SAV THE LOCAL CULTURE OF
ENTREPRENEURSHIP Trust the process and don’t water down the Tequila
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTIONS
01 02 03 04
Meet Our Team
05 06 07
Final Offerings
Secondary Research Primary Research Synthesis
Team Reflections Bloopers
01
MEET OUR TEAM
WHO WE ARE
MARIA ZAPATA
Maria is from La Paz Bolivia. With a background in the studies of the Italian language, Service Design, Industrial design; she is currently studying to earn her terminal degree in Design Management at SCAD.
WENHAN ZHOU
Wenhan is from Beijing, China and is an Industrial Design student at SCAD. Wenhan is a huge Spurs basketball fan.
LORENZA RUIZ
Lorenza is from Mexico City and is a Design Management student at SCAD. Lorenza has background experience in strategy, logistics, marketing and sales.
LINDSEY PETERSON
Lindsey is from New Castle, Pennsylvania and is pursing her Master of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design and Visual Experience at SCAD. Lindsey plays tennis and loves photography.
HARPER HUNT
Harper is from Paris, Texas and is a Design Management student at SCAD. Harper is a pioneer of new ideas and thought. He plans to create new products and create effective design strategy post matriculation.
DI MU
Di is from Beijing, China and is an Interactive Design & Game Development student at SCAD. Di has background experience and skills in graphic design.
02
SECONDARY RESEARCH
TOOLS & FINDINGS
Our goal through secondary research was to gain background knowledge on the local culture of entrepreneurship in Savannah by utilizing all of the Sense Intent Methods featured in Vijay Kumar’s “101 Design Methods.” Five of the fourteen methods we used are highlighted.
CONVERGENCE MAP
ENTTREPRENEURS
self PR business creation
differentiation
competitive advantage management
marketing
business training
research resources experience
motivation
capital technology
labor
economic growth incubator database
competition education
economies of scale
developement
globalization of goods
innovation
S.E.C incentives
Creative Coast
economic empowerment
mentor
SADE network funding
blogs
inclusion
involvement SCORE chapter clubs
culture
history
city improvement government entities
city spirit transportation
wealth disparity market
banks labor
income
industrialization investment enterprise zones funds
Tourism
Laws infrastructure
ports locality
social acceptance
services
tradition
community organizations
population taz universities https://savannah.score.org/ https://www.savannahbusinessjournal.com/ arts scene GOVERNMENT http://mic.mercer.edu/ economical activity https://lakepajamas.com/ http://www.thecollinsquarter.com/ http://thegreyrestaurant.com/ https://gpshvac.com/ http://aetho.co/ http://www.chefreco.com/ http://www.hospicesavannah.org/http://www.thebowenlawgroup.com/blog/why-savannah-is-a-great-place-for-starting-a-business-in-georgia http://www.seda.org/Strategic-Advantages/Entrepreneurial-Ecosystem https://relivingmbadays.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/factors-affecting-entrepreneurship-development/
SCAD
COMMUNITY
TEN TYPES OF
INNOVATION FRAMEWORK
FINDINGS
In this overview we were able to identify that most of Savannah’s entrepreneurship innovations happen within the delivery and the offering of the product. There are some other aspects, like networking that might provide a company a differentiation if they are being more innovative. We came to the conclusion that in order to effectively use this method, the industry must be narrowed down. It is difficult to assess different companies in different industries within this framework.
http://www.savannahga.gov/index.aspx?NID=1296
POPULAR MEDIA SCAN & KEY FACTS
FINDINGS http://businessinsavannah.com/bis/2017-08-26 http://www.seda.org http://www.savannahga.gov/index.aspx?NID=1296 https://www.1millioncups.com/savannah
Searching popular media and key facts enabled us to identify a foundation of data, which exposed several resources Savannah has for entrepreneurs, students, and the local community.
http://www.savannahga.gov/index.aspx?NID=1296 https://savannah.score.org http://www.sbacsav.com http://www.seda.org/Data-Sets.aspx http://www.savannahga.gov/index.aspx?NID=1534
FROM...TO EXPLORATION
FINDINGS
Through exploring past economic trends in Savannah, to current and emerging trends, we were able to better understand the business culture in Savannah and form educated questions as we moved into primary research.
http://savannah.uberflip.com/i/775179-2017-savannah-economic-trends
03
PRIMARY
RESEARCH
OBSERVATION, CULTURAL PROBE, & INTERVIEWS
We began observation at local entrepreneur resource centers and attended community networking events. Afterwards, we crafted heart and brain-based questions to ask during our cultural probe and interviews.
