Final Blog

In analyzing this semester’s course and overall experience, I have enjoyed reflecting on all of the concepts that I really benefited from learning and applying. I found myself sectioning a part of my notebook off for concepts I desired to take with me to the workplace in my new job beginning this summer. Through the project throughout this semester I feel I have gained a greater understanding of how to approach providing the customer with a product that is ideal due to the insights gathered through research and other methods.

One of the core concepts I felt I gained a greater understanding of was the research concepts of learned during the Gaining Insights phase of the project. Through learning about observational and ethnographic techniques, I felt that the most interesting concept that emerged was the photo journal research methodology. After our group conducted a thorough survey concerning the bedroom experience of single fathers, we asked respondents to complete a photo journal. This journal would serve as a means to document the current experience and living conditions within the bedroom. Because our sample was not very accessible, this is a very helpful tool, as we were not able to observe our sample very easily. Not only were we able to gain insights from this process, but we were also able to evaluate our initial assumptions made in the earlier parts of our project. One of the setbacks in this process was the lack of responses from our survey participants. Many felt that a photo journal was violating their privacy and was too exposing and intimate. In future utilizations of this tool, it may be essential to utilize direct observational methods after gaining trust from participants as an alternative.

Secondly, I feel that through utilizing the SEM framework, we were able to make use of this model to very analytically evaluate our room and the experience had within the room. We were also able to think creatively about the multiple appeals to the SEM model, or strategic experiential models, discussed in Schmitt’s article A Framework for Managing Customer Experiences. Most specifically, taking a look at the Relate aspect of the model gave us some important insights to the single father’s relationships and how parts of his home influence and interact with these relationships. One of our major research questions surrounded the social life of the single father, yet another key question of the relationship and interaction with his children inside his bedroom lead us to our prototype. Overall, the SEM model was very comprehensive and extremely helpful in our process and discovery of customer insights for single fathers.
I feel that this experience has been extremely interesting and very unique from any other project that I have completed during my Marketing education. I really loved that class time was given for the assignments. This really allowed for less stress and tension in scheduling time for group meetings. I also felt that Professor Wall’s participation, input and interest in our learnings and concerns really added value to the project as a whole. I really believed that he truly cared about my education and about me as a student in his classroom. It was obvious that he has a passion for the subject matter he teaches. This is evident through his enthusiasm, knowledge and dedication he brings to the classroom each day. Each of my teammates were very different in the way they thought and approached each phase of the project. I felt that the random assigning of groups really added an excellent dynamic in the diversity of our team and therefore inspired creativity. Additionally, I felt that spreading the project out through the semester allowed each group member to really lead each phase and contribute equally. I found it important that we were applying key concepts that were learned through articles and lectures in our projects. I feel that doing this allowed me to better understand the concepts as a whole and therefore write them to memory. Thank you for a wonderful last semester!