parents - from their child’s day to day wellness, to their education and financing needs. In order to better frame the project, we mapped out all possible areas of interest, and narrowed them to 4 key areas that are of key concern to both parents as well as the local bank: Education, Activities, Parenting and Finances. Each of these 4 areas are further defined to form the basis to craft our research guide.
10
11
| Parents Immersion Research
Research Activities
Using a mix of research methodologies across 2 progressive immersion rounds, to acquire both breadth and depth of research insights Through conducting the first rounds of surveys and workshops we were able to get an overview understanding of the key concerns of parents. This is supplemented with a more in-depth understanding of the specific topics of interest through 2 progressive rounds of immersion interviews with parents. Each immersion is followed up with deep synthesis and co-creation sessions with the client team.
12
Survey (100 participants) A survey conducted with 100 participants to identify parent profile groups in terms of demographic as well as their parenting approach and style. This allowed us to draw correlations between these 2 identifiers while forming initial research hypothesis.
Parents workshops (4 sessions, 30 participants) Short workshop sessions conducted with groups of 3-6 parents with the objective of uncovering key stages and milestones of the parenting journey to get an overview of parenting concerns and priorities at each stage of their child’s growth.
Interviews with parents (2 Immersions, 40 Interviews) With a basis of knowledge, we then embarked on the 3rd and most crucial component of our research, where we conducted 40 interviews with parents across 2 immersions rounds. Through the interviews we got the chance to hear their stories of the struggles and triumphs on their parenting journey, across topics of: Parenting, Education, Activities and Finances. This allowed us to get an insight into the life of parents, on their motivations, needs and challenges and how a bank could potentially be a partner to them on their parenting journey. 13
| Parents Immersion Research
Customer Understanding
Understanding parents based on parenting approach & demographic to find opportunities for each persona group Through defining parent persona types based on their motivations and needs, we can then cater ideas and engagements specific to these persona groups. As we grappled with the many facades of parenting, we constantly revised the persona types. Eventually we settled on defining personas based on ‘parenting approach’, along a spectrum of reactive vs. preemptive, parent-driven vs. child-driven. In addition to persona types based on parenting approach, some surfaced needs of parents were also specific to demographic situations, such as being a single-parent, having an only child, or multiple children. Thus, forming 2 categorisation of personas, based on behaviours vs. demographic.
14
15
| Parents Immersion Research
Insights & Opportunities
Synthesising and validating the insights uncovered from interview rounds, while testing new engagement ideas Through the 2 rounds of immersion interviews with parents, we uncovered a total of 44 key insights in each of the 4 areas of research: Parenting, Education, Activities and Finance. Each insight is synthesised from in-depth hour-long interviews with parents and further validated in follow-up interviews. Based on each insight uncovered, the project team synthesized opportunities and ideas that addresses these parents’ concerns. These ideas were then illustrated and tested with parents in subsequent interviews in the 2nd round of immersion. The outcome of the testing rounds were consolidated with suggestions on how the bank could refine and implement each idea. Ideas were also prioritised along the axis of ‘value to parents’ and ‘value to bank’, to filter ideas that were of key value to both parents as well as the local bank.
16
17
| Parents Immersion Research
Strategic Recommendations
Mapping out a roadmap highlighting the strategies to engage parents along their parenting journey The research findings are synthesised as a 7-step strategic recommendation, advising on how the local bank can better engage parents from as early as when they first start out as a young working adult, through to embarking on parenthood and experiencing their child’s growth from lower primary to upper primary. These recommendations are strategised through mapping the insights uncovered at each parenting stage, with considerations of the key roles the bank take up to support parents’ needs. The outcome of this project has since been taken forward in making strategic decisions on future engagements with the parents community and the set up of an online engagement platform.
