Your grade for this assignment will be determined based on the PDF of your slide deck submitted to Canvas:

• A4 overview slides. A PDF of the A4 slide deck should be posted to Canvas by only the team leader by 11:59pm on Friday May 26 Monday May 29. 

• The team's A4 Google folder should be updated include all your interim process work. Please make sure the folder is updated by the end day on Friday May 26 Monday May 29. 

• Fill out the team peer evaluation.  Everyone fill out the A4 team peer evaluation by end of day on May 26 May 29. 

This assignment starts in Week 6 and finishes at the end of Week 8. The final graded deliverable is a PDF of your slide deck posted to Canvas (by only one team member) by 11:59pm on May 26 May 29. All other dates below are interim deadlines to share work-in-progress drafts. Please share drafts as links in the Team Dashboard before class on the days we are scheduled to share and critique (drafts are not graded).  We include interim deadlines and guidelines on number of homework hours and teammates to allocate to each step [in brackets]. This assignment adds up to ~5-6 hours of work per teammate outside of lecture and studio.

1. [OPTIONAL STEP***]  Apply for catalyst funding!  Thanks to our relationship with the Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, teams have an opportunity to apply for up to $250 in funding to support the next steps of your venture.   As a team prepare answers for the following:

   • Short answer:  What industry sector is your startup concept part of?  (e.g., sustainability; tech; health; etc.)

   • In two paragraphs or less: What problem are you addressing? And/or, what opportunity are you exploring? Who is your target customer?  What's the competition?  What distinguishes you?  Who would be paying for your product or service? And, why would they pay? What's the basic business model? 

   • In one paragraph:  How much are you requesting? What will you use the funds for? Over what time period will you use the funds? What are the expected outcomes/how will this advance your venture?

   • Once you have your answer ready, feel free to get feedback from the teaching team. Then when you have your best answers ready, submit to this form by May 19.

2. Decide on hypotheses to test. Revisit your business model and hypotheses to guide your continued exploration. Decide which hypotheses are the most important to test right now by considering (1) their ultimate effect on the proposed solution's success and (2) your uncertainty about how true they are. The general strategy here is to challenge the assumptions that create the biggest risk to your business model by devising prototypes to test them.   [1 hour team discussion after A3] 

3. Create a "web probe" (part 1):  Create a realistic "landing page" for your service based on your value proposition and a branding exercise. Then create A and B versions for either your landing page or your ads to help you test one of your hypotheses.  

1. • Design branding materials for your company idea. This should be an exploration of different ideas for the name, logo, color scheme, iconography, and catch phrases that capture the essence of your business concept. Each team should create a list of adjectives, a mood board, typography exploration, and a large variety of rough alternative name/logo ideas. Then synthesize this exploration down into a branding guideline.  Example:  Volo Branding Guidelines  [share draft of branding materials in class on May 16; ~2 hours for 2 team members]

   • Build a landing page (or two), informed by your branding guidelines, that describes your service and asks visitors to take some action (e.g. to sign up for the Beta version). A tool like unbounce.com can be used to create alternate landing pages and built in analytics for comparing A-B versions.  However, your team can use any service you wish for hosting a live website.  Your landing page should have a place for interested parties to enter an email address to learn more about the potential service which is a great "conversion" metric.  Examples:  Volo for travelers  Variant A focuses on connecting with locals, Variant B focuses on connecting with fellow travelers ; Violet for parking  Variant A is more professional, Variant B is more casual.   [share draft of landing pages in class on May 16; ~2 hours for 2 team members]

   • Create a marketing campaign to advertise your solution to target stakeholders through different advertising channels and measure responses by directing the ad to your landing page.  First, think about the audience you want to reach. List out characteristics like age, income, geographic location, etc.  Then choose one or both of these approaches to attract people to your team's landing page:  1)  Paid ads. Write down an extensive list of search terms that potential customers/stakeholders might search for when trying to fulfill the needs you identified in Assignment 3.  These search terms will be used to create an online ad campaign.  Then write "ad copy" (or work with an AI to generate ad copy). This is the text that will appear in your ad(s) when someone happens to search the terms you listed above. Then create an account on Google AdWords or any social media platform that support advertising. Load your account with a minimal budget for running ads for a period of time (e.g., 5-10 days).  Launch and monitor your ad campaign, adjusting search terms as necessary throughout the campaign.  Each teammate will need to chip in ~$10-15 to fund this part of the assignment.  2) Post the landing page through social media and special-interest communities. Write a message that succinctly describes the solution and asks people to check it out.  For example, you could post your message on Reddit.com or in a Facebook group that caters to the target audience you are trying to reach. This advertising option is free for the team, but it might not reach the same scale or authenticity as an actual web ad campaign.  [share draft of ad text in class on May 16; ~1 hour for 2 team members]

