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Learning Summary- A deeper understanding on design, innovation and brand management

  • kingolice
  • Apr 8, 2022
  • 13 min read

Subject: Research and communication

Topic: Learning Summary


Student: Wong Chi Fai (Marcus)



*Source: (GJ, 2018)




Stage 1：What ?


1. What was important about this learning and practice for you?


It is a story, a story about design, innovation and brand management.


Introduction:


This is a story started when I wanted to be a designer.

But what is design?

It is about aesthetic, I thought, and I used to be addicted to this. The problem was I didn’t know what design is and its actual meaning.


But everything changed after the start of my study on research and communication.



*Source: (Mentor, 2021)

With my new study in research and communication, I finally got the meaning of design and thanks to the lessons from Mayer and the writing of online journals. I can now clearly know what it is. Just like the illustration above, there are three stages in the ares of design.


In the area of design management

"The critical aspects of managing design are about understanding an organization’s strategic goals and how design can play a part in fulfilling them." (Mentor, 2021)

As I am working as fashion designer in stage 3, so I would like to promote myself to stage 2 and finally stage 1. Leaning how to set the strategic goals and how to use design is the original aim that I chose to study in this course.


Besides, design is becoming more important than before because it has become a critical and strategic function, it is a mindset to think, plan and mange things to work better. More and more people noticed that is not just a stylist who only work for decoration.



* Source: (HEY!BRAND, s.d)


This ladder also showed my position now, that is in stage 2, design as form-giving. With this framework, I can clearly indicate my work’s nature. This course help me to promote to higher level because I am now learning more on design strategies and processes. Moreover, with the skills of research and data analysis, I know how to use data driven process to better communicate with the stakeholders.


This is something that I lacked before. With the objective findings, the noises of communication like subjective bias can be lowered and this is helpful for my work.

Therefore, the importance of learning in this course can broaden my design knowledge so that I can promote to a higher position or even to try how to develop own business and also equipped with better management and communication skills.



2. How does this experience connect to the course concept?


To explain this more detail, I will show the following illustration to explain.



Design:


Design is not like art, and this is learned in lesson one which Mayer had showed us the main difference and I am deeply affected by the theories and the practice did in the lessons.


For example, just as simple as a logo design, we can explain the visual elements in different angles and also the meaning of them should be related to the research.



*Source: (From Mayer's notes in lesson 1, p.59)


I remembered I was chosen the pig’s logo and needed to explain what it is. If I just use my personal judgement to this, the answer may just like beautiful, great , normal or hate. But then, if this is a project, such comments are almost useless to bring the project to works on. But with the learning, I can explain the logo on how this related to the style and vision of the company, what are the nature of the business and examine on how this can visualize the concepts and so on.


Moreover, with design arrangement, we can use the data research to know the audience preference, to drive their perception and cognition to the brand. And this is the objective of design.


Management:


This part we can learn from lesson 2 to lesson 7 that are mainly talking about how to design (design as strategies) and manage the strategies. For example, the relationship between branding and management, STP models (Segmentation, targeting, positioning), how to identify and the improve customer experience with text mining customer journey, empathy map and co-creation. Here, we are not just focus on business needs, because no matter the STP model or text mining, all of these are ensure that the strategies are for customer's needs, it is not just by providing products or services only, its all about the balance of he customers need and business needs.


I have done several journals and class exercises to practice for this and I found that with the actual works, I know how to use the tools/frameworks. I found that if I don’t use the frameworks I can’t easily set or understand the strategies and how ‘s the composition of it.


As practice, I did quite a lot of research on the second-hand brand called 2nd Street. With the practice I can know why they are so successful in Japan and which part we can improve for further development. This is especially useful if we use the customer based brand equity pyramid which help us firstly examine the development problems or strength of the brand.


Innovation:


Actually, this is the most important I learnt, however, this cannot not be done without the previous practice and learning (design and management). In lesson 8, we learnt how to find the opportunities of a brand which is something I haven’t tried before.


The co-creation is the most important project that we can learn from different classmates so that no matter the concepts or techniques can grow simultaneously. The innovation is found where we have the data to clearly know the problems and with different processes to examine the feel and judgement of the customers. For instance, with the 4 action frameworks, we can further knowing which part is missing and find a new solution which may lead to innovation of the company. This is also related to the learning of Blue Ocean Strategies which help us to indicate the opportunities.


As this course is all about design, innovation and brand management, all the things I learnt were closely related to the course concept.



Stage 2: So What?


3. How have you changed or grown because of this experience?


For this part, I can explain the changes with my review on all of my online journals.

Overall, I am grown and changed with the following aspects.


1. Communication skills are enhanced

2. Apply brand management and knowledge in real world

3. Co-creation as an effective process in brand management




*Source: (Robinson, s.d)


1. Communication skills are enhanced


This can be divided into 4 parts, written communication, visual communication and also verbal/Non verbal communication. (Valamis, 2021)

  • Written communication:


This is a communication to disseminate information in a clear and concise manner whether it is a report, post, etc. After reviewing all of the online journals, although they were not perfectly written, the contents and the data organization skills are enhanced.


