EG2301

Case Studies
in Innovation
Week 4
 Please change your Zoom
name to your actual name.
 Agenda
1. Project 1
2. Assignment 1 (VIA survey)
3. What makes a good life
4. Aging societies
5. Assignment 2 (Problems elderly face)
6. POV & HMW
7. The most underrated skill in management
8. Assignment 3 (Researched statement)
9. Assignment 4 (Provide feedback)
EG2301

Project 1
 Project 1
Objectives
• To develop an innovative solution for a problem
that a group of users experiences.
• Preferably new to the world.
• Prototype your solution. Prototype is required.
• Consider and, if possible, address the
environmental impact of your solution.
• Your solution must be low cost, order of a few $
(when mass produced).
• DAISO sells household type items. Your innovation
does not have to be DAISO type. Find your own!
• Any other ideas? Drop me an e-mail.
 Project 1
Group formation
• Has been completed.
 Project 1
Deliverables
• A short video (0-4 minutes) illustrating your concept
and the use of your prototype
• Upload in mp4 format
• Filename: Group-#.mp4 (Example: Group-1.mp4)
• Workbin: Submissions, Folder: Project 1
• Subfolder: Project 1 video
• A powerpoint presentation (0-4 minutes)
• Upload in pdf format
• Filename: Group-#.pdf (Example: Group-1.pdf)
• Workbin: Submissions, Folder: Project 1
• Subfolder: Project 1 presentation
• LumiNUS submission by Sunday 26 September 23:59
• Presentation in week 7 (video + powerpoint = max 4
minutes)
 Project 1
The uploaded PPT must be as follows.
• P. 1: First page: title + names of team members
• P. 2: Information about the problem
• P. 3: User(s)/target group(s) and their needs
• P. 3: Reasons for their needs
• P. 4: POV (or POVs) and HMW (or HMWs)
• P. 5: Drawing of your prototype in Autodesk Fusion
• P. 6: Photo of your prototype
• Appendix: Patent search and other supporting data
• Appendix: You can include further information
about the prototypes you developed and tested, as
well as user feedback you acquired.
 Project 1
• The deliverables must be uploaded as required.
• PPT must follow the required format.
• Presentation to the class
• Maximum 4 minutes total.
• Spend your 4 minutes wisely!
• Zero marks in case you go beyond this.
• You can use the deliverables (ppt and video).
• However, you can decide to use another video and
another ppt, i.e., you are not bound to present the
deliverables.
• Your presentation must, at least, include a video in
which you present your prototype.
• It is allowed that your entire presentation is a video,
provided it is not longer than 4 minutes.
The VIA Survey
Week 4 – Assignment 1
(Individual)
 Week 4 – Assignment 1
• In this module there are various group
assignments, especially the two projects.
• Bringing together people with differences:
• Culture
• Language
• Habits
• Schedules
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Etc. etc.
• Knowing and understanding each other, can
increase team strength and team outcomes.
• Personality surveys can help with that.
• There are many surveys.
 Week 4 – Assignment 1
• Take the VIA survey (~15 minutes).
• https://www.viacharacter.org/
• Reflect on the outcome of the survey.
• Prepare a short presentations with salient points
about your survey results that you are willing to
share with your project 1 members.
• One or two slides
• In the LumiNUS survey confirm (“Yes”) that you
have taken the survey and made the presentation.
• Due date: Monday 6 September 23:59
• Survey → Week 4 - Assignment 1.
• Zero marks: no confirmation by the due date.
 Aging Societies
and
“What makes a good life?”
 The “Silver Tsunami”

Screenshot Channel News Asia 2 September 2019 on South Korea’s Silver Tsunami
TED talk by Tim Brown

Design is
human centered,

it starts with
what humans need,
or might need.
 Aging societies
• Many societies have an aging population.
• We’ll look at identifying needs, identifying
problems and articulating problem
statements.
• Throughout, we’ll keep in mind that
design starts with what humans need, or
might need.
• As a precursor, we’ll watch the TED talk by
Robert Waldinger on “What makes a good
life?”
• Then we’ll discuss the assignment on
aging societies.
 Robert Waldinger

What makes a good life?