4. Evaluate your "web probe" (part 2):  Now that your team has a website and ads, launch your marketing campaign to drive traffic to the landing page and optimize keywords for your ad.  Devise an A-B experiment that will help your team evaluate a key open question for your startup concept.  Depending on your biggest open question, your team should run one of the following three types of probes to get A-B comparison data:

   • 1. An ad-centered probe compares two different ads.  This type of probe can help teams explore questions like: What’s the best way to pitch this concept to potential customers? What language best describes the unmet need / opportunity?  Leverage Google AdWords (or another ad service) to launch and monitor the performance of two different ads which should both point to the same landing page.  Your team's analysis should then focus on the data provided by Google AdWords regarding how many users see and click each ad.  (Note that this type of probe only works effectively with paid ads. The grassroots approach will not yield the kind of data you need to fairly compare different ads.)

     2. A page-centered probe compares two different versions of your landing page.   This type of probe can help teams explore questions like:  What catchphrase is most likely to get people to sign up?  What color scheme seems to resonate the best with visitors?  How much are people willing to pay?  For this probe, leverage a tool like Unbounce in order to route web visitors randomly to one of your two landing pages.  Your team's analysis should focus on the data provided by Unbounce.com regarding how many users stayed on the page and for how long, and how many people entered an email for more info.  (Note that this type of probe can work with either paid ads or grassroots ads) 

     3. A concept-centered probe compares two different landing pages that each have their own ads.  This type of probe can help teams explore questions like:  Which of our ideas seems to have the biggest potential audience?  How can we appeal to different users in our stakeholder map (e.g., how to recruit riders and drivers)?   For this type of probe, create one ad that points to one landing page and another ad that points to another landing page with no crossover.  Teams can potentially leverage data from both the ad service and the web hosting service to understand which ad+landing page combination is getting the best traction.  

   • Finally, monitor and analyze the data for your web probe (e.g., number of visitors, amount of time on site, etc.). Make sure you are getting visitors to your landing page; if not, change the parameters of your web ad or try a different grassroots approach. If your team is running a page-centered probe, make sure Unbounce is routing people to and collecting data on both pages. To get even more data, consider integrating Google analytics into your Unbounce page so you can track the source of visitors to your web probe (ie., are people visiting from your AdWords campaign or from which of your grassroots approaches?). Make adjustments as needed throughout the campaign.  Be ready to report on the overall interest in your startup idea(s) and to compare your A and B versions of your ads or landing pages or both. [be ready to launch campaigns and web probes by May 18 and analyze the results by May 26 May 29; ~3 hours for 1-2 team members]

5. Enact "concierge MVP" for potential early adopters: Your team will also evaluate your concept through a "concierge MVP" (i.e., a minimal viable product/service). That means creating a lo-fi prototype of the solution, demonstrating the value, and getting input from an early adopter. 

• Recruit two volunteers that can serve as "earlyvangilists" in a live role-play of your service. A role play of your service typically takes about 30 minutes, and can take place online or in-person, depending on the concept.  Your team's volunteers can be from different classes of stakeholders in your value flow model, or from the same stakeholder class (e.g, primary users). Aim to schedule these between May 23-26 (after a chance to get feedback in class, and before the assignment is due).  Note: Please avoid recruiting volunteers from other teams or close friends. Stretch your team to recruit actual potential customers.  

• Create a "concierge MVP" for your volunteers.  The team should essentially "wizard" the core service and attempt to learn what works and doesn't work.  For some team concepts, it might be necessary to ask your volunteer to improvise a scenario (e.g., "imagine you just got in a car accident, and you have this app on your mobile phone.").  In any case, write a script that will explain the scenario to your volunteer and any procedures involved.  Your team may create any number of lo-fidelity prototypes, props, costumes, and other materials to role play the envisioned experience. You may facilitate this experience in-person or online through any number of communication tools, just be sure to record each session and have your volunteers think aloud throughout the experience. [share draft of lo-fi prototype and role-play scenario in class on May 23; ~2 hours for 2-3 team members]  As examples, the Ergo team (Fall 2020) created this document for the procedures and personalized value provided during each MVP session, and the InterMingle team (Spring 2022) recorded these videos to show potential users thinking aloud while interacting with their lo-fi prototype.  