18
19
Customer Research | Wellness
Customer Research & Journey Mapping
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Project Objective
To uncover opportunities for a seamless customer experience, to increase brand adoption and brand advocacy
22
Background
The facial spa was established by its founder Subrina in 2013, to make a change in the facial industry which is notoriously known to prioritise commercial gains over giving quality service. As it name suggest, the facial spa’s focus is on giving the utmost care to its customers, providing customers with effective and natural solutions to solve the trickiest of skin care problems, often shunned by the industry due to its high risk and low profit returns. From its humble beginnings, the facial spa has since grown to 5 outlets island-wide and attained over a thousand five-star reviews. Beyond providing facial services, it wants to become a skincare hub, providing holistic solutions for all skin needs - from skincare products to diet advice. As it looks towards future growth in the business, the facial spa seeks to unlock more brand love and advocacy to grow even further, bigger and better.
23
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Research Activities
Using a mix of research methodologies to map out the service journey and uncover service gaps and opportunity areas Interviews with management and staff gave us a foundational understanding of the industry and business, while mystery shopping gave us a first-hand experience to better empathise with customers. This was then supplemented with in-depth customer research through 12 one-on-one customers interviews conducted via video conferencing tools for a chance to probe deeper into their responses, while observing their body language and expressions. The Immersion Phases include short bursts of interviews, followed by quick synthesis and testing of insights in quick cycles through a continuous feedback loop. Regular check point sessions were held with the client project team to take inputs on insights and refine questions and idea hypotheses for testing with customers.
24
Interviews with management & staff (8 Interviews) Interviews with the management and staff to understand their leadership intent and how they envision the business to grow in the future. As well as to get a better understanding of the service roles and responsibilities of staff, and the key gaps and challenges in performing their roles.
Mystery shopping (3 outlets) Mystery shopping conducted at 3 outlets to experience the service first-hand as a customer. This allows us to put ourselves in the shoes and empathise with the needs of customers as well as to map out the service flow, in the form of a customer journey map.
Interviews with customers (2 Immersions, 12 Interviews) We interviewed a total of 12 interviewees in two phases. These interviewees were a mix of customers and non-customers. Customers were also recruited based on their service drop-off points such as: enquired but didn’t sign-up customers, one-time customers, lapsed customers, in order to uncover their reasons in stopping their engagement with the facial spa at the various stages. We also ensured a mix in demographic profiles such as male customers, serious acne customers to ensure that the various customer groups are well represented. 25
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Customer Understanding
Current customer groups are more relationship-oriented, with the facial spa looking to target more knowledge-based customers Through our synthesis, we found four key personas, segmented by their desired service experience. Currently, the facial spa’s main customers are The Trend Follower and The Dependent, who tend to be more more relationship-oriented. This is due to the perception of customer that the brand is more service focused, while lacking the image of being ‘medical’. Moving forward, the facial spa aims to not just retain its main customers, but also attract The Skincare Expert to adopt the brand. To help the facial spa attract each persona group, we have also created persona specific strategies on: ● ● ● ●
26
How can we get them to try out the facial spa? How can we get them to adopt the facial spa? How do we engage them? How do we encourage advocacy?
27
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Customer Journey Map
Mapping a customer’s journey to break down service touchpoints to find key opportunities at each stage
28
The customer journey is split into 2 key stages: ● Adoption, where the facial spa gets new customers to experience and love the brand ● Advocacy, where the facial spa seeks to deepen relationships with its customers and turn customers into advocates A typical customer goes through 5 steps, where she first adopts the brand, before becoming an advocate for the brand. Each step is also further detailed into specific touchpoints, which was used to prompt customers, to help them visualise their experience during the interview.
29
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Drop-offs & Service Gaps
Uncovering the 3 key drop-offs and 3 key-gaps within the service journey that needs to be addressed, to enable brand adoption and advocacy From our in-depth research, we have uncovered a total of 24 insights that highlights the cause of the 3 Key Drop-offs and 3 Key Gaps within the service journey: ● ● ● ● ● ●
Drop-off 1: Aware of brand but did not sign up Drop-off 1: Gone for trial but did not purchase package Drop-off 3: Did not renew package Gap 4: Did not buy products Gap 5: Did not actively engage with the brand Gap 6: Did not actively share about the brand
By addressing these drop-offs and gaps, these key touch points can be fine-tuned to enable brand adoption and advocacy — attracting and convincing new customers to adopt the brand, while deepening relationships with existing Caring Skin customers.
