stage-two

Idea Generation & Validation (2 months) January - February

rainstorming Sessions: Teams brainstorm innovative tech solutions to address real-world problems.
Problem Validation: Conduct user research and market analysis to validate the chosen idea and ensure its feasibility.
Idea Pitching: Teams pitch their ideas to a panel of experts for feedback and refinement.

To easily identify problems in your community, one of the crucial steps is understanding your community as well as the people living in that community.

What is a Community?

A community is a group of people who live in the same place and share common interests or goals. Communities can be big or small, rural or urban, and they can be based on anything from geography to religion to hobbies.
A community for students can be their school, their neighborhood, or even their online social group. The important thing is that the community feels like a place where you belong and where you can connect with others who share their interests.

But how can you know your community better?

Below are some key strategies you could use to improve your knowledge on your community.

Volunteer in the community. This is a great way to get involved and to see firsthand the problems that people are facing.
Attend community meetings. This is a great way to learn about the issues that are important to people in the community. You can also meet with community leaders and learn about their plans for addressing these issues.
Talk to people in the community. Ask them about their experiences and what they think are the biggest challenges facing the community.
Carry out surveys to find out what people face as daily challenges
Volunteering in your community, carrying out surveys talking to people are not the only way of identifying problems in your community.
Problems could as well be identified by several other ways such as brainstorming or why not, identifying the problems you face personally.
Brainstorming is a group problem-solving method that involves the spontaneous contribution of creative ideas and solutions by a group of people. It is a great way to generate a lot of ideas in a short amount of time, and it can be used to solve any kind of problem.

Brainstorming tips:

Set a clear goal. What are you trying to achieve with your brainstorming session? Once you know the goal, you can start to generate ideas that are relevant to it.
Have a diverse group of people. The more diverse your group, the more likely you are to come up with creative ideas. Make sure to include people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives.
Encourage wild ideas. Don't be afraid to think outside the box. The best ideas often come from the most unexpected places.
Build on each other's ideas. Once someone has shared an idea, see if anyone else can build on it or improve it. This can help you to come up with even more creative (Below is a short video that can provide you with excellent brainstorming tips)
Tips for better brainstorming

Project Validation tips.

Need and Impact: Assess the extent of the problem and the potential impact your solution could have on addressing it. Consider the relevance and urgency of the problem in your community and how your solution can effectively meet the needs of the affected individuals or groups.
Research and Data: Conduct thorough research to gather data and information related to the problem. This research will help you understand the root causes, identify any existing solutions or initiatives, and provide evidence to support the effectiveness of your proposed solution.
Stakeholder Engagement: Engage with key stakeholders who are directly or indirectly affected by the problem. This can include community members, local organizations, experts, and authorities. Seek their input, perspectives, and feedback on your proposed solution to ensure it aligns with the actual needs of the community.
Feasibility: Evaluate the feasibility of your solution in terms of resources, time, and skills required for implementation. Consider the availability of necessary technology, funding, human resources, and any potential regulatory or logistical challenges.
Sustainability: Assess the long-term sustainability of your project. Consider its potential for scalability, its ability to create lasting positive change, and the availability of ongoing support and maintenance. Additionally, explore potential partnerships or collaborations that can contribute to the sustainability of your project.
Pilot Testing: Before implementing your solution on a larger scale, conduct a small-scale pilot test. This will allow you to evaluate its effectiveness, identify any necessary adjustments or improvements, and gather feedback from users or beneficiaries. You can enable people such as family members, friends to use your product, and provide feedback for improvement.

Design Thinking, an approach to Problem Solving

Design thinking is human centered approach in solving problems. It involved finding out what people and producing it to solve their various problems.

It has five main stages: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.

Empathy:

It involves putting yourself in the user’s shoes to identify their problems. In the empathizing stage, research is important. We have;

Ethnographic Research:

It involves immersing yourself in a community and interacting with the individuals of the community to easily identify their problems. Researchers must go into the field and live there for some time to experience the problems caused by individuals in that community.

Lean Research:

Does not necessitate the researcher to be present at the field, but rather puts the information provided by various researchers at the center of their design
Define: This stage involves defining the problem you are solving and trying to understand it. A problem statement is produced at this level.