For example, to define the terms before description to avoid misunderstanding.


*Source: Survey Design for the second-hand fashion products (Learning Journal)


Sometimes, noises are created because there is no common ground between the senders and the receivers, therefore, the important meaning need to be clarified and also explain the situation before going to the contents.


According to the model of information processing, receivers are tend to forget things easily , so if some contents I want to explain more I will explain again so that receivers can understand what I am saying more easily. (Lawless, 2019)


*Source: Survey Design for the second-hand fashion products (Learning Journal)


For example, in the journal of survey design, before I summarize the final design of the survey, I help the receivers to playback their memories so that everything they are reading is closely related.


Sometimes, written communication may lose the messages in the words. So I tend to make them more clear and divide it into short paragraphs.



*Source: Critical Reflection--A Project of Trimmings for ECKO (Learning Journal)


After I highlighted sender, receiver, message and response, people can read the separate content more easily.


  • Visual communication:


This is a way of the communication that people get through reading or seeing and show the messages with different signs, gesture or posture.


Almost in every journal, I showed the graphics with words and arrows to make it easily to focus on the messages. For example, the campaign for Education For Good has two phases and I need to use graphic to explain the concepts. So I didn’t just write the contents but also combine it with graphics.



*Source: Co-creation Project Reflection (Learning Jornal)


*Source: Co-creation Project Reflection (Learning Jornal)


This is another example that I used the signs, arrows to show how’s the reflection works and also as a reading guide for the receivers.


Verbal communication:


This is easy to understand, when we speak to each others, it occurs. This is enhanced through the final presentation and the in class presentation in each lesson. How to say the messages simple and clear is the main point that lower the noises for the receivers. Of course, with the visual and written communication skills in the slides are also very important when we present our ideas.


Non-Verbal communication such as gesture or facial expression is better to practice in a training of speech so i don't discuss it here.


As a result, the communication skills of written, visual and verbal were enhanced simultaneously after studying this course.


2. Apply brand management and knowledge in real world


It is another important part that I learned. Because our finding is not just based on our assumption, so the research of data is very important. With the use of data, we can provide our proposals and strategies more effectively.


For instance, Segmentation is a first step in STP model, and this is important because you can know whether the business has potential or not.



*Source: STP Model of 2nd Street- How they can be the number one in Japan? (Learning Jornal)


The above statistic is one of the page of my journal of STP model, If I don’t have this data, I cannot say the reuse market had potential because of my own observation and that will become just my personal prediction and hard to convince other stakeholders or audience.


Another example comes from the research of targeting, there are plenty of ways to do that, but normally, base on the customers’ viewpoint is more efficient to know their needs. As the needs are actually answered by different customers, that is very useful if we want to apply some improvement plan or carry out new strategies.



*Source: STP Model of 2nd Street- How they can be the number one in Japan? (Learning Jornal)


If we can combine different frameworks like empathy map, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we can better understand the situation. This is important in targeting because everyone has slightly different purpose and needs, therefore, a systematic analysis with different angle can help to identify the key points. The study of framework is relied on what data you have, without the data or findings, only the framework is useless. The practice of it can facilitate the work in actual world.


This course also broadened my techniques on research method. The learning in the lesson of design of survey help us to gain right and useful data directly from target audience and so we can get the answers. With this technique, we conducted an interview in the co-creation project to know the motivation and needs of a startup and how ‘s the actual situation in the real world.



*Source: Co-creation Project Powerpoint p.57


Based on our learning in survey design, we asked him the questions in related to startup and how he got fundings and also how he suggests improvement for education on this area. The data, although is not a quantity one, is still useful for us as reference and contributed to our empathy map. We can finished it with the practice learnt from lessons! Of course, i want to conduct a quantitive research but the team members suggested that we might not have enough time to send to the target audience so finally we didn't do it. However, with this experience, we can know how to get data for the projects.


3. Co-creation as an effective process in brand management


I will explain this part in the co-creation journal more detail, but here I would like to mention the key points that with the work by a team, management skills can be applied. It is not hard to imagine if I just did it by myself, the management skills cannot be practiced as I only need to manage myself.


With the practice of co-creation, we can formulate new breakthrough strategies, transform management process and also consolidate all our learning outcome. Because in real world, we might work in a company in different position, and no matter in which position, we need cooperate with different people, department to work so this project is solely practical and insightful for me.


Furthermore, how to communicate efficient with group members and how the arrange the work is very important in management. Just give a simple example, I am strong in research of data so I mainly responsible for the research of secondary data of Education For Good, Eowyn is good in English and she is also good at data analysis so she mainly responsible for data comparison. Chi is good at asking question and judge whether the solutions can work or not so he mainly responsible for the structure of campaign and its layout. Evan don’t have too much experience but he can help us to summarize the points and give comments as a reader and give some suggestions for improvement.



