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Entry #9: Week 15

It’s the home stretch for our final presentation and my teammates are all about wrangling their parts, at this point. With having to craft the rubric and after reviewing the notes I took from last Thursday’s session, I wanted to remind myself of a few questions I want to keep front and center when it comes to sharing our concept with others:

Why should others care about our problem?

What is the difference our solution is going to make in addressing this problem?

How feasible is our solution? Viable? Desirable? 

How well were we able to maintain a clear, storytelling narrative?

In keeping the audience in mind with questions like these, I remember to take a step back and remind myself that I’ve been neck deep in my project--so I have to keep in mind how I want to articulate my team’s process and why it’s worth solving. I took the first stab at the rubric and realized that I have a lot of follow-up questions when it comes to establishing grading criteria. Brandon was able to take a second pass at it in Google Sheets like it was no big deal.

Our team met on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for progress checks throughout our presentation iterations. I was able to get the slides onto InDesign, take a first whack at placing content, while Jonathon and Brandon were able to provide feedback for template structure. With Brandon’s section being the Implementation of the mobile app and access to assets, he’s been able to clean up any last formatting/aesthetics on the deck.

While I was initially reluctant about diving into any of the business-related parts of our project, Jonathon was extremely knowledgeable about filling in any blanks that we missed in our initial submission of our Business Model Canvas. He also created an updated Google Map of potential partners that was extremely helpful in visualizing coffee shops that we could extend our reach if our pilot is successful. Also, we nixed the kiosks and the coffee discounts. 

I’m glad that my teammates and I are always open to feedback and we’re willing to pick up slack when asked. Up until this point, the process has still been seamless and establishing a schedule for video chats as well as regular communication through Slack has built our rapport, team camaraderie, and heightened our spirits. That said, looking forward to finally presenting our solution.

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Entry #8: Week 14

With an extra week to prepare for final presentations, I’ve realized time and time again that I’m the logistical maven for execution. As my teammates spearheaded our group activities for the business m and artifacts, I realized we gravitated toward tasks that involved our strengths. While my role of preparing slides on the surface seems low key, it’s the storytelling and implementation of feedback that I do best. I’m not much of an app design person, nor do I feel comfortable with addressing terms like “value propositions.” That said, I told my team during Tuesday’s weekly meeting that I’d reach out to Aaron regarding follow-up questions for our presentation. I’m the type of person that excels with first pass feedback--If I’m prompted with additional questions to defend why my team and I made a decision, or how we expected digital kiosks to be successful in our solution, then I’d definitely take a step back because oversight is a sneaky one.

While the evaluation unit was short and sweet, the one thing that stuck with me was this: test, fix and retest. The iterative process is a cycle that allows for continual improvement. Even before my team and I attempted to flesh out the business model and artifacts in the implementation stage, I already expected to receive feedback and go back to the drawing board. In this case, I knew we’d be back and forth between implementation and evaluation. I keep hearing Aaron saying, “What’s up with these digital kiosks?”

That’s totally fine, but this is also an opportunity for my group and I to discuss and prioritize what our minimum viable product (MVP) would be. In looking back at both the business model and the artifacts, I expect us to be going back and forth, making tweaks as we consider logistically how we’d expect not only BART commuters but other stakeholders to interact with our solution. 

As a reminder, there’s the BART employees or the baristas at Starbucks that we could potentially interview for feedback in the evaluation stage. Or, if we did learn from BART commuters that downloaded the app, that they’re still having trouble locating the restrooms, is this because they have no reception when they’re underground? Is this where kiosks could be helpful, then? 

My teammates and I are well aware of identifying flaws and making improvements, so we’re looking forward to meeting this weekend to flesh out our implementation of our solution in detail. 

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Entry #7: Week 13

Last Thursday’s breakout session was a breeze when it came to delegating tasks for the remainder of this semester. It’s certainly surreal, but I think it’s worth the reminder because I’m thankful for my team.