30
31
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Insights & Opportunity Areas
Customers are often skeptical of facial brands due to their past negative experiences, hence building trust is important to retain customers Digger deeper into understanding the rationale behind customer drop-offs, we found that customers are often skeptical of facial brands due to their past negative experiences of “hard-selling”. Although this may not be the intention of the facial spa, it is often misunderstood as such and it is important to provide greater transparency to build the trust of a new customer. With each insight highlighting a point of service improvement, we then ideated on possible ideas, which was tested with customers in the second interview immersion round.
Sam di
●
32
Provid to mo still in sign u (rathe disco
| Parents Immersion Research
me-week iscounts
de customers time onitor their skin, while ncentivising them to up within the week er than same-day ounts)
With facials you need to see for a few days to observe the results, that's what I hate about chain salons with the promotion price if you sign up on the day itself. If it's an open option where we could opt-in, for it to be credited into my account, and I can log in and purchase that package instead of going down to the store, that also proves more transparency on their end. So more transparency in their pricing, and not in-store today you get this price but online you get this other price.
Purchase treatment packages online
●
- Natasha [one-time customer]
Provide a link for customers to sign-up for their desired package online in their own time, without having to come down to the outlet
33
| Customer Research & Journey Mapping
Strategic Recommendations
Prioritising key steps to take forward and bringing continuity towards innovation and implementation All the ideas generated from the project has been mapped to their service touch points respectively, and phrased in how the facial spa can serve its customers better at each touch point for better adoption and advocacy. We have also colour coded the ideas in the service blueprint according to what has emerged as most important to address through our research. This also helps the facial spa to prioritise the ideas they should pursue first. In order to make the Service Blueprint a living tool, we created a toolkit in the form of ideation cards to enable the facial spa to continue generating ideas to enhance the respective drop-off points whenever it wants to.
34
35
Business Strategy | Retail
Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Project Objective
To create a business strategy to enable the future growth of a local design studio in a post-covid future
38
Background
The fashion design studio was founded in 2011. Starting out in Israel, the design studio initially had its collections sold as consignment items through various stores, and has since grown and expanded to Singapore. Working alongside the 2 founders, we were amazed at how they have built the brand from ground-up, driven by their passion to create and their honesty and candidness. 2020 has been a year full of surprises and unprecedented uncertainty. As they prepare for the opening of their new retail store, the founders have also been thinking about their future growth and the direction they should take in the post-covid future. This project is a deliberate effort to step back and take stock of their business in a holistic manner, in order to strategically plan how they can journey into the future.
39
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Research Activities
Gaining a holistic understanding from the perspectives of management’s intent, post-covid reality, market opportunities and customer needs. As we began this project, we wanted to fully immerse ourselves in the retail industry to understand the business from the inside out: the growth vision and intent of the 2 founders, as well as the new retail environment that design studio is a part of. Using a strategic mix of research methodologies: Online Interviews, Store Observations, Desk Research and Co-creation sessions, we did research in these 4 areas: Management Intent, Market Opportunities, Post-Covid Trends and Customers’ Perspective to get a deeper understanding. The following page shows a break down of research done in each of these 4 areas.
40
Interviews with founders and team (4 interviews) Interviews with founders and team to understand their leadership intent, business needs and current operations, and how they envision the business to grow in the future. As well as to get a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of staff, and the key gaps and challenges in performing their roles.
Post-Covid Trends & Market Research Desk research to understand the impact of Covid on shopping behaviour, identify emerging key concerns and trends, and the implications on the retail industry. Competitors study to gain understanding of the retail industry, competitors, learning points and market opportunities.
Interviews with customers (2 Immersions, 19 Interviews) Service & retail environment immersion to gain a ground understanding of the service and retail environment of Ginlee’s stores. Interviews with customers to gain an understanding of customers’ perception of Ginlee, their needs, as well as to test hypotheses.