• Document the concierge MVP. Create video documentation of each service encounter and interview your volunteer (ideally on video). Spread out your volunteers several days apart so you can iterate. Between each encounter, teams should analyze what happened in the trial run and interview, and then revise the process and the rough user interface. You should learn a bunch from each trial of your concierge MVP.  Take these insights and iterate on your MVP.  [share results from your testing sessions in your final A4 slides due May 26 May 29; ~2 hours for 2-3 team members]

6. Create the A4 slide decks. As detailed under "Deliverables", update your team's slide deck to share insights from A4. Now your slide deck should also show off and use your team's branding guidelines (e.g., color, fonts, logos, etc.)  Include slides for:

1. • Your concept / mission.  Perhaps describe a scenario that illustrates the unmet need/desire and your unique solution to this. 

   • All materials for brand identity (moodboard, typography exploration, logo designs, color scheme, design language, catch phrases, etc.) 

   • Multiple versions of your landing page and/or ads. Show your landing page(s) and say why you created your two versions. Describe your how you performed your A-B test. 

   • Web advertisements, keywords, target demographics, and other details 

• • Analysis of web probes (ad data and landing page data)

1. • Concierge MVP description (who, what, where, why, etc.)

   • Photo/video documentation of each service encounter (at least 2 users/customers)

   • Analysis of the results and design implications from each service encounter

   • Update your value flow diagram and competitive analysis.

Here are a couple of good example presentations from prior teams in this class:

6. • 1. Volo team presentation example 

     2. Violet team presentation example

The team should organize the team Google folder.  Team leader should turn in a PDF of the A4 slide decks. [Due Friday May 26 Monday May 29 by 11:59pm.] 

7. Fill out the team peer evaluation.  Your team has just completed an assignment together. Everyone is required to fill out the A4 team peer evaluation. [Due Friday May 26 Monday May 29 by 11:59pm.] 

This is a complex assignment with many moving parts.  Teams of 4-5 people typically split (i.e., two groups of 2-3 people) so that one half focuses on the branding and Web probe, and the other half focuses on the lo-fi prototype and the concierge MVP enactments with potential customers. 

• • Required reading: Aydin 2018, "Good Design vs Bad Design"

  • Required reading: Houde and Hill, 1997, "What do Prototypes Prototype?"

  • See the Readings page for more optional books, talks, and videos.

  • A-B website testing:   Unbounce, vwo.com, Leadformly.com, Google Optimize

  • Landing page basics and examples

  • Google AdWords

  • Video:  What is a concierge MVP?

  • Conducting think-aloud observation for your concierge MVP

  • Think about How to Build, Improve and Pivot a Minimum Viable Product

Students will be graded as a team for A4. This includes materials in the team folder, as well as the overview slides submitted as a PDF to Canvas.  Grades will be based on the following considerations:

• Web probe (Part 1): Branding materials, landing pages, and ads (25%)

  • • Does the team extensively explore branding options (e.g., color, type, and names for their brand)?  

    • Does the brand capture the essence of the business concept? 

    • Do the landing pages present the service in an appealing way?  Do the pages include a call to action (e.g., sign up email)?

    • Does the team create Web ads or social media messages that effective advertise the landing pages to your target customers?  

• Web probe (part 2): Marketing campaign and data analysis (20%)

  • • Does the team iterate on keywords, ad copy, and other details to better optimize the number of conversions (e.g., # of visitors)?

    • Does the team choose something interesting/relevant/useful to compare for the A-B testing?  

    • Does the team conduct an informative analysis of the A-B testing, including data from the Web ads (e.g., Google AdWords) and the landing pages (e.g., Unbounce)?

• Concierge MVP and analysis (45%)

  • • Did the team consider their assumptions and open questions in order to create an MVP that evaluates their riskiest risks?  

    • Does the team's lo-fi prototype simulate the value of the envisioned service/product with details personalized to each MVP session? 

    • Does the team effectively perform/enact the Concierge MVP for two different potential customers?  

    • Does the team iterate on their service concept throughout the process of trying out the MVP?

• Team overview slides (10%)

  • • Are the team's overview slides clear, insightful, and to the point?

    • Do the slides adopt the team's design language and branding guidelines (i.e., logo, color, type choices, etc.)?

    • Do the slides concisely review the problem setting and proposed solution?  

    • Do the slides deliver useful insights from the Web probe, including an explanation of the A-B test and data analysis?  

    • Do the slides deliver useful insights from the Concierge MVP? Does it include video clips to show how volunteers use and react to the service?