Jonathon was under the weather, but Brandon and I took to Google docs to outline our game plan. As I laid out our schedule overview and we discussed tasks, we thought Jonathon would be best at spearheading the business plan. We ran it by him of course, but Brandon and I were convinced that Jonathon had already sold us with his early talk about revenue streams and logistics during our ideation stage. As Brandon had previous experience with building apps and willingness to try new software, he took on the prototyping and modeling of artifacts for our first pass on conceptualization. I took to outlining and organizing our presentation for our final class sessions. I’ve organized an outline and am currently working on our team’s slide deck, but it’s worth getting ahead when I’m a pro at getting the ducks in a row.

If anything, my team has downtime to provide feedback for our business model and our Conceptualize It components, especially. I think there’s a lot of room for fine tuning, but I think how we delegated tasks this week (owning tasks by our strengths) was efficient and has now bought us time to tighten our pitch solution up. For example, I’m still not satisfied with our name--BATH (Bay Area Toilet Hospitality) program. Maybe it sounds too lush for me? We’ll work on it.

Our team had our weekly Tuesday video Hangout and it’s never failed to work to our benefit. A quick check-in, some feedback, and lots of pats on the back build team confidence and trust. We def got this.

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Conceptualize It: First Pass

For last Thursday’s breakout session, Brandon and I finalized the artifacts we needed to nail down for the implementation stage. We came up with the following:

Logo. The first row of grey, geometrics shapes was intended to form a toilet. This was an early idea of Brandon’s, which I thought was particularly thoughtful in literally illustrating the toilet. However, the idea seemed to move toward our service of locating restrooms. That said, the location marker pin drop / water icon became our first iteration logo (boxed in red). The color palette is a warm, pastel palette that is similar to the BART map’s train legend, but distinguishes us as a different service.

Kiosks. Interactive kiosks would be located within the BART station, before commuters enter the platform. These touchscreen kiosks would provide BART commuters the ability to look up restrooms at partnered businesses located above ground. Commuters would be able to zoom in and zoom out of a map that indicates these restroom locations. While advertisements for partnered businesses would also be displayed on these kiosks, this has yet to be further discussed by our team.

Mobile App. It’s easy to say that the “solution” to a problem is an app, but the intention of our app is not only to provide a restroom location, but also additional details including cleanliness ratings and photos of nearby restrooms. In addition, the app allows users to “flag” problems in the restroom. For example, there may be no more toilet tissue or soap. Also, there’s information on discounts that the business may be offering when you *tap* for restroom access with your Clipper card. Our Adobe XD prototype can be accessed here.

Card Reader for bathroom doors. While we have yet to mock up the reader for local business restrooms, it might be useful to note that Clipper Card memory keeps track of balance on the card, fares paid, and trip history. If our service is able to tap into this data and/or also able to keep track of the number of commuters that tap into the restroom service, I’m certain this would be beneficial for our team when scaling our solution.

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Business Model Canvas

This handy worksheet pulled from IDEO’s “The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design” was extremely helpful for my team to organize major questions that may arise during the implementation stage. The importance of establishing key partnerships has been front and center in our minds, but it’s also important for us to consider vital resources and streams of revenue when it comes to eventually scaling this solution. While most of these sections had previously been discussed in our ideation sessions, having Jonathon organize this worksheet in Strategyzer was a convenient next step. We may not know exactly how everything will work, but I expect that our team would be able to refine these sections as the project progresses.

The Value Propositions, Customer Relationships, and Channels sections were most interesting to me as it gives a great overview of how commuters, BART, and local businesses would nurture, and even strengthen, their interdependent relationship with one another. Commuters gain access to restrooms and businesses gain traffic and provide incentive for returning customers. 

As my team intends on reusing the same card-reading technology for restroom doors in local businesses, I think commuters would appreciate the consistency, familiarity, and convenience of this partnership service. 

In reviewing Cost Structure and Revenue Streams, my teams will invest in the creation of digital kiosks, a mobile app, and the software development of both of these artifacts. A digital kiosk might provide an interactive map of restrooms in the BART station if a commuter doesn’t have cellular service underground, while a mobile app might provide a similar interactive map experience above ground, before a commuter makes their way down to BART.

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Entry #6: Week 12

My teammates and I were pretty confident after last week’s ideation. I knew that when I organized our ideas into a Google doc, that we’d have an easier time discussing how we want to tighten up our solution. As mentioned in “Choosing A Solution,” my team was already set on the partnership idea, but we wanted to strengthen this idea by reusing existing products and infrastructure (i.e., card readers on local business restrooms for Clipper cards).