41
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Business Gap Analysis
Observing a gap in brand perception, between the brand and its customers which results in lack of emotional connection and loyalty to the brand Speaking to the founders, we were greatly inspired by their passion to create with a deep sense of meaning and purpose, and to bring out the individuality of their wearers, while going against the grain of fast fashion. However, when we spoke to customers on their brand perception, we noticed a very different understanding. Customers perceive the design studio as just a fashion brand and remember the brand through its product attributes, but lack deeper understanding of the brand’s purpose to emotionally connect with it. Although the founders are purpose-driven, the design studio as a brand has not been able to fully articulate and communicate it to customers consistently through all its touchpoints, which results in a brand perception gap.
42
“We create our pieces through the rigorous creative design process, to bring out the individuality of our wearers and flatter and fit their forms, and create meaning for fashion design…” - The Founders
Brand perception gap is contributed by the customers’ overall experience with all its touchpoints, which lacks the sharing of the brand story and purpose.
“I know they are famous for their pleated dress, but beyond that, not really. My impression of the brand is that they have long, and sometimes shapeless dresses…” - Customers
43
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Research Insights
The founders champions deliberate and ‘slow-design’, while consumers are only beginning to see it’s importance Looking through the 4 research perspectives - What stood out to us was that the founders are keenly aware of the negative impact of fast fashion, which perpetuates mindless overproduction and overconsumption of ‘trendy’ fashion wear. They feel strongly about the importance of slow-fashion and the well-designed, which focus on creativity and quality, instead of quantity. Local consumers on the other hand, although increasingly mindful of their purchases, have yet to extend this mindfulness to fashion wear. At the same time, consumers are often skeptical of the growing number brands advocating for sustainability and are wary of greenwashing, while also mentioning that it is difficult to relate and connect with the technicalities of sustainability on an emotional level. As a result of Covid, there is also a push towards more conscious spending with a greater willingness to support local brands. Furthermore, among the local brands, there is some emphasis on social causes, although communication of these causes are often still hidden.
44
Management Intent
Customers’ Perspective
As a brand, the founders do not align with the mindset of fast fashion, and wants to create an alternative option that caters to women through deliberate design, while promoting sustainability.
Customers acknowledge the importance of sustainability, but in the broader form of mindfulness, yet this often does not translate to their fashion purchase decisions.
Covid Impact
Market Opportunities
Covid has resulted in a new sustainability consciousness which has led consumers to become more prudent in spending, but also willing to spend on quality items, while also being more supportive of local brands that champion a purpose.
Local brands are still mostly product-focused, with communication of causes often being secondary and hidden within their websites, giving the brand an opportunity to stand out with a strong cause.
45
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Opportunity Area
Opportunity for the brand to inspire and nudge consumers to live more consciously, through helping them to see and value ‘Creative & Thoughtful Design’. Hence, we feel that there is opportunity for the brand to help customers understand and value ‘Creative and Thoughtful Design’, through subtle education of showing and helping customers experience the importance of the design process in producing quality wear, and nudging them towards making more mindful purchase decisions.
46
Key Insight
As designers, the founders are keenly aware of the negative impact of fast-fashion, however most consumers do not yet see the value of ‘thoughtful’ behaviour and realise the impact of their decisions.
Opportunity Area
For the brand to become a ‘Creative & Thoughtful Design’ advocate, using design to inspire individuality while nudging consumers to live more consciously
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Positioning & Key Shifts
Moving beyond a Womenswear Fashion Label to a ‘Creative & Thoughtful Design’ Brand, that connects with customers through cause and emotion This new positioning as a ‘Creative & Thoughtful Design Brand’ aims to build deeper emotional connection with customers through the brand’s cause and thus stronger brand loyalty, while also opening up many different design possibilities and product ranges for the brand’s future growth, apart from womenswear. Following the bigger intention of positioning the brand from a ‘product and style driven’ brand to one that is ‘cause and emotion driven’, we will look at the key shifts needed in each aspect of the business in terms of: Customer, Products, Service, Store, Website and Social Media, as elaborated in the next page.
48
Positioning
Current
Future
Womenswear Fashion Label
Creative & Thoughtful Design Brand
Product and style driven
Cause and emotion driven
Primarily known for its product attributes, current customers lack a deeper emotional connection to the brand, as they perceive it as just a fashion brand.