OBSERVATION
SAVANNAH ENTREPRENEURIAL CENTER
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Wenhan used his awesome sketching skills during our observation at the Savannah Entrepreneurial Center to capture the building and classrooms.
FINDINGS
Through our observation experience at the Savannah Entrepreneurial Center (SEC), we felt a sense of emptiness. The SEC has several classrooms and computer labs (free for public use), and no one was using them. There were 5 staff members, yet the building felt isolated. Our group noted that the location of the SEC may have something to do with the lack of attendance. These, plus other observations, caused us to question the communication between business resources and entrepreneurs in Savannah.
OBSERVATION
CREATIVE COAST: MADE IN SAV EVENT
A NIGHT OF NETWORKING Before attending the Made in SAV event, we were not sure what to expect. However, we were pleasantly surprised at the turn out for the evening. Over the course of the event, there were over 200 people who attended.
FINDINGS
To gain further insight, we decided to do a second observation at the Creative Coast Made in SAV event. This was a networking event, open to all. Our biggest observation was that there was not an official welcome or introduction to the event. The atmosphere of the space changed greatly throughout the evening. At the beginning of the event there was an older demographic, dressed professionally. After the first hour of the event, the demographic changed to young adults, dressed causally. The music volume increased and the lights were turned down lower.
CULTURAL PROBE
STARLAND ART MARCH & FARMER’S MARKET
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY As we set up for the Starland Art March, it was a beautiful evening. Unfortunately about half-way through the event it started to rain. We held umbrellas over our Cultural Probe in attempts to save it against the rain.
FINDINGS
We setup our cultural probe at the Starland Art March and the Farmer’s Market in Forsyth Park. We asked each participant where they would spend time and money if they had a business, in addition to, what industry they would have a business in. The participants varied in gender and age, which contributed to insightful data points.
CULTURAL PROBE DATA & RESULTS
INTERVIEWS
PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS
“I find the network in Savannah very useful.” - Dean McCraw, Founder of Phloem
FINDINGS
We all gathered great insights through our interviews. Each of us conducted 3 interviews, and some group members conducted more. Learning about Savannah’s entrepreneurial culture from local business owners and resource organizations was incremental to our data as we approached affinitizing and creating data points.
04
SYNTHESIS
WHAT IT ALL MEANS
AFFINITIZATION, CONCEPTS, & TRENDS
With our secondary and primary research complete, we began the process of affinity diagramming, a method used to analyze data. We separated our data points on individual post-its and began clustering data by similarities and distinctions in order to reveal new insights about the local culture of entrepreneurship.
AFFINITIZATION: YELLOWS INDIVIDUAL DATA POINTS
A SEA OF YELLOW With the affinitization process being new to most of our group, we found ourselves immersed in what felt like a constant sea of yellow post it notes filled with data points.
FINDINGS
We went through the yellow affinitization process twice. No talking. No music. No distractions. It was an intense experience. We decided to do the process a second time so we could make the best groupings possible and fully understand the process, as well as our data.
AFFINITIZATION: BLUES
WHAT MATTERS MOST TO THE USER
FIRST PERSON When we first began writing our blues, we found it challenging to write in first person since multiple groups and people were being represented from the yellows.
FINDINGS
As we moved into the “true blue” phase, we were excited to see our data points begin to develop into understandings of Savannah’s entrepreneurial community. The art of capturing detail in just a sentence or two was challenging at times, however the more blues we wrote the better we got at writing our “true blues.”
AFFINITIZATION: PINKS KEY ISSUES
FINDINGS After the blues, we moved to clustering to form the pinks. Refining our insights even more, this step was very exciting. At this point, we knew our data very well and were able to have rich discussions as we formulated our pink post its.
AFFINITIZATION: GREENS CORE STORIES
FINDINGS Last but not least. The greens felt good to write. Our final stage of affinitization was upon us and we found ourselves searching deeper into our data. Our next steps were to connect current trends and initial concepts to our greens.
AFFINITIZATION CONCEPTS & TRENDS
HUMAN EMOTIONS As we brought in initial concept ideas and current trends, we were challenged to look deeper and ask what the underlying human emotion was behind each trend.
FINDINGS
Connecting our greens, concepts, and trends enabled us to see our data come to life. Discovering the underlying human emotions in current trends, allowed us to find deeper connection when clustering our greens.