Ideate:

It involves coming out with a list of ideas to produce a solution. Ideation could be done in two major ways,

- Using the Disney 3 room approach: Has three rooms, the dreamers room for answering the question “What”, the realistic room answering the question “How” and the critic room that answers the question “Why”

Using the worst idea approach:

involves team members listing a variety of ideas(gross, illegal or terrible ideas)
Prototype and Testing: Involves producing a prototype of your idea and testing your solution with the aim of collecting feedback from users to improve upon your invention.
It is possible to either build a Low fidelity Prototype that has just a few features of your final product or a high fidelity prototype that has almost all the features of your product.
No entrepreneur will desire to take the risk of producing a finished product that doesn’t satisfy the consumer’s taste. Prototyping and testing are therefore key steps that should not be missing in the production process.
For better understanding of design thinking, below is a video with detail explanation on what design thinking is all about. (Design thinking )

Pitching your idea for validation.

Below are some key things to include in your pitch deck when trying to validate your idea.

Problem Statement: Clearly define the problem you have identified in your community. Describe the challenges, needs, or pain points that your solution aims to address. Use statistics, data, or real-life examples to highlight the significance and urgency of the problem.
A good problem statement must be SMART, i.e
S= Specific: Your problem statement should bring out the specific problem your team is solving. Be specific to a group of people, and if possible a particular age group.
M= Measurable: Make sure what you do can be quantified.
A= Attainable: Don’t set goals that are beyond your execution.
R= Realistic
T= Time bound: Your project should be executable within a given period of time.
Solution Overview: Provide a concise and compelling description of your innovative solution. Explain how it addresses the identified problem and outline its key features or functionalities. Clearly articulate the unique value proposition of your solution and how it sets itself apart from existing approaches.
Target Audience: Identify the specific audience or community that will benefit from your solution. Describe their characteristics, pain points, and how your solution directly caters to their needs. Demonstrate a clear understanding of your target audience's motivations and why they would adopt your solution.
Market Analysis: Present a market analysis that showcases the size, potential growth, and trends within the target market or community. Include information about any existing competitors or alternative solutions and explain how your solution differentiates itself and fills any existing gaps.
Business Model: Outline your business model and revenue generation strategy. Explain how you plan to monetize your solution and sustain its operations. Include details about pricing, partnerships, distribution channels, and any potential sources of funding or revenue streams.
Technical Implementation: Provide an overview of the technical aspects of your solution. Explain the underlying technology or platform, development stages, and any specialized requirements. Highlight any unique or proprietary technology that gives your solution a competitive advantage.
Impact and Benefits: Clearly articulate the potential impact and benefits of your solution. Describe the positive outcomes it can deliver to the community, such as improved efficiency, cost savings, social impact, or environmental sustainability. Back up your claims with relevant data or case studies, if available.

Assessment Questions.

A. Which of the following is the first step in the problem solving process?

Brainstorming
Identifying the problem
Implementing the solution
Evaluating the results
B. When identifying community problemsprobems, it is important to:
Focus only on problems that directly affect you
Ignore problemspoblems that seem too difficult to solve
Consider the needs and concerns of others
Rely solely on personal opinions.

C. What is the purpose of conducting research when identifying community problems?

To gather data and facts about the problem.
To come up with creative solutions
To determine the cost of implementing the solution.
To evaluate the success of the solution.
D. Which of the following is an effective way to generate ideas duringdueing brainstorming?
Criticize and reject ideas from others
Limit the number of ideas generated
Encourage wild and creative thinking
Focus only on practical and realistic ideas.

E. When brainstorming, it is important to:

Avoid collaboration with others
Stick to one idea and develop it in detail
Write down all ideas no matter how unrealistic
Discourage participation from quiet team members
.
F. What is the purpose of prioritizing problems during the problem-solving process?
To ignore less significant problems
To allocate resources effectively
To avoid implementing any solution
To discourage further exploration of the problem
G. What is the role of empathy in problem-solving?
To ignore the needs and concerns of others
To understand and relate to the experience of others
To discourage collaboration with team members
To focus solely on personal interest.
H. What is the purpose of defining the problem during the problem-solving process?
To avoid seeking input from others
To limit the exploration of possible solutions
To understand the root causes and effects of the problem
To prevent the implementation of any solutions

I. What is the purpose of generating alternative solutions during the problem-solving exercise?

To avoid implementing any solutions
To limit the exploration of different options
To evaluate the success of the chosen solution
To consider different approaches and possibilities.
J. What is the role of critical thinking in problem-solving?
To discourage collaboration with others
To rely solely on personal opinions and experiences
To evaluate and analyze information objectively
To avoid considering multiple perspectives.