In addition to delivering on its strong product attributes (e.g. quality, wearability, style), there is opportunity for Ginlee to connect with its customers on a deeper level to build brand loyalty by becoming a ‘Creative & Thoughtful Design’ advocate, using design to inspire individuality while nudging consumers to live more consciously.
49
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Current
The Exploratory The Experience Seekers Customer
The Style Seekers The Comfort Seekers
Future The Exploratory as they are shifting away from fast fashion brands. Targeting these young customers and transiting them to the brand will bring lifetime value.
The Experience Seekers
Product
as they are brand loyal and stay with brands they believe in, resulting in high ROI.
Style
Style
Pleated collection, with other collections like silk and simpler designs.
Unique signature/curated style
Range Womenswear clothing line
Range Complementary items to fit same wardrobe style (e.g. accessories) Kids range & gifts
Service in helping customers find the right fit to flatter their bodies
●
Little emphasis on brand storytelling
Service
●
50
●
Subtle education in design details and cause of the brand
●
Engaging customers in brand storytelling
Current
Social Media
Website
Store
●
Product-focused with display of racks of clothing, standard store layout
●
Design and craft process is hidden from the customers, who only get to see the final products in store
●
Transactional, provides little confidence to purchase online due to uncertainty of fit
●
Product focused, mainly showcases products instead of brand story and cause
Future
●
Experience- driven store that brings alive the brand’s philosophy
●
Allow customers to appreciate the process of craft and see the value behind the emphasis on the design process
●
Personalised, allows exploration of styles and gives assurance of fit, driving online purchases
●
Bring the brand story to the forefront of the online experience
●
Standard visuals that are not differentiated
●
Stand-out visuals that capture the attention
●
Mainly productfocused, with Service in helping occasional once-off customers find the campaigns right fit to flatter their bodies marketing Mostly
●
Sustained and consistent brand storytelling, in line with bigger vision
●
Feature more stories and voices from the ground, and encouraging organic brand advocacy
●
● ●
efforts, where Little emphasis information andon brand storytelling campaigns are relayed from the brand
51
| Strategic Growth in a Post-Covid Future
Strategy Roadmap
Planning the roadmap to guide business transformation through a step-by-step action plan In order to guide the brand towards its aspired future, we had a co-design session with the client team in order to break down the bigger goals into smaller, actionable steps in the short, mid and long term, to help guide each business component towards achieving the business’ aspired outcome. The roadmap consists of the key components: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Timeline Business Components Strategic Goals Tactical Action Steps KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
The roadmap is designed to be living document for the client team to use in their day-to-day work to add, prioritising and checking off goals achieved.
52
53
Training Design | Government
Training Design for Business Advisors
55
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Project Objective
To design and deliver a customized train-the-trainer workshop for the business advisors on the topic of business strategy
56
Background
The core purpose of the five SME Centres of Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is to help grow local SME businesses through conducting talks, workshops as well as business advisory. The objective of this training is to enable business advisors of five SME Centres to have an updated knowledge of business strategies and the tools to empower their SME clients, and to be able to use these skills to conduct workshops for the SMEs on the topic of business strategy.
57
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Design Considerations
Designing a training that fully supports the trainers - Business Advisors, in inspiring and enabling their clients - SME businesses The eventual outcome of this project is to conduct a train-the-trainer program for Business Advisors to equip them with the necessary knowledge and tools to in turn, run their own workshops and advisory sessions for SME Businesses. Hence, there are multiple layers to consider in designing this training program, which requires us to consider both the needs of: 1.
2.
58
SME Centre Business Advisors - who are the direct recipients of the train-the-trainer program, to understand their needs and the support they require to conduct workshops and advisory sessions for SME businesses SME Businesses - who are the eventual participants of the program, to know how we can inspire and support them to develop a growth mindset
Ideactio
Conducts train-the-trainer program and provides materials and tools
SME Centre Business Advisors
To understand their needs and support required to conduct workshops and advisory sessions
Conducts talks, workshops and business advisory
To understand what would inspire and support them to develop a growth mindset SME Businesses 59
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Research Activities
Understanding from the perspective of Business Advisors, SME businesses and business strategy framework and tools Before we begin designing the train-the-trainer programme, the first step is to get a ground understanding of the 3 key perspectives of: 1. 2. 3.