Let’s take Metrolink or Muni transfers into consideration. The single-ride fare has a transfer value of up to 2 hours or 90 minutes respectively. While BART does not have a time limit on a single-ride fare, the distance of commute and the potential thought of delay or mechanical problems in an underground tunnel are factors that may make a commuter think twice about their comfort and overall quality of life when they’re in a BART train. 

The partnership would save the commuter the shame of having to frantically find a locked public restroom in Starbucks, go to the counter and ask for the key code, be told that the restroom is for “customers only,” and if it was a serious emergency, explain that this is a quality of life issue, and if they don’t tell you the restroom code, it’s not gonna be pretty. 

My team has gone back and forth considering how our solution would play out in implementation, specifically how we might pitch this to potential businesses and how they’d benefit from the partnership. Nevertheless, our conversations have always come back to positively influencing community culture and how we can understand this interdependent relationship between public businesses and public organizations.

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Choosing A Solution

Group solution:

Establish a partnership with local businesses to provide access to restrooms to commuters within a reasonable time of their commute to the Downtown SF area. Partners will install card readers on their restroom doors and passengers will use their Clipper cards to gain access to the facilities during the business’ hours of operation.

My teammates and I used Idea Potpourri to combine our favorite, most interesting ideas, to create a mashup of the best properties we discussed during our synchronous session last Thursday. 

Individual ideas we took into account for our “mashup” included: 

Partner with local businesses to provide restroom access, if a ticket is purchased

Swipe Clipper card to use the restroom

Have digital kiosks around the Downtown SF area, that provide walking directions to restrooms

Create a mobile app

Interactive map

In terms of success criteria, the solution should:

Not include building any new physical infrastructure

Leverage existing facilities within a .5 mile radius

Leverage existing technologies for access 

In retrospect, most of our ideas fell into a supporting role of how we would set up partnerships with local businesses. That said, these were secondary ideas or “next steps” in addressing our solution. 

Our post-ideation doc was extremely helpful in guiding our conversation and quickly nail down our solution. While it was already unanimous that we wanted to pursue partnerships, it’s also worth noting that we’d hope to positively influence the commuter culture.

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Entry #5: Week 11

Ideation is my favorite part of the problem-solving process. The limitlessness of the activity with a time constraint is a great opportunity for purging as many ideas as I can. An “idea dump,” if you will. While sharing the “crazies” is fun, I think I do best at making forced connections between ideas, and rearranging different variables that may address other facets of the problem. In retrospect, I begin to find meaning in the work that I’m doing, especially getting as far as defining the problem statement and moving on to think of potential solutions that can eventually be shaped and refined in the selection stage. 

My team is extremely efficient in establishing a workflow very early in the game. This can be best exemplified in how we use Google Docs in real-time, when we’re video chatting in Adobe Connect or Google Hangouts. I’ve observed our progress of how we used to type over one another when sharing ideas, to color-coding our contributions, and starting on different pages to allow room for our individual input. For a group that’s remote 100% of the time, it’s definitely rare for me to feel this confident--but we’ve been doing this for 4 weeks already! I’m super grateful for my teammates, they’re the homies. 

In preparation for our ideation debrief session, I took the initiative to organize my team’s contributions and compile another document to identify patterns and themes from our ideas. This past Tuesday, we immediately jumped into sharing our favorite ideas, discuss which one stood out to us, and how we could perhaps blend some of the themes we’re seeing into one solution. Our clamor centered around partnerships and crowdsourced data, making connections between private and public institutions, and laughing about AirPnP. While it is still unclear if we’re making a product, service, or both, I think we have a better idea of what our “options” are. That said, I’m looking forward to the mix-and-match of our collective ideas.

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Group Brainstorming & Debriefing Session

After nailing down our problem definition, my team went on to formulate our idea-generating prompt for ideation:

How can we provide commuters with access to clean, safe onsite restrooms and documented, accessible local restrooms when needed?

If I recall correctly, this question came up previously when our team attempted to frame our problem definition, but it seems that it had served a better purpose in begging for options and variety for responses. My teammates took advantage of the 30 minutes allotted toward the tail-end of our synchronous session last Thursday, and took time this past Tuesday to debrief and discuss our ideas. Ideas from this brainstorm can be found here. 