TED Talk - Video

Crafting a Statement
of a Problem

In class discussion
 In class exercise
• We have viewed the TED talk by Robert
Waldinger on “What makes a good life”.
• With your group members, craft a clear and
concise statement of a pressing problem
(some) elderly face in Singapore.
• What further information would you seek?
• Time: 20 minutes.
• Zoom breakout rooms follows group number.
• Be ready to present.
 In class discussion
• Use the template provided.
– LumiNUS: Files → Lecture Notes → Week 4 →
exercise-1.docx.
• Submit the template.
– Convert to PDF.
– Rename to group-#.pdf (e.g., group-1.pdf).
– One submission per group.
– LumiNUS: Files → Submissions → Week 4 → In
class discussion about aging societies.
Aging societies
Week 4 - Assignment 2
(Individual)
 Week 4 – Assignment 2
• Many societies are aging.
• We’ll also look into identifying problems and
articulating statements of problems.
• Observe the elderly
• Observe as in “see with your own eyes”.
• In Singapore (or your hometown).
• Identify three key problems or challenges they face.
• In an essay, discuss each of them in >200 words.
• Submit by Monday 6 September 23:59
• LumiNUS:
• Submissions → Week 4 → Assignment 2 (Aging
societies)
Week 4 – Assignment 2
 EG2301

Define the POV

 Define the POV
Crafting the POV
1. Identify problems, needs, challenges, etc.
2. Articulate the needs statements, i.e., the point-
of-view (POV) statement

• Answer: Who? What? Why?

• Craft the POV
• [Who?] needs [What?], because [Why?]
• POV serves as a benchmark for your solution.
 Define the POV
Scope of who, what, and why
1. Who will benefit from your solution?
2. Not too wide …
3. And not too narrow.
Example
• The world’s population needs…, because … .
• The Singapore population needs…, because … .
• NUS students need …, because … .
• EG2301 students need …, because … .
• Student X needs …, because …
 EG2301

Define the HMWs

 Define the HMWs
Getting to HMWs
1. Identify problems, needs, challenges, etc.
2. Articulate the needs statement, i.e., the POV.
3. Who do you target? Who is/are your persona(s)?
4. Articulate the HMW:
How might we…/How can we…
• The HMW drives the innovation process, it is your
group’s call to action.
• Use it to benchmark: to what extent does the
solution address the HMW and the POV?
 Define the HMWs
Getting to HMWs
1. Who will benefit from your solution?
2. Not too wide
3. Not too narrow
Example
• How might we make the world’s population…?
• How might we make the Singapore population …?
• How might we make NUS students … ?
• How might we make EG2301 students … ?
• How might we make student X …?
POVs and HMWs
In class exercise
 Exercise POVs and HMWs
• In your project group, discuss and craft three POVs
and associated HMWs.
• Less than three POVs/HMWs is also OK.
• Develop a quality POV/HMW.
• You can select the topic.
• You can use the problem elderly may face.
• Time: 20 minutes.
• Zoom breakout rooms: according to group number.
• Be ready to present.
 Exercise POVs and HMWs
• Use the template provided
• LumiNUS: Files → Lecture Notes → Week 4 → exercise-
POV-HMW.docx
• Also upload
• LumiNUS: Files → Submissions → Week 4 → Exercise
(POV & HMW)
The Most Underrated Skill
in Management

Short summary
 Article Summary
The most underrated skill in management
• Article appeared in the spring 2017 issue of
MITSloan Management Review
• Authors: N. P. Repenning, D. Kieffer, T. Astor
• https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-most-
underrated-skill-in-management/
• Associated exhibit
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/content/uploads/
2017/03/252d858d39.pdf
 Article Summary
The most underrated skill in management
• “There are few management skills more
powerful than the discipline of clearly
articulating the problem you seek to solve
before jumping into action”
• Note: aimed at organizations and
organizational change
 Article Summary
The most underrated skill in management
• “As valuable as good problem formulation can be,
it is rarely practiced. Psychologists and cognitive
scientists have suggested that the brain is prone to
leaping straight from a situation to a solution
without pausing to define the problem clearly.
Such “jumping to conclusions” can be effective,
particularly when done by experts facing extreme
time pressure, like fighting a fire or performing
emergency surgery. But, when making change,
neglecting to formulate a clear problem statement
often prevents innovation and leads to wasted
time and money.”
 Article Summary
The discipline of problem formulation
“A good problem statement has five basic elements:
1. It references something the organization cares about
and connects that element to a clear and specific goal;
2. It contains a clear articulation of the gap between the
current state and the goal;
3. The key variables –the target, the current state, and
the gap- are quantifiable;
4. It is as neutral as possible concerning possible
diagnoses or solutions; and
5. It is sufficiently small in scope that you can handle it
quickly”.
Article Summary
 Article Summary