05
FINAL
OFFERINGS
PUBLICATIONS, AWARDS, TROLLEY TOURS, & URBAN DESIGN
The synthesis of our user-generated data from secondary and primary research, affinity diagraming insights, concept ideations, and trend research were used to develop data driven design solutions.
OFFERING 1
EXTENDED TROLLEY TOURS & ADVERTISING
Did you know 14 million tourist visit savannah each year?
This offering would extend Savannah trolley tour routes into less visited districts. This intent would be to show tourists and local business other areas of the city they may not be familiar with. In addition, applying modern advertising on a historic trolley can help residence in Savannah learn more about the business culture of Savannah and re-brand the city. This offering brings awareness of the growing tech culture.
OFFERING 2
ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARDS
Our second offering is for Savannah to host an annual entrepreneur award event. This event would start small, running as a student entrepreneur competition then moving to extend to the community. With an award including money, mentorship, discounted workspace, etc., this offering aids in growing networking, community, competitiveness, and awareness of business culture in Savannah.
OFFERING 3
SAVANNAH ENTREPRENEUR PUBLICATION
Our third offering is a monthly/quarterly Savannah entrepreneur publication. This short publication would feature different businesses and entrepreneurs each issue. This offering promotes community collaboration, feeds to the “me first� mentality of entrepreneurs, and provides a resource for new and current business owners.
OFFERING 4 URBAN DESIGN
Our last offering is a long-term offering that would help business get involved in the community and consumer market. By developing surrounding areas outside the historic district, Savannah would be able to grow and develop into a thriving business hub.
06
TEAM
REFLECTIONS
THOUGHTS, INSIGHT & HONESTY
The research process was enhanced by continuous reflection during the past 9 weeks. Working together as a group taught us how to be better teammates and leaders.
DI MU
REFLECTIONS
CULTURAL PROBE Think about user experience before design a talent idea. We wanted to use new methods to interact with audience & we care about recycles, so we chose recycled bottles to design our bins. However, the curving shape of bottles is hard for people to read the information on it. Trust your team and be as reliable as you can.
1 MILLION CUP & AMP COFFEE EVENT Don’t be afraid of talking to people, they are nicer than you think and they are eager to share their experience with you. Also, don’t be afraid of making mistakes.
AFFINITIZING Make sure you have all the detailed information in blue. Don’t summarize for your data, let data speak for you.
WHOLE PROCESS REFLECTION From this project, I learn how to generate the true data and let the data speak for your stakeholders. You cannot assume any result before analysis the data, and finally, the data will give you some perspectives and phenomenon surprisingly that you never thought before. Through the whole quarter, I have a deep understanding of how the designer can impact on people and our planet. As a designer, we have the power to solve the problems and make our life better, but we also have the power to cause more problems. Thus we have to consider whole situation and have a long term vision on the impact of our design. Besides, during the research practice in this quarter, having design thinking help me to consider various factors on our topic such us human factors, user experience and psychology. It’s a good experience to communicate with the people from different filed and know what’s going on in our society. TEAMWORK REFLECTION Working with entrepreneur group brought me a lot of feelings. Sometimes I felt frustrated by misunderstanding, sometimes I felt anxiety by overloaded work, sometimes I felt confused by falling behind the ideas. However, I feel passion and exciting at the most moments. We care about each other’s feelings, ideas and respect other’s working achievements. We go through all the challenges by patience and good communication. It is important to make sure all the team members are on the same page.
MARIA ZAPATA REFLECTIONS
INTRO
At the beginning of the course, we had an introduction to the possibilities of design management and the many creative ways we could go about learning and researching different scenarios. The very first activity Kwela guided us through involved an exercise called “human visual sculpture, through which we learned to see the importance of visual weight when understanding quantity. This exercise not only helped me reflect on my own accomplishments and think of personal questions I hadn’t thought to ask myself, it helped me sympathize and understand my new classmates. Using the same technique, we grouped ourselves according to interests on subjects to research, and I ended up being a part of the ‘Entrepreneurship babes’ group :)
SECONDARY RESEARCH
By dividing this process amongst my time I was forced to trust my team even before I got to meet them. The information they gathered was unique, and so was mine; and this is because we had no time to doubt check on each other, which is why I had to let go of any doubts/concerns I had and allow the to teach me, as much as they learned from me. We met twice to cook, and the dynamic was so great I found myself being very assured the this team was going to deliver great work.
