Week 6 - Ideation Part A (02\12-09\12)

Meet frontal for the first time, brainstorming games and beginning the ideation process.

We started the week with great excitement. After several months at home due to the Covid-19, we returned to campus and met with the team for the first time, frontally.

We started the session with several games planned to help us in the process of thinking about the solution extensively.

First, we had to plan in 30 seconds the best party imaginable.

Of course, we exaggerated a bit but we felt comfortable planning a private party for the group members, which will feature the stand-up comedians Adir Miller and Shahar Hasson all night long and the food will be cooked by no less than the international chef - Gordon Ramsay. It's just the tip of the iceberg, yet we only had 30 seconds to think.

After that, we were asked to think of no less than 30 ideas depending on the chosen domain and especially those that would answer the ״How Might We" we wrote, in 20 minutes.

At first, we must admit that we were a bit surprised, 30 may be a threatening number but eventually, we started throwing ideas and writing them on the notes we felt very confident in ourselves, and more than that we enjoyed thinking and sharing ideas.

We were then asked to divide our ideas into 3 main groups: practical, impractical, and surprising.

The next step was to use the practice of "copying from the best" and choose 5 products that we value and love and map the features and main values ​​that these products express.

“ The best compliment someone could give you is to copy you”

We chose to focus on Netflix, Waze, Bit, Spotify & Airbnb.

• Waze - Use the reward to encourage the actions of the users.
  

• Netflix - Using the wisdom of the masses to encourage user viewing (Top 10 in the last day or by location).
  

• Spotify - The ability to be exposed to music from different genres from anywhere - all in one place.
  

• Bit - The reliability of the information, overcoming a psychological barrier that exists in the act of transferring money and preventing the user from despairing, which usually results from a complicated process.
  

• Airbnb - Proper and effective use of information obtained from users themselves through opinions and ratings.

we had to match a key value of each of the five products we mapped to the domain we are dealing with.

The final result of the meeting can be seen here:

Later in the week, we met to formulate the initial scenario following the persona we presented in previous weeks and by the initial solutions raised at the current meeting.

Attached is a link to the scenario:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CjVu87h4RKSgGt4MDjbX47gThn82gexQBcO01EfBxaI/edit

To sum up the week, after long weeks of working the room at home, it was fun to meet the team members for the and we even saw evidence that these meetings contribute a lot to the pace and effectiveness of the tasks, therefore, we hope this will be possible in the coming weeks.

Week 5 - Need Validation (24\11-02\12)

Continue with need validation, collect further data and do market research

We started this week with feelings of joy and relief, after a successful presentation and receiving positive feedback on how we based the need and persona that we will focus on.

Although we went through a busy week of tasks last week (as part of the pivoting process we had to do) we did not allow ourselves to rest, and as usual handed out responsibilities for tasks in the first zoom session of the week.

“ Never rest on your laurels. Today's laurels are tomorrow's compost”

First, we scheduled 5 more interviews to achieve need validation and collect further data. Three interviews were with three types of experts: one with an architect, the second with an apartment broker and the last with owner of number of properties. During this interviews, we discovered a number of new conclusions:

• There are types of information that can only be discovered through the person who has lived in the apartment for a long time, such as air directions, smart architecture (energy-efficient), fluidity, acoustics, insulation, plumbing, etc.
  

• There is currently no database of properties and apartments so people have no way of knowing about the apartment these things.
  

• The apartment owners take advantage of the tenants and make them their captives both in terms of price they raise for no reason and in terms of dragon contracts.
  

• Tenants usually work in a hurry to enter the apartment they have found because they are aware of the demand. This creates a problem of a lack of detail and details, which then leads to the exposure of problems after signing the contract.
  

• The frequency of tenant turnover in rented apartments is frequent.
  

• According to the interviewee who owns the properties: The apartment owners are the party that is more damaged than the tenants.
  

• Like other apartment owners, usually, when she details the condition of the apartment, she presents attractive things, there is a clear interest.
  

• Property owners indicate that they suffer greatly from a lack of information about tenants in advance, the above information may save them costs of many expenses.
  

• The landlord emphasizes that she does not see giving an opinion as a negative solution, but on the contrary sees you as a trivial and correct step.
  

• In the Usa, for example, you need recommendations from previous landlords you live with to rent a new apartment.

The other two interviews were with two tenants who had a negative experience. The conclusions that emerged from them:

• When tenants come to check the suitability of the apartment for the tenant's needs, it is usually a stressful situation ("You are a guest and examining the apartment of another person who is following you at the moment, it is not pleasant").

• The challenge is that you as a tenant are looking for an apartment and the existing tenant, striving to find a replacement at any cost to get out of the apartment: "He probably won't tell you the least good things about the apartment."

• The opinion of past tenants gives confidence and optimism in making the decision to choose a particular apartment ("After he said he shared the information with me, a week later I already signed").

• It is important to hear the opinion of the landlord from tenants who have experienced regular interaction with him and examined how he copes in the moments when they need help.

• When an apartment is located in a central location, you will be examined for the apartment and not the other way around - you do not have the ability to choose at all and as a result, you may be affected by problems that have not been examined in advance.

Later this week, we completed the document about the 'empathy map' which includes a persona analysis model focusing on the customer experience, understanding his feelings and actions in order to synthesize the customer’s goals, needs, and frustrations.

Finally, we did research, search for existing government databases, and the possibilities of accessing the information on the Internet today in the field.

