Assignment: Product / Service Innovation Idea Workbook
Idea Self-Assessment & Assumption Busting
Summarize the new/unmet user need/want (i.e., opportunity) you are focused on:
Summarize your best idea for a new / modified product or service (i.e., your solution to the above problem):
Summarize what makes your idea different and better than alternatives and competitors:
Rate your idea and your work thus far:
(Please place an X under your level of agreement / disagreement with the statements provided - be honest since this does not affect your grade but will help you understand where you are in this process).
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I have fully explored and understand...
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Strongly Disagree
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Disagree
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Partly Disagree
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Neither Agree nor Disagree
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Partly Agree
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Agree
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Strongly Agree
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...the user group or market segment that I am focused on.
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...the problem, situation, need, or want that I am focused on.
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..the industry and trends that affect the domain I am focused on.
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...existing solutions, alternatives, and competitors that do the same 'job'.
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...technical feasibility of my product/service idea.
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...business or financial viability of my product/service idea.
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For this last section we want you to identify TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASSUMPTIONS.
1) Those necessary for your idea to work as envisioned.
2) Those that undermine or challenge your idea.
Remember assumptions are anything you think you know (i.e., these can seem to be facts) but are unsure of or don't have strong evidence in support of. If a necessary assumption turns out to not be true it can make your idea fail. If an assumption that undermines your idea can be overturned your idea will get better. Every idea has dozens if not hundreds of assumptions. Please focus on those that are important / substantial.
What are the key assumptions that need to be true to make your idea work?
These are aspects of the idea that link to how it works, it's strengths, how it is different/better than alternatives and can be about existence or level of user pains / desired gains, user expectations for performance, changing user needs / wants, market size, what alternatives exist to solve users problems currently, who your competitors are, the strengths/weaknesses of competitors, relevant trends, etc...
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Assumption #1 critical to your idea working
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Why is this important to make your idea work:
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Assumption #2 critical to your idea working
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Why is this important to make your idea work:
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Assumption #3 critical to your idea working
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Why is this important to make your idea work:
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What are the key assumptions that may limit / undermine the impact or feasibility of your idea?
These are DIFFERENTassumptions than those above and usually relate to weaknesses in the idea like costly aspects of the idea, difficult personnel or operational issues (i.e., hard to find employees, space, or hard to design processes), challenges with making or delivering your product or service, challenges with scaling the idea (i.e., getting to high-volumes of sales), difficulty involving finding enough customers, etc...
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Assumption #1 that could limit/undermine your idea
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How can you make this assumption NOT true:
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Assumption #2 that could limit/undermine your idea
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How can you make this assumption NOT true:
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Assumption #3 that could limit/undermine your idea
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How can you make this assumption NOT true:
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https://www.dropbox.com/s/6omi40cbtd5w7u6/Assumption-Busting-Technique-Attachment.rar?dl=0