SME Centre Business Advisors SME Businesses Subject Matter Understanding on Business Strategy
This is done through interviews with key stakeholders Business Advisors and SME businesses, observations of current workshop conducted by the SME Centres as well as ground research to gain foundation understanding of existing concepts, frameworks and tools available on the topic of Business Strategy.
60
Interviews with Business Advisors (7 Interviews) Interviews with 7 Business Advisors across the 5 SME Centres to understand current gaps in the training programme, and the needs of business advisors and their clients
Interviews with SMEs (3 businesses) A brief chat with 3 local SME businesses to empathise with their needs in sustaining and growing their business
Workshop Observations Observations done in current workshops conducted by SME Centres to understand current format of engagement and identify opportunity areas for improvement
Research on Business Strategy Framework & Tools Research to get a basis of understand of existing Business Strategy concepts, framework and tools and their use cases, to identify relevant tools for training design
61
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Opportunity Areas
While local SMEs do not see the need to innovate, Business Advisors find trainings inadequate in equipping them with sufficient knowledge Through talking to both Business Advisors and SME businesses, we have uncovered a number of struggles experienced by both parties: For local SMEs, are often risk averse, with the mindset of “why change when things are not broken”. This comes with an inherent fear of innovation, associating it with having to invest huge amounts of capital, and the need to create new groundbreaking inventions. They also have the mindset that while having their hands full with running their day-to-day operations, they do not have the time and energy to innovate. For Business Advisors, they feel that the current training is insufficient in making them subject matter experts, in being equipped with sufficient knowledge to guide conduct and guide SMEs confidently in their own workshop.
62
Needs of SME Businesses -
Traditional SMEs are afraid of change, as they do not know where to start with innovation
“If SMEs listen to you about finance, HR, marketing, that’s good already. But if you want them to listen to you about innovation, it’s like you want them to fly.”
Needs of Business Advisors -
Current training session is insufficient in building confidence of BAs to teach SMEs
“If you guys treat us as participants, and trained us during your workshop just like you’re training participants... then how are we able to convince our own participants? This is my main concern. We need to be trained at a level above a participant.”
63
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Training Design
Training to inspire and enable SMEs have the right mindset and tools to innovate and grow their businesses With these considerations in mind, along with various other gaps identified and suggestions given, we designed and tested the workshop format and content with Business Advisors through cycles of iterations. We designed a training with the aim of pushing SMEs out of their comfort zone to help them see the need to grow through innovation. This is done through dispelling misconceptions of innovation and breaking down the steps to innovate, to help them see that anyone can innovate with the right mindset
64
Question guide to dispel common misconceptions of innovation Putting together a compilation of common questions and misconceptions SMEs often have about innovation, this guide provides suitable responses to help Business Advisors address them during workshops and advisory.
Breakdown the steps to innovate to make it easy to start As SMEs often see innovation as a tall order, unsure of where to start, we have broken down the steps to innovate with 3 key stages and 12 tools to work through, to make it easy for SMEs to take the first step towards innovation.
Innovation case studies that better relate to local SMEs In place of commonly shared case studies of international MNCs or start-ups, which local SMEs are unable to see themselves achieving the same success, we curated success stories from local SMEs, on how human-centred innovation has brought about positive change in their business. 65
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Training Design
Training designed to help Business Advisors gain confidence in supporting and guiding SMEs to innovate Business Advisors often feel that the training provided is inadequate in imparting sufficient knowledge on the subject matter to have the confidence to conduct workshops and advisory sessions on their own, as they are usually trained “as a participant”. To address this, for each of the 12 tools, we provided case examples using 2 local SMEs, on how a good response would look like, as well as a guide on common mistakes and facilitation tips for them to identify these common mistakes and guide participants accordingly. In additional, we also provided a list of additional resources for each of the 12 tools taught for Business Advisors to further their learning beyond the workshop.
66
Local SMEs examples of how tools are used Each of the 12 tools are attached with examples of the intended response if completed in the perspective of 2 well known local SMEs in the F&B and retail industry Astons and Charles & Keith. This helps Business Advisors understand the right response when guiding SMEs in using the tools
Common mistakes and facilitation tips to guide SMEs A guide on the common mistakes made by participants and facilitation tips to guide participants in completing each tool.