In terms of existing government databases accessible to the general public, our search shows that there are not too many of these other than information on construction projects, NAPs, taboos, information on guarantees, property costs, and a database of the Land Authority on all transactions made in the sale of apartments. We discovered that a few years ago, a bill was proposed to create an anonymous government database in which lease contracts would be documented, but the law was not passed in the Knesset.

Moreover, we have collected all the sources into one file that combines all the relevant links:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q4UzG06yIIx0jjUjxYTHBRWN7KGGAPlH

Week 4 - Start From The Beginning (18-24\11)

Pivoting, conducting new interviews, and reach a major problem.

We started the week, as usual, with a general conversation with the project facilitators, intending to present the impressions from the past week. From the main problem that arose last week, we were given the intention that the problem we chose probably does not deal with a cure point and a major pain in the chosen domain and even, a link to the transparency value is a bit weak. Hence, we were asked to think again about the way forward.

As you might guess, we felt a little disappointed and it must be said we even experienced a certain mental fracture. However, after a two-day break in which, each team member tried to think of a new way to act at the time, we met for a meeting in which we agreed on a new direction.

“Pivoting isn't plan B, it's part of the process”

We chose to focus on the accommodation domain.

The problem we want to investigate is the lack of information regarding all the historical variables of a rental apartment that are not visible and in fact do not exist for a potential tenant for the apartment, starting with the nature and conduct of the landlord, the condition of the property, how the apartment is handled, previous tenants' opinions Building and more. Another possible side to the problem is in revealing information about joint tenants.

Transparency will be expressed on the one hand in the ability to reveal hidden information about the apartment owners and the condition of the apartment itself (such as opinions and experience), and on the other hand in exposing information about potential partners, who connect usually early without knowing too much information. The care of the apartment, payments, organization and order, etc.) The main goal is to make the above process more exposed to the tenants.

After selecting the above domain and obtaining approval for further work, we met for a meeting designed to divide tasks and responsibilities among team members to perform the variety of tasks required in a relatively crowded time window, to reduce the time gap created by the change.

Step 01 - Expert Interviews We conducted 2 interviews with experts (property owner and appraiser).

The conclusions from the expert interviews:

- The rental market is not uniform and any apartment owner may charge unfounded prices without justification.

- The process of moving an apartment today can be arduous and even exhausting for tenants about other places in the world there is a disregard for laws to protect the rights of tenants.

- Tenants can not know how many other people in the same area pay and apartments are offered and this does not reflect the real numbers.

- There is a mutual interest of both parties (owner and tenant) in as little interaction and preoccupation with each other as possible, if not necessary.

- However, mutual opinion on each other is critical to the conduct of the process.

- Most people sign a contract that they do not even understand all the clauses in it.

- Property owners have the option of obtaining details that are usually not accessible to the general public in general and tenants in particular - about the construction plan, taboo, year of construction, list of property owners, etc. One reason for this is that most tenants will not make an effort to search due to lack of time or power to read and analyze the plethora of scattered data.

Step 02 - End-Users Interviews We conducted 2 interviews with end-users (people who rent in a shared apartment).

The conclusions from the interviews with the users:

- The interviews show that many apartment seekers tend to give up apartments at the time of signing the contract because when reading it reveals details they did not know about the apartment (such as construction projects to be built near the property, a draconian contract that is not fair for both parties, etc).

-Before accepting a new partner for the apartment, it is customary to talk with the current partners, get to know and check the level of general suitability on the basis of needs and habits (smoking, vegetarian/vegan), lifestyle (secular/kosher / Shabbat), level of order and cleanliness and more. To ensure the creation of a good quality of life and a successful partnership.

- Most apartment seekers testified that the choice of property is mainly based on location, but also when searching, they refer to the general visibility of the property in general and whether it has been renovated in particular, the level of maintenance.

- The interviews revealed that they were happy if they could check information about the property in which they are interested in checking the rating of previous tenants, the neighborhood in which it is located, or information about hazards in the apartment area (such as the construction of TMA).

- There is a clear desire to know in depth the intended landlord in advance because this gives a clear indication of his personality and attitude to its occupants.

- The history of the property is important and even critical for tenants who want to rent an apartment because sometimes during the initial inspection it is difficult to be exposed to hidden problems in the apartment. These problems may be caused due to improper handling by the owner. Therefore, providing this information may assist tenants in formulating a position about the day-to-day care of the apartment and estimating whether the asking price is right for the existing condition of the apartment.

The 5 main problems highlighted in the study:

• Tenants may sign a contract that they do not necessarily understand.

• Difficulty in finding details about the past history of the property resulting from lack of access to information.

• The tenants are not aware of the cost of the apartment of other tenants in the same residential area (a cost that does not reflect the value of the property).

• It is necessary to know in depth the intended owner of the apartment because this gives a clear indication of his personality and attitude to its occupants.

Step 04 - Find The Main Problem\ Need

We chose to focus on the main problem that stood out in all the interviews with the users and the experts: There is a clear need to know in depth the intended apartment owner/partner/ tenant/asset history - In order to prevent future unpleasant situations and disputes.

Step 05 - Persona

Following this, we prepared an initial draft of a naive persona based on a synthesis of the leading topics raised in the last two weeks in the various interviews.

Attached is a copy of the persona:

To sum up the week, we focused on establishing the main results by defining customer needs, main persona, and context.