Before heading into discussion with my team, I took the time to review our ideas together and compile another document in an attempt to identify patterns and themes from all our ideas. I began to see ideas looking toward digital solutions (apps) including interactive maps, seeking out alternative restroom services which might range in responsibility from BART, SF Public Works, to even couchsurfing for bathrooms, and going as far as establishing partnerships between public and private establishments that provides incentive for both parties. 

In our debrief, I think our team is especially interested in exploring partnerships that BART could have with the City of San Francisco or on a smaller scale, local businesses like Starbucks. While it certainly might involve a look at the law, I think establishing this particular kind of relationship is worth piloting. If our goal is to improve the human condition with an app or service that is addressing a bathroom emergency, all parties involved should be able to empathize with meeting this basic human need. To push this partnership idea even further, we also came across AirPnP (slightly similar to Airbnb), which allows a user to enter their location and find high-quality toilets in the area, ranging from local cafes to private homes, for free to $3 a poop. This is where things get a little fun, as my teammates and I are exploring how we can merge ideas in partnerships and leverage crowdsourced data to locate bathrooms easily with ease (e.g., Australia and NYC maps).

All in all, the ideation process with my teammates was pretty seamless for remote collaboration. With an uninterrupted, 30-minute session on Adobe Connect, my team took advantage of our breakout group video chat last Thursday to lay down ideas on Google Docs. As mentioned before, Google Docs helps my group collaborate in real-time, when concurrently video chatting. In coordinating meetings, confirming meet times, sharing ideas in between video chats, my team uses Slack to send instant messages. Every Tuesday, we jump on Google Hangouts for a 30-minute session to follow-up on the new unit. This past Tuesday was no different, but if anything, more convenient that we’ve already established a rhythm for debriefing with each other after each new unit. 

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Entry #4: Week 10

From Analysis to Definition phases, I’m realizing there’s this fine-tuning process that goes back and forth between these convergent and divergent thinking spaces. 

What comes to mind instantly is the process of me learning a new word. I go to the dictionary and read the definition of the word, see it in a sentence, and be sure to understand the different meanings and contexts for use. From here, I go to the Thesaurus and look up all the other synonyms for this word. Sometimes, I find that a listed synonym for this new word I’ve found doesn’t necessarily resonate with me. Hey, that’s ok. That’s what context is for.

My teammates and I have been confident in the process thus far, and it seems like we needed more time to dig a little deeper in our research. We compiled a Google doc with links to articles and reports that eventually surfaced our foci on public restrooms and BART ridership. In reviewing our Problem Definition exercise, it’s evident that our “same but different” ideas were further honed in when we identified patterns and overlap in our individual problem statements. The most delightful discovery in our research has been finding that Australia and the New York metro area have interactive maps of public restrooms nearby. While there are slight variations in these two maps, it’s reassuring to know that a continent and another metropolitan city in the East Coast, has found it worth the effort to map out restrooms! 

All in all, the transparency, proximity, and availability of restrooms is not only a continence concern, but is also a quality of life concern. According to SF Curbed in December 2016, there’s “less than one restroom every 0.4 square miles, or one for every 6,857 residents, not even counting tourists, commuters, and those overlooked by official census counts.” If there’s already a restroom problem for residents, it’s definitely worth take a look at the commuter experience. 

Additional notes can be found here.

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Problem Definition

Group definition:

Downtown San Francisco BART commuters do not have access to clean, safe restrooms.*

Brandon shared, “There are not enough clean, safe, and documented public restrooms in San Francisco to make public transportation (BART) comfortable for passengers.”

Jonathon contributed, “Clean and accessible bathrooms are difficult to find in the metro San Francisco area.”

I posed, “How might we save BART commuters' time in locating a clean and safe restroom?”

Similarities that emerged in our statements make reference to proximity and transparency. For example, Brandon’s statement mentions documentation. Jonathon mentions the difficulty to find bathrooms, and I’m concerned with saving time in locating a restroom. Further, there’s also consensus in not only locating a bathroom, but a clean, safe, and accessible one. 