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/252d858d39.pdf
 Article Summary
Four common mistakes
“Four common failure modes.
1. Failing to formulate the problem
2. Problem statement as diagnosis or solution
• The problem is we lack the right IT capabilities
• The problem is that we haven’t spent the money to
upgrade our IT system
3. Lack of clear gap
• “Sales has to go up”, “We must improve our brand”
4. The problem is too big”
 Article Summary
Structured Problem Solving
1. Problem statement
2. Observing the current design
• Root cause analysis
3. Target design
• Improvement goal
• Guidelines
4. Execution plan
 One researched
statement of a problem

Week 4 - Assignment 3
 Assignment
Background
• Need for a good, well-researched, well-
understood statement of a problem.
• Without it you may be building the wrong
solution, or a solution on quick-sand.
• The solution demonstrably must address the
problem.
 Assignment
Background
• For project 2, groups will develop a solution to
a problem and present it in weeks 12 and 13.
• Each team member is to develop a well-
researched problem statement first and
submit the final essay in week 6.
• Each group of three students will then discuss
the three developed problem statements and
select one for project 2.
 Assignment
Individual assignment
• Continue to research the problem.
• Seek to break the problem down further,
reduce the scope.
• Review existing solutions and their problems.
• Find more sources with information.
• Facts first, then build a logical and compelling
argument.
• Expand your essay and cite references
– Citation style: IEEE or APA
 Assignment
Submission instructions
• Essay of at least 1000 words.
• Expand your existing essay.
• LumiNUS submission: Monday 6 September 23:59
→Submissions → Week 4
→Assignment 2 – One statement of a problem
• Filename: matnr.pdf. Example: A0161234A.pdf
• This second version: 10 marks (effort based).
• Zero marks: late submissions, no PDF, word count
not met. No plagiarism please.
 Assignment
Further information
• This is the second version of your statement of
a problem
• Time commitment: ~3 hours.
• Final statement (>2000 words)
– Due end of week 6.
– Will be marked on quality.
– 100 marks maximum.
• Further revised version will go into your
EG2301 portfolio (due week 13).
 Assignment
Summary
• Draft statement of a problem: > 500 words
– Due 30 August
• Second version: > 1000 words
– Due 6 September
• Final statement of a problem: > 2000 words
– Due end of week 6
• Revise further and include in portfolio
– Due in week 13
 Provide feedback on
statement of a problem

Week 4 - Assignment 4
 Assignment
• Essay of 500 words (Week 3 Assignment 2)
• Copy and paste the text of your essay on the
LumiNUS forum thread of your group.
• Or upload the pdf file.
• Due date: Wednesday 1 September 23:59.
• Provide feedback on the essay of all your team
members.
• Due date: Monday 6 September 23:59
• Zero marks: late upload of your text file (1/9)
and/or late feedback (6/9).
 Assignment
• Feedback
– What is good/interesting about the essay?
– Suggestions for improvement.
• Logic and structure of the essay.
• Data provided.
• Formatting, References, etc.
– Others.
• Your feedback should be more than 150 words
for each feedback that you provide.
• Provide good and useful feedback.
 Approximate time commitment
Week 4 - Approximate time commitment
1. Lecture 3.0 hrs
2. Project 1 discussion 1.0 hrs
3. Assignment 1 (VIA survey) 1.0 hrs
4. Assignment 2 (Aging societies) 1.0 hrs
5. Assignment 3 3.0 hrs
• Statement of a problem
6. Assignment 4 (Feedback) 1.0 hrs

Total 10.0 hrs