Stage 3: What now?


5.How will you think or act differently in future situations because of this learning?


"Making mistakes can be annoying and frustrating at times. However, it is also very important for us to learn from our mistakes, so we can correct our responses and do things differently the next time we are in the same situation. "

(Overbye, 2020) '


Learning from the mistakes is the best way to make ourselves to act and think differently in the future.


After the reviewing of my learning and journals again. I found that if I were the reader, I might want to know something more.

  1. Know the entire content of the journals before reading. Because I didn’t do it in every journal. So receiver may not know the whole contents if they are not familiar with the topics. In order to make the communication more smoothly, it is better to show the flow and direction first.

  2. To define the terms that are not common. Some terms are not clearly defined like N2, I know it because I have taken the Japanese Language proficiency Test and that’s the level of the test. When I am talking about my background information, I better define some terms first.

  3. Visual elements can be improved. Some slides may be too small to read on smartphones, and that is because I did the journals on computer, so better to balance both users as well.

  4. Some of the content is too long and readers may lose their interest. There have some studies suggested the attention span of an adult is around 15 minutes long. (Hollins, 2019) And so far as i know, people are tended to read lesser than before as there are too many noises while we read on the screen, so most of my content is limited to 15 mins and therefore i will further limit the words in the future so that people will not easily lose their concentration.

  5. Also, I found that my personal techniques on data analysis may not enough. I can use the method now but as i found that some of the part i can do it more systematically so it is better to learn some software on how to improve the efficiency. Also, apart from the journal, if i can present the concept more persuasively, then the noises will also be reduced.


*Source: (introtocommopensource.ridgewater.edu, s.d) So, in the future, I will do the following to improve of my journals.

  1. List all the things before start, better have a clear map.

  2. Make a list of special terms so that everyone can know the terms clearer.

  3. To read it on different channels or platforms to make sure the visual outcome can balance the actual situation.

  4. To simply the points as short as possible to save time for the readers. (especially in presentation)

  5. Apart from the journals, I am going to learn the skills of data analysis and psychology later, because this two parts are also very important related to communication and research. For the part of data analysis, I need to learn some tools to make my analysis faster and more accurate. For the part of psychology, to better understand the views of different people can ensure better communication. Sometimes, we will face persons that are unwillingly to communicate but there should have some techniques or tricks to improve the situation.


6. What are you going to do next in design, innovation, and brand management?


The next steps are just like the question, will be divided into 3 parts.





Design:


As stated in the first paragraph, i would like to promote to a higher level in design's area. So the first step is simple, continue to study in this course to learning creative thinking process, prototype and final projects. All this can enhance my skills in design management.


For the technical parts, i will keep on study different software to aid for my design. Besides, as online business is continuously growing more faster, to learn how to design the user interface is also important now. And that part also need a study for how to use software to handle.


Innovation:


This part is more related to find something new, new is not just from technology but also the points that we had missed before. Therefore, to learn more on business strategies and absorb more information is the key. To know the trend and the need of the customers can help us to know the sweet point of innovation.


Brand Management:


Apart from all the learning in the lessons and co-creation projects, i would like to try to do some small business, maybe online to use the skills in brand management. Because i am now working in a company, although not a big company, it is hard to carry out business management. I think most of the people who are learning management may not have the power to arrange any management except the listed duties. Still we can do something better to improve our own management like time management but you may find hard to test whether the learning is work or not work.


So, it is better to try to start own business for this part. Nowadays, with the new technology, we are now much more easily to start own business without large amount of capital, so the best practice is try to start your own business. Through the actual practice, you may find a better way on how to manage a brand.


Another way to do that is find a job that is in management level. This is not contradict to the previous method, and finally......


Always prepare yourself for a better job!





Reference:


GJ, V. (2018) 'What is reflective practice?' At:


HEY!BRAND. (s.d) 'Using design in powerful new ways' At


Hollins,P. (2019) Science of Accelerated Learning: Advanced Strategies for Quicker Comprehension, Greater Retention, and Systematic Expertise California: Pkcs Media, Inc.


introtocommopensource.ridgewater.edu. (s.d) 'Module I: Communication Theory

Section 2: The Communication Model' At: http://introtocommopensource.ridgewater.edu/ModuleI/ModISect2.html (Accessed 6/4/2022).


Lawless, C. (2019) 'What is Information Processing Theory?: Using it in Your Corporate Training' At: https://www.learnupon.com/blog/what-is-information-processing-theory/ (Accessed 6/4/2022).


Mentor, D. (2021) 'What is Design Management?' At:


Overbye, K. (2020) 'Learning From Mistakes: How Does the Brain Handle Errors?' At:


Robinson, S. (s.d) 'Communication and Consumer Behavior' At: https://slideplayer.com/slide/10596936/ (Accessed 6/4/2022).


Valamis. (2021)'Types of communication' At: http://www.valamis.com/hub/types-of-communication (Accessed 6/4/2022).











 
 
 

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