Additional resources to read up on the subject matter Beyond the workshop, we also provided additional resources on the subject matter for Business Advisors to further their knowledge on the subject matter and each of the 12 tools taught.
67
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Training Format
Program conducted across 2 sessions to help businesses advisors learn design thinking concepts, as well as practice group facilitation The train-the-trainer program was designed to be conducted across 2 sessions:
68
Session 01 | 2 days
Session 02 | 1 day
Design Thinking and Innovation
Live Facilitation with BAs
The first session spans across 2 days with the objective of guiding Business Advisors on learning the Design Thinking concept, framework and tools. In these 2 days Business Advisors take on the role of a given SME while completing each tool.
In the second session, Business Advisors will be “more than just participants”, in putting what they have learnt into practice, to conduct and facilitate their own workshop. Each group takes on a component of the workshop, to plan and create their own materials before the session. While a group conducts and facilitates their part of the workshop, other Business Advisors will provide feedback and points of improvement as participants for peer learning.
69
| Training Design for Business Advisors
Training Materials
Designing of training materials and tools for reference, teaching peers and in conducting workshops and advisory Various tools and materials were created for the train-the-trainer program, as well as for Business Advisor’s continued use when conducting their own workshop and advisory sessions with SMEs. This includes, For BA Training: 1. 2. 3. 4.
BA Training Manual - concept, frameworks and tools BA Tools Guidebook - quick handbook on tools Ideation Cards - trigger cards for ideation Look Think Make Framework Poster - overview of the design thinking framework with 3 stages and 12 tools
For Workshop use: 1. 2.
Recommended workshop program & slides Workshop Case studies
For 1-1 Advisory: 1.
70
Session Tools
71
Au
Hui Ying Design Researcher
I feel that a designer is someone with a keen sense of curiosity and intuition, the ability to observe subtle particularities from the seemingly trivial and mundane happenings, and through making the right connections, create better experiences through design. Having graduated from an Industrial Design background has not only equipped me with the relevant design thinking skills but has also greatly shaped my thinking on the importance of deep empathy in design, which I want to continue to use to create solutions that solve real user problems to enrich people’s lives. Through my work as a Design Researcher, I have led various user research projects from across the industries of Retail, F&B, Tourism, Finance and Government, with wide ranging experience in customer research, business strategy, service training as well as workshop design projects.
Being thoroughly involved throughout the project process, I work hand in hand with clients to first understand their growth intent and diagnose their their business gaps. From there, I would scope and design the project plan, working closely with both my project team and the client to conduct user research to elicit user insights, to co-create and iteratively refine the working solution. My strength lies in deep user research and information synthesis, with the ability to declutter complex information to identify key insights that directs a project towards a strategic outcome. I believe that a designer is not the sole-creator in a design process, but a catalyst bringing together people and ideas, facilitating a co-creation of design concepts. I would continue to practice this ideology in future projects, honing my skills to bring to life effective design solutions.
Education
2012 - 2016
Software Skills
National University of Singapore Bachelor of Arts (Industrial Design)
2010 - 2011
Hwa Chong Institution Higher Art GCE A Levels
2006 - 2009
Nanyang Girls’ High School Art Elective Program Integrated Program
Work Experience
2017 - present
Adobe Illustrator
Design Researcher at Ideactio
Written & Spoken
English
Project lead for research projects across the fields of Retail, F&B, Finance, Travel, Government.
Spoken
Chinese
Elementary
Japanese
Product Designer at Barrows (APAC) Worked as product designer for retail touchpoint and event designs for global retail brands like Nestle and Unilever.
Jan 2015 May - Aug 2014
Adobe Photoshop
Languages
Heavily involved throughout the project process from crafting proposals, conducting user research, synthesising research outcome and designing strategies. 2016 - 2017
Microsoft Office
Design Intern at Studio Juju Involved in customer research and product design process for furniture and interior spaces.
Contact
auhuiying@gmail.com +65 91831481
76