Differences in our statements certainly led to further discussion in our Slack channel. While Brandon and Jonathon’s statements mention San Francisco, Brandon and I have statements that mention BART. Follow-up questions emerged around the end-user and zeroing in on our location. For example, are we still going to be BART commuter focused? In terms of location, are we primarily looking at Downtown SF BART stations? In this case, we’d only be looking at Civic Center, Powell, Montgomery, and Embarcadero stations. Ultimately, we agreed that we would be BART commuter focused and looking at Downtown SF BART stations. 

Patterns that I noticed are highlighted in the similarities listed above. Our differences still showed patterns of overlap when it came to who our end-user was and our location, but this was something our team was still unclear on. As our research was primarily focused on learning more about public restroom availability in the city of San Francisco, we had “same but different” understandings of the specific location we were focusing on. As the definition stage is convergent, you can see how our train of thought in our differences was narrowed down to a unanimous agreement. 

The only outlier that I see is in my statement: “How might we save BART commuters' time in locating a clean and safe restroom?” My statement makes a reference to time because commuters might have a specific ‘3:35pm’ train that they take to be home by a certain time, pick up the kids, make dinner, etc. If a commuter can easily locate a clean, safe, and documented public restroom that’s within convenient proximity, I think my team is on to something. 

*Rejiggered after Unit 10 class.

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Conjunction Junction

My Processes and Perspectives course looks at topics including creative and user-focused elements and perspectives, feasibility analytics, and lean startup techniques. The course requires individual assignments and weekly group assignments for the duration of this semester. My teammates and I communicate seamlessly by text, email, and Slack to exchange ideas and make quick team decisions.

My Processes and Perspectives course looks at topics like creative and user-focused elements and analytics, but in addition, dives into perspectives. Moreover, the course not only addresses feasibility analytics, but also lean startup techniques. The course requires individual assignments, but weekly group assignments have also been assigned for the duration of this semester. My teammates and I communicate seamlessly, but text, email, and Slack help us exchange ideas as well as make quick team decisions.

The Color Factory is a museum in San Francisco and has limited daily admission. The museum has yummy treats and a self-timer photo booth system and plenty of opportunities to feel like a kid again. Every room has a color theme and involves interactive “experiences.” So, don’t be surprised if you leave with confetti in your pockets. 

The Color Factory is a museum in San Francisco, but is limited in its daily admission. The museum not only has yummy treats or a self-timer photo booth system, but also plenty of opportunities for a visitor to feel like a kid again. Every room has a color theme that involves interactive “experiences,” but don’t be surprised if you leave with confetti in your pockets.

My ban.do Chill Pills phone case is soft and silicone and is calming to the touch. The phone case is shaped like a prescription pill bottle with a green cap and a pink “Chill Pills” label and contains many pink and white pill capsules inside.  

My ban.do Chill Pills phone case is silicone, but is soft to the touch. It is just a phone case, but it is shaped like a prescription pill bottle. The phone case has a green cap with a pink “Chill Pills” label, but also contains many pink and white pill capsules inside.

My Hempz Exotic Green Tea & Asian Pear lotion uses 100% natural hemp seed oil and hydrates my skin and has a pleasant scent. Hemp oil is high in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and helps bolster my skin’s suppleness. This lotion is extremely pricy online and in department stores and is extremely cheaper to purchase if you find it at Marshalls.

My Hempz Exotic Green Tea & Asian Pear lotion has a pleasant scent, but also uses 100% natural hemp seed oil to hydrate my skin. Hemp oil bolsters my skin’s suppleness, but to the credit of two fatty acids: omega-3 and omega-6. This lotion is extremely pricy online, but is extremely cheaper if you find it in an off-price retail store, like Marshalls.

My Nike Gladiateur IIs are part shoe and part sandal and are extremely comfortable. The elastic straps and padded footbed allow for long walks down the street. The Greek athletic look and the bold Nike logo get me compliments on the streets and have been alternatively been called “Jesus Sneaks” by multiple strangers.

My Nike Gladiateur IIs are shoes, but are also sandals. The elastic straps make it extremely comfortable, but the padded footbed allows for long walks down the street. The Greek athletic shoe with a bold Nike logo gets me compliments on the streets, but strangers have alternatively dubbed them as “Jesus Sneaks.”

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Entry #3: Week 9

Thank God for Slack. When it comes to P&P work with my teammates, Slack becomes a central haven for periodic updates, shared concern, and weekly pats on the back for excellent collaboration.

Analysis is a divergent stage. Similar to the Residential experience, I’ve noticed how my teammates and I have already started to move back and forth between the CPS process; we get a bit too excited and play around in the ideation stage, but we’ve yet to clearly define our problem. As we’re currently understanding analysis and how we can take our anecdotes, research of bathroom fixtures and functionalities, inspiration from co-working spaces, and identify the gaps for our problem we’re trying to solve, I know we’re in the right place. 

Yes, we’re here trying to understand the “mess.” With a background in research, it’s always about being able to gather the facts. How can we deal with the problem effectively? What is the global perspective? Which anecdotes that my teammates are sharing with me sound similar to my experiences? How do they differ? Ultimately, it comes down to breaking down our problem and exploring it at different levels. My teammates and I see how bathroom etiquette and a conveniently accessible public restroom go hand-in-hand, but what does that mean for different users that may have varying needs?

If explanations don’t cut it, draw it out. As our team began exploring the bathroom experience further, we realized that there were an overwhelming amount of components that we were looking at. Before jumping directly into the Morphological Analysis activity, we did an extremely rough mind mapping exercise to assist us with visualizing micro and macro views of the problem, as well as identify any patterns with this “brain dump.” 

Iterations get better and better. My teammates and I have continued to build upon each others’ ideas by creating new tabs in our shared Google spreadsheet. As a kinesthetic and visual learner, seeing how our ideas are integrated and improved upon gives me a better understanding of how our ideas are progressing, or how our ideas can be refined further. Our team dynamic is effortless when it comes to volunteering to tweak the latest draft. Slack has helped build our rapport with one another as we quickly provide feedback and another update is made. 

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Morphological Analysis

In making forced associations to explore the bathroom experience further, our team took a few different approaches when it came to selecting variables and combining items. 

I was primarily interested in obstacles that a user might encounter in the bathroom and crossed this with bathroom emergencies. For example, there might be a user who needs to do a quick wardrobe change, but the stall door is broken. Or, another user might frequently urinate, but there’s no more toilet tissue in the single-bathroom stall.

Brandon brought to light personas and more contextual details that might affect what a particular user might need in the bathroom. His analysis built upon a “co-working space” inspired bathroom experience with additional amenities. For example, a family might need a changing room or family bathroom to accommodate multiple persons. Or, an elderly person may require an accessible ramp or an emergency button for safety purposes.

Jonathon took our personas to the next level by addressing proximity, comfort and cleanliness, and supplies, which encompasses the overall bathroom experience. 

In all, this exercise helped us identify what attributes may be more important to certain personas than others.

View this Overview table and detailed analysis chart with the following link here.

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Entry #2: Week 8

My teammates and I are looking forward to bathroom jokes the remainder of this semester, as we’ve accepted to take on the challenge of tweaking the public restroom experience.

Personally, this was the “fun” problem that our group naturally gravitated toward. We stirred on and on in our video chats about our public restroom woes. While this was a great icebreaker for our team, it also became evident that we were already trying to pose solutions for dirty bathrooms, bathroom etiquette, occupied bathroom alternatives, etc. There are many facets we could potentially address in reinventing the bathroom experience, and we all were self-motivated to hit the ground running. That said, I’m sure that it’ll be quite the process when it comes to defining our problem concisely, but I look forward to this journey with my team.

The “Contingency Management,” “The Destination and Journey,” and “What’s in It For Me?” exercises gave my teammates and I an opportunity to be transparent with our strengths and weaknesses as well as get a preview of each others’ thought processes and initial perspectives before diving in head first. An opportunity I rarely get in the real world when being assigned to a project, I appreciate an upfront conversation with my teammates that not only establishes rapport, but lays the foundation for trust, transparency, and accountability. It’s inevitable that this program will continue to have group projects, but it’s especially important to know how to 1) collaborate efficiently with one another and 2) know what to do collectively when sh*t hits the fan.

More than anything, I’m excited to dig into this “mess” and grow with my team. Collectively, we want to be more adaptive in understanding one another and help each other improve our skills and talents. This sort of interdependence is reassuring and is extra motivation for me to continue to contribute my best.