OBSERVATION
The first ‘field trip’ we took as a team was to the entrepreneurial center of Savannah. We all met outside, and once together, we went in and began our quest. Besides all the information and insights we gathered through observation, I was excited to see how the dynamic of our group was. We had a wide range of all kinds of personalities and processes of approaching research and it thrilled me to be see where it took me.
CULTURAL PROBE
This process was rushed, having only 10 weeks to perform a proper cultural contextual-research is not enough, which makes everything even more challenging. In my mind my group was all rainbows and only positive results so far, that is, till we had our first disagreement. In a group of 6 people trying to agree and delegate work, we had a moment of miscommunication where we encountered a 2 vs 4 situation. However as soon as the issue surfaced, the entire team prioritized fixing, amending, correcting the issue to continue making positive and progressive work. This moment gave me all the confidence I needed to know that no matter what, this team was going to deliver the best we could, and I could trust every one in my team.
INTERVIEWS
By trusting my team, and them trusting me (I hope) we all lead successful interviews. We helped each other get all the interviews we needed and were able to interview the community of Savannah all the way from the Mayor’s chief of staff to entrepreneurs within our immediate reach. This was an essential phase in our research that gave way to the next steps in out research.
AFFINITIZATION
Affinitizing is a process that is never over, or so it feels. However, I enjoy it. The open discussions it proposes, challenges intellectual and refined conversations amongst my team mates. It had been the most fascinating experience to be able to agree, disagree, and discuss insights with my team which includes a true wide variety range of ethnicities and point of views.
HARPER HUNT REFLECTIONS
CULTURAL PROBE I am uncertain whether the data collected during our cultural probe reflects the true voice of the entrepreneur. The public context of where you ask for feedback is important towards your topic. I wonder where else in Savannah, GA we could have pulled in more targeted data from entrepreneurs. How might we have asked questions that included everyone. What if we asked business owners and customers questions that reveal what they want in Savannah. Rather than providing a hypothetical entrepreneur scenario. By reframing the question process we could have identified what customers wanted in Savannah. This would have led us to collect more data which may have contributed to more effective data. We should have defined the topic of entrepreneurship in the beginning. Setting parameters for our subject matter would have provided the opportunity to ask more focused questions so as to achieve more targeted data points. INTERVIEWS I have begun to develop relationships with citizens and entrepreneurs I have interviewed. Savannah is a small city. The entrepreneurship community is even smaller. Building relationships seems key to small business success. There is little business competition in Savannah; If businesses were forced to compete for customers I wonder if that would boost the quality of service and area economy. As an entrepreneur know what you want and what is most important to you. AFFINITIZING Clear the tables and put the phones away! Having a clean and big space is important to not get distracted. Trust your instincts.
LORENZA RUIZ REFLECTIONS
INTRO
I really enjoyed and personally benefited from the personality test at the beginning. My group was so diverse in personalities, that if I had not read the article and understood how personalities help the process and flow or crash with others, I would’ve had a different group work experience. This made me look back on many time I have worked or collaborated with people that, if we have known our strengths and weaknesses could have led to a better work environment and possible a better result.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Delegation of tasks within groups seems to be a very convenient way of dividing the work and thus being more effective. Yet, I learned that sometimes the group must always have meetings and these should always start and finish with the group being on the same page, understanding the same thing.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Observation- It is hard to take in all the information that is happening as a first-time-observer. I could tell it would become something easier to do with practice. You don’t want to miss any important detail and it’s hard not to be distracted. Cultural probe – As part of a group, delegating work sometimes it’s a must. While trying to create a cultural probe I realized it is important to have your group 100% or at least 95%, on the same page with the information you want to collect from the probe. While there may be some things you may be unsure of, a cultural probe could be the most successful with less information about the details of the person taking it and more data sets. I also realized, the location of the probe could the determine the success or unsuccessful of it. After this process, I was very excited because I understood the impact it has on research. It made me realize the importance of gathering data in a visual an attractive way. I won’t assume the words we use convey the meaning we intend. Clear and effective information must be displayed in way our users will understand without any kind of explanation.
INTERVIEWS
It is hard not being part of the conversation while doing an interview. Asking questions and obtaining data without “giving something in return” was very hard for me to do. Fortunately, after the first, I was comfortable enough and knew the data collection was better and truer if I listened, guided the questions, and let my interviewees speak.
