ELDAMOH Design Thinking Consulting

What is the significance of planning and thinking in scholarly writing?
by Aminat Abubakar – Tuesday, 24 January 2017

The significance of planning as explained by Booth, Colomb, & William (2008, p. 5) “One helps them prepare and conduct their research; the second helps them draft their report of it.”  Planning helps the writer decides and concentrate on the topic to write on in order to capture the reader’s attention.  You want to be in control of what you are writing and not being all over the place. As a researcher “when you plan your argument early, you grasp your material better and avoid wasted effort, especially return trips to the library” (Booth, 2008, p. 108).

Booth (2008) noted that, a plan helps you recognize the element of your argument from a form that may seem coherent to you into one that will be both coherent and persuasive to your readers (p. 177).

While thinking helps with making inquiries towards search for answers, the search will guide the plan of action in writing the research.  In thinking, the writer has to ask such question as explained by Zinsser “In what capacity am I going to address the reader?…“How much do I want to cover?”  “What one point do I want to make?”  (2016, pp. 51-52).  Jan Archer stated in an article (Critical Thinking Skills Necessary in Writing) “As a writer, when you use critical thinking, you enable yourself to create new knowledge rather than simply reporting on what already exists.”  She went further to explain that, “At the very root of critical thinking are questions.  You must have a truth you want to search for in order to set out on a path of purposeful thinking and writing.”
Planning and thinking are important components for a successful scholarly writing.

Critical Thinking Skills

References

1. Archer, J. Critical Thinking Skills Necessary in Writing.  Retrieved from http://classroom.synonym.com/critical-thinking-skills-necessary-writing-1189.html
2. Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 860-1400125373.  Chapters 7-10, 12-13
3. Sotir, D. (2014, December 7). Critical Thinking Skills [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PsLktb7HTA
4. Zinsser, W. (2006). On writing well: The classic guide to writing nonfiction (7th ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN: 978-1595555038. Chapters 6-10, 20-23 & 25

What is the importance of knowing the customer profile in designing the value proposition for the business?
by Aminat Abubakar – Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Osterwalder & Pigneur, describes “value proposition as the benefits customers can expect from a company’s product and services” (2010, p.2).  The importance of an organization understands a customer profile in the design of value proposition cannot be overemphasize.  “The Customer (Segment) Profile describes a specific customer segment in your business model in a more structured and detailed way, it breaks the customer down into its jobs, pains, and gains” (Thompson, Jnr., Strickland III, & Gamble, 2010, p. 9).
The Customer Profile gives an in-depth understanding of a customer problem and need that aids an organization in the design, production, or customization of a value proposition in a business; there are three components identified as Pains, Jobs, and Gains.
Customers Jobs are those daily activities in a customer’s life or work that needs to be accomplish in order to solve a problem or satisfy a need, it is important for an organization to understand hierarchy placed on each problem and need, not to assume collectively as the same.

Customer Pain is the degree of discomfort a customer feels on trying to get job done before, during, and after an event.  An organization can decipher the degree of pain whether moderate or extreme, and level of significance to the customer.
Customer Gain is the result and values a customer would expect in solving a problem or satisfying a need.  Hyatt (2012) explains a “WOW” experience always exceeds customer expectation.  These benefits can be required, expected, or desired, but an organization must understand the relevance.

To sum up, successful value proposition is an organization’s in-depth understanding of Customer Profile through job rank, pain severity, and gain relevance.  Apple’s success is evident in its Apple iTune music store and Apple iPod, whereas, “Sony developed the Walktnan audio player, redefining the market for portable music devices, but failed to develop a successful MP3 player” (Koen, Bertels, & Elsum, 2011).  As such, organizations that miss on this critical aspect of Customer Profile run the great risk of value proposition failure.

In order for your organization to avoid risk of failure in your value proposition to the market, you should study the steps Apple took and applied, as well as other successful businesses in understanding the importance of customer profile in designing the value proposition for the business.  This cannot be over emphasize.

Value Proposition Canvas Explained 

References

1. Hyatt, M. (2012). PLATFORM: Get Noticed In A Noisy World. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
2. Koen, P. A., Bertels, H. J., & