MGMT20140 (HT2, 2017) Design Thinking Reflection Report - CQUniversity

This report is a reflective assignment based on the MGMT20140 Design Thinking module at Central Queensland University (Melbourne Campus). It details the student's learning journey over 12 weeks, encompassing knowledge gained, analysis of a design thinking project focused on improving McDonald's service time, and the evaluation of the student's role in this project. The report includes a personal action plan with specific steps to improve service time at McDonald's, a discussion of civic values, and expected outcomes. The student proposed a mobile app solution to address the issues, detailing features such as online ordering, payment, and home delivery. The report also highlights strengths, weaknesses, and an analysis of how design thinking can be applied to solve real-world problems, ultimately aiming to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.

PERSONAL REFLECTION
MGMT20140 (HT2,2017) Design It
INDIVIDUAL BLOG AND LEARNING REFLECTIONS
Unit Co-ordinator : Stephanie Macht
Unit Lecturer : Firew Beshah
Prepared On :- DATE
Name of University : Central Queensland University (Melbourne Campus)
Kevin Patel STUDENT ID
Personal Blogs – www.kevin12052351.wordpress.com
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
KNOWLEDGE GAINED..................................................................................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION.......................................................................................................................4
AREA OF DEVELOPMENT.............................................................................................................................5
CIVIC VALUES...............................................................................................................................................6
1.1 Strength.......................................................................................................................................6
1.2 Weakness.....................................................................................................................................7
ACTION PLAN...............................................................................................................................................8
EXPECTED OUTCOME................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
This report has been prepared as a reflective assignment i.e. it is used to reflect all
the lessons that I have learnt from this unit and the tasks that I performed in due
course. This reflective report of mine is based entirely on the lessons and lectures
that I participated in during the last 12 weeks. At the end of each week, I updated
my learnings in the weekly blogs that I posted in WordPress. I have also attached
the links to the weekly blogs that can be used by anyone to view the blogs. In each
blog, I updated that particular week’s lessons and the activities that I performed in
order to enhance my knowledge in design thinking.
I have divided this reflective report into several parts that include knowledge
gained, analysis and evaluation, area of development, civic values, action plan and
the expected outcome from this particular module. In the first part, I have
described in detail about all the knowledge that I gathered from the lectures,
lessons and personal investigation on the topic of design thinking. In the analysis
and evaluation part, I have explained about my learnings while analyzing the
design thinking process I took part in. I also evaluated my role in the design
thinking project and tested how I enhanced my knowledge and design thinking
skills. I have also prepared a personal action plan that will help gain even better
skills at design thinking and applying them in solving various problems that our
module lecturer told us about.
Before the beginning of the module, we were provided with a number of topics for
design thinking application from which we had to choose one. I chose a topic
where I thought I could apply my design thinking skills efficiently and find out a
suitable solution for it. The topic that I chose along with my teammates was
addressing service time issues faced by McDonalds and I proposed the
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development of mobile app for the company that will help them have better reach
to the customers as well as improve their service time with the help of online
booking and online payment systems.
KNOWLEDGE GAINED
At the end of the 12 Weeks of Design Thinking lesson, I can say that I gained a lot
of knowledge on the topic. Before joining this module, I was not much aware of
design thinking but during the course of the module, I learnt the application and
benefits of design thinking. Apparently, design thinking is useful for addressing
certain problems that cannot be solved by regular means. However, I also learnt in
addition that design thinking is useful in enhancing the creativity and thinking
power of an individual. Hence, design thinking not only benefits a particular
project, it also benefits and helps the mental growth of an individual. The problem
chosen by me was the poor service time at McDonalds that resulted in loss of
customers and revenue. I proposed the development of mobile app for McDonalds
where the customers will be able to see the menu, place orders (both on-site and
home delivery) and even pay the bills online.
From my knowledge of design thinking, I found that my solution would be a very
suitable one if it could be implemented according to the prepared plan. Throughout
the course of the development of the design thinking plan for the mobile app, I
gathered a lot of knowledge regarding the proper application of design thinking to
address a problem.
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
Selection of a particular topic helped me concentrate on one particular problem
rather than looking around searching for problems to solve. As per the selected
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problem, I found that McDonalds is facing customer service issues that are
hampering their business. As per their analysis, since all the business processes are
handled manually, the service time increases considerably. When the customers
visit a McDonalds store, they need to place their orders in the counter where the
bills are provided accordingly. However, since the order receiving and billing
process is processed manually, it takes a lot of time and the queue of the guests
increase from time to time. As a result, the guests often get dissatisfied and chose
to visit a different restaurant chain. Again, there is no home delivery system for
McDonalds due to lack of customer support and care department.
When I first received this problem, I first identified the exact problems and issues
that McDonalds was facing. I came to conclusion that regular processes like
replacement of personnel, increase in number of counters, etc. are not sufficient to
solve these problems. I understood that I needed to apply my design thinking skills
in this matter. I proposed the development of a dedicated mobile app for
McDonalds that will be able to solve their problems significantly. I analyzed that
the mobile app will be an extremely feasible solution as smartphones are extremely
popular among users and all the customers will be able to use the mobile app. In
the mobile app, features like viewing the menu, placing order, paying bills, call for
home delivery and others could be added. All these features could only have been
possible in a dedicated mobile app.
AREA OF DEVELOPMENT
During the analysis of the problem, I identified the possible area of development
using design thinking. Based on the situation at McDonalds, I identified that the
main area of development is the handling of the operations. I found that the issues
are arising because of the manual handling of the processes like order receiving,
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billing and delivery. I proposed that if these could be done using automated
systems, the service time will improve immediately. In the mobile app, features
like viewing the menu, placing order, paying bills, call for home delivery and
others could be added. Using this app, the users will be able to place orders and the
system will automatically record and process the orders and forward it to the
system used by the chefs. Moreover, due to online transaction system, there will be
no need for manual billing and as a result, there will be manual errors existing in
the billing process. I also identified that this mobile app will serve two other
purposes:
1. Online Promotions – McDonalds has already lost a large number of customers
and online promotion is a method that will help them gain back the customers.
With the presence of the app in the app store and online promotion using social
media, the customers will be able to know the revamped services of McDonalds
and hence, they may choose the dine in McDonalds again.
2. Home Delivery System – The mobile app will also benefit McDonalds if they
choose to provide home delivery services. Using the mobile app, the customers
will be able to order food online from their homes without having to call the
counters. Moreover, the customers will also be able to track their orders.
CIVIC VALUES
1.1 STRENGTH
My main strength that I discovered while studying in this module is that I
can easily identify a problem area that needs to be addressed. While a
problem situation is presented to me, I can easily analyze the details of the
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problem and identify the exact problem area that is the root cause of all the
problems. Moreover, I can also easily identify a solution that can be used to
address the problem area of a solution. I can also use my own ideas to find a
solution rather than just use textbook ideas that are already been provided by
previous researchers. Another one of my strength is that my ideas are always
about long term solutions rather than short term fix. When I address a
problem, I find all the related processes that are also interdependent with the
problem area. Then I find a solution that can benefit all the processes for a
long term rather than just addressing the apparent problem area. Hence, in
short, my strength mainly lies in creative and analytic skills that I also
utilized during the entire course of this design thinking module.
1.2 WEAKNESS
In addition to my strengths, I also have a number of weaknesses that
sometimes halt my progress during the course of my learning. The first main
weakness of mine is that I always seemed to get carried away with the first
solution that I identify to address the problems. I never think about better
solutions that may be available instead of the first solution I can think of. I
always think that the first identified solution is the best possible solution and
there are no other alternatives for the same. Another one of my significant
weaknesses that I need to address immediately is that I cannot implement
my plans in reality to the best of my abilities. My ideas are always extremely
useful for addressing the problems but during implementation, I need the
help of other teammates in order to use the ideas in reality.
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ACTION PLAN
During the evaluation of the proposed design thinking process, I needed to prepare
an action plan that is mainly aimed to address the problems identified in the case
study. I order to develop the action plan, I prepared the following breakdown table.
Sr.
No
Area of
Development
Dates
implemented
Status Expected
Outcome
1. Faster Billing
Counter
1/10/2017 –
31/10/2017
Two new
employees
recruited
Better service
time at the
counter
2. Mobile Application 1/11/2017 –
30/11/2017
Developed Wide range of
customer
services within
online interface
3. Online Order
Reception
1/12/2017 –
31/12/2017
Feature Added in
App
Faster
acceptance of
customer orders
4. Online Payment 1/1/2018 –
31/12/2018
Payment Gateway
Added in App
Faster and
cashless
transaction
5. Home Delivery 1/2/2018 –
28/2/2018
Home Delivery
Request Feature
Added in App
Fast home
delivery
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1. Faster Billing Counter – During identification of the problems, it has been
found that the billing counter was extremely slow due to manual handling of the
operations. Moreover, the existing billing staffs were inexperienced with the
computerized billing of the orders. As a result, not only there were many errors
during the time of billing, the service time also increased significantly as the staffs
took a long time to prepare the bill. Two new billing personnel have been recruited
who are already proficient with the computerized billing system and they are
expected to provide faster services and decrease the service time.
2. Mobile Application – The proposed mobile app is expected to solve a large
number of problems as well as add new customer friendly features. I analyzed that
the mobile app will be an extremely feasible solution as smartphones are extremely
popular among users and all the customers will be able to use the mobile app. In
the mobile app, features like viewing the menu, placing order, paying bills, call for
home delivery and others could be added. All these features could only have been
possible in a dedicated mobile app.
3. Online Order Reception – This feature has been proposed in order to reduce
the queue in front of the order and billing counter. Using the mobile app, the
customers can easily preorder the foods that will be directly delivered to them
when they visit the dine-in. Moreover, during online ordering, the customers will
have the option to pay the bill online so that there are no time consuming cash
transactions involved at the counter.
4. Online Payment – Online payment will be convenient option for the customers
to pay their bills through the online portal rather than stand for hours in the queue
at the billing counter. Moreover, no time consuming cash transactions will be
involved and as the result, his order and billing will be processed faster.
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5. Home Delivery – This is an additional service that has been suggested for
McDonalds in order to compete with the nearest rivals like Dominoes, Pizza Hut,
Burger King and others who already provide extensive home delivery services.
The home delivery services can be easily integrated with the mobile app using
which, the customers will be able to order their desired foods and pay the bill
online.
EXPECTED OUTCOME
From all the suggested ideas that have been developed as a result of design
thinking, I expect that the outcome will result in increase in the customer count of
McDonalds. With suitable and efficient implementation of the suggested steps,
McDonalds should be again able to attract customers even in the presence of the
market competitors like Dominoes Pizza and Burger King. Both of these rivals
have their own mobile apps that have resulted in the flourishing of their services.
McDonalds can follow their examples and launch the mobile app of their own. I
estimated the overall outcomes and found that if the implementations are done
according to my plans, McDonalds will gain back 60% of their lost customer base
within the next 3 months and they will have a 50% rise in revenue in the next year.
However, the implementation of the proposed idea will be expensive and
McDonalds will have to consider finding a sponsor for the development as well.
However, once the implementation is complete, McDonalds will be able to
improve their service time and quality easily.
CONCLUSION
In this reflection report, I have explained about my learnings during my course in
this design thinking module. For this study, I chose a topic where I thought I could
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apply my design thinking skills efficiently and find out a suitable solution for it.
The topic that I chose along with my teammates was addressing service time issues
faced by McDonalds and I proposed the development of mobile app for the
company that will help them have better reach to the customers as well as improve
their service time with the help of online booking and online payment systems. At
the end of the module of design thinking, I can say that I gained a lot of knowledge
on the topic. Before joining this module, I was not much aware of design thinking
but during the course of the module, I learnt the application and benefits of design
thinking. Apparently, design thinking is useful for addressing certain problems that
cannot be solved by regular means. However, I also learnt in addition that design
thinking is useful in enhancing the creativity and thinking power of an individual.
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REFERENCES
Cheng, L. C. (2016, April). The mobile app usability inspection (maui) framework
as a guide for minimal viable product (mvp) testing in lean development
cycle. In Proceedings of the The 2th International Conference in HCI and
UX on Indonesia 2016 (pp. 1-11). ACM.
Cheng, P. J. (2016). Development of a mobile app for generating creative ideas
based on exploring designers' on-line resource searching and retrieval
behavior. Design Studies, 44, 74-99.
Franzago, M., Muccini, H., & Malavolta, I. (2014, June). Towards a collaborative
framework for the design and development of data-intensive mobile
applications. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Mobile
Software Engineering and Systems (pp. 58-61). ACM.
Hermano, M., & Stewart, G. (2014). Design guidelines for a mobile app for
wellbeing of emerging adults. In Twentieth Americas Conference on
Information Systems Proceedings (pp. 1-14).
Hsu, Y. C., & Ching, Y. H. (2013). Mobile app design for teaching and learning:
Educators’ experiences in an online graduate course. The International
Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(4).
Kolko, J. (2015). Design thinking comes of age. Harvard Business Review, 93(9),
66-71.
KONG, S. C., LAI, M., SHELDON, J., & TISSENBAUM, M. (2017). The Design
and Evaluation of a Teacher Development Programme in Computational
Thinking Education. Siu-cheung KONG The Education University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong, 77.
Mummah, S., Robinson, T. N., Mathur, M., Farzinkhou, S., Sutton, S., & Gardner,
C. D. (2017). Effect of a mobile app intervention on vegetable consumption
in overweight adults: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of
Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), 125.
Oppegaard, B., Conway, T., & Conway, M. (2016, September). From seeing to
hearing: Lessons learned from a research-based design project focused upon
audio description, print-to-acoustic remediation, and mobile-app delivery.
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