AFFINITIZATION
I felt very uncomfortable at the beginning. I knew this was going to be hard for my rational-logical mind. I wished we had seen an example of how to do it, and why it should be done like that so its leads to the blues. I found affinitization a most interesting tool for research. I now trust its process and I’m very excited to use it in the future. Doing it alone was easier for me to do. I found that while working with more people a lot of opinions arise and may take a lot of time to do. However, I can see the benefit of doing it with group because everybody sees things differently.
FINAL REFLECTION
After our offerings emerged and we prepared our final presentation and process book, I look back into what felt like a semester worth of work. I can’t believe we did all this amazing work in just 10 weeks. I feel very excited and motivated about this new set of skills and knowledge gained. I go through the first days where it was all very uncertain, to today and it feels so different. After conducting research, learning new tools, surviving affinatization, finding that “aha” moment with our data+concepts+trends, to the final readings, it all sums up and I feel confident. I have confidence in our work, in my team, and in myself, but more importantly, in the process. I feel excited for the future where I would be able to implement and learn more about contextual research.
WENHAN ZHOU REFLECTIONS
CULTURAL PROBE Do not disturb or prompt people when they are thinking about the problem. Before it is put into use, it is necessary to make full simulation and rehearsal.
INTERVIEW I need 15 minutes early to familiarize myself with the environment. It is easy to find a topic to break ice with interviewee at begin of an interview. REVIEW THE PROJECT Do not prejudge the outcome. A selectively derived result will hinder data representation. Trust my team. Don’t afraid to communicate. When I have a question, just ask it.
LINDSEY PETERSON REFLECTIONS
OBSERVATION
I really enjoy observing. I’ve always considered myself an observer, especially in new environments or when meeting new people. I think there is a lot to learn by simply watching and listening to what’s going on around you. I feel as though our group could’ve done more observation. Our experiences were good, however they got disrupted towards the end and turned into interview experiences. We gained a lot of additional insight by talking with people, however I am curious if we would’ve concluded different insights had we not interacted with anyone during that time.
CULTURAL PROBE
During our cultural probe experience, I found it very interesting at the number of people who did not know if they were an entrepreneur or not. I had multiple people say “I work full/part-time, but I do ________________ as my side business…does that make me an entrepreneur?” It was interesting to me that people did not consider themselves true entrepreneurs if they had other work to sustain them. If I were to do the cultural probe again, I would consider this group and try to get specific data points from them - I think this could be an interesting perspective. As we worked on our cultural probe we had one incident in our group that led to frustration for 2 of our members. It was the perfect example of miscommunication. We decided to divide and conquer – which was a good idea. However due to class schedules we were not all able to meet in person to go over the parts we did, which resulted in confusion about the concept for our probe and the rest of the group changing what 2 members had done without consulting them. After frustration of the miscommunication was voiced we all met to discuss and hear each other’s perspective and resolved the issue together. This taught me that it is much better to over communicate when working in a group and to never assume – especially when it comes to someone else’s work. It’s important to always put yourself in someone else’s shoes and I can say I failed to do that in this situation. However, one of the things I enjoy most about our team is the level of care each person has for others. I was very impressed how quickly everyone came together to resolve this issue and make sure everyone felt valued and trusted.
INTERVIEWS
I really enjoyed conducting interviews. One of my three interviews did not turn out as useful in information as I had hoped…it turned more into a sales pitch from the interviewee. It was interesting, but hard to get them to answer questions that didn’t fall into their “pitch.” On the opposite end, another one of my interviewees was extremely open and willing to share many “behind the scenes” details of their business. Overall it was a good experience. If time had allowed, I would have liked to conduct a few more interviews.
AFFINITIZATION
Affinitizing is definitely a unique experience. Each round felt more familiar. I think our group came to some good greens. However, I think we could have written our yellows differently, in a way that could’ve been more beneficial when it came to writing the blues. It may have been useful to see an example of how the yellow’s are written prior to going through the whole process. Everyone in our group had a different idea of what they thought the process was, which resulted in some very detailed yellows and some very vague yellows. I believe we still got great information out of them all, however I felt a little unsure at the beginning of what I was suppose to write.
07
BLOOPERS
BEHIND THE SCENES
FUN & MEMORIES
Throughout this quarter our group got to know each other very well and shared a lot of laughs, fun times, and memories. Here’s a look into a few of our group dynamics!
BLOOPERS
BEHIND THE SCENES
SAV
#MADEINSAV
Martin, Bella and Hanington, Bruce. (2012) Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions. Massachusetts. Kumar, Vijay (2013) 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.