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Success at First

I had to follow suit of Brittny in locating an accurate .gif for envisioning success. So, shoutout to Marshawn Lynch because he got gigs and I do too. 

Imagine you have already accomplished your goal.

In winning or accomplishing my goal, I’d definitely be feelin’ myself because I know I put forth my best effort, stretched myself in ways I couldn’t have imagined before, and I’d especially be proud of my team for our excellent collaboration. As previously mentioned, I enjoy the problem-solving process itself. The ‘win’ is just the icing on the cake. 

It’s most rewarding to know that I can work with different teams, with individuals of different skillsets, and still pull off an amazing deliverable. Self-actualization and learning by feeling through the process is a thrill I’m always happy to entertain.

I’m pretty good at self-motivation. While a “good grade” or another deliverable to “add to my portfolio” will always give me something to show for, I’m especially driven when I have teammates that similarly find enjoyment in tackling problems, are down to get their hands dirty, willing to do something they haven’t done before, and look forward to growing from their experiences.

Aside from learning more about myself and my teammates, the knowledge I’ve gained from the topic we’ve chosen would give me more depth in identifying nuanced examples of diversity and inclusivity within our ever-changing world. In the process we’ve selected in addressing the problem, I’d gain more breadth in how to address sensitive topics that touch on intersectional identity, values, and ethics. 

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Contingency Management

Understand your limits.

Overall, my team is flexible and trustworthy in ensuring the job gets done. We’re thorough when it comes to documentation, communication, and feedback. We check-in with one another to be sure that we’re on the same page. 

My strengths lie in research, leadership and logistics, building team camaraderie, and mediating conflict.  

Brandon’s capabilities lie in functionality, with a solid technical background in engineering-related research, technical documentation, manufacturing, materials, mechanics, software, etc. He can get web apps spun up. 

Jonathon has a good handle on checking the team when it comes to making decisions. Not being wedded to a single concept or project, he seems to push projects forward when group mates are undecided. In considering phases or aspects of a project, he understands when we need to stop or move forward. 

Establish reasonable and feasible goals and standards.

In sharing our own personal shortcomings, our team knows where we can catch and support one another. We got each others’ backs. 

There are times where I’ll get impatient or talk too fast, specifically when I’m stalled in the process. That said, I need my teammates to call me out and remind me to slow down. In some cases, I may be mentally and physically exhausted, so I need periodic brain breaks when I feel overwhelmed and anxious.

Brandon admits he’s not the best speller, thus not the best typer. Also, he works quickly on things he knows, but works thoroughly on the things he doesn’t. While spelling and WPM is negligible, sometimes thoroughness can’t be accommodated within time constraints.

Jonathon says he needs to have a better handle on time management  and improve on finishing his concepts/thoughts. 

Be strict and consistent. 

My team didn’t place too much focus on exceeding expectations. For the most part, I think we value teamwork, accountability, and understand the importance of interdependence. We believe in open and honest communication. 

If a teammate volunteers to take the lead for one aspect of the project, they’re expected to follow through. They should inform their teammates of when the deliverable would be done and where it can be accessible to all.

If a teammate is running into a bottleneck, whether it’s a time constraint, lack of technical knowledge, of personal matter, let other teammates know. We’ll be open and willing to take on additional work if one is struggling.

If we need to reallocate tasks, we’ll do so if the workload may be overwhelming for a teammate(s). 

Everyone has their own perspective and we should be open to making adjustments. If you are unclear with a teammate’s vision, ask them to clarify further to understand how they see their vision incorporated into the project. 

If a project is no longer viable and scope needs to be adjusted, teammates should be flexible in this worst case scenario. 

Reward yourself.

Personal breaks are always good rewards. In celebrating with teammates, we’re happy to give praise to one another and grab a celebratory drink if we can. However, it’s also important to consider “consequences” and follow-up for addressing lack of contribution or behaving poorly. 

Support teammates if they’re unable to accomplish a task alone and identify how we can improve next time.

If a teammate is not contributing, have an open and honest conversation about the expectations of the group. Identify specifically where they are lacking and how to improve. 

Flip feelings of failure by reframing these as “learning opportunities” or “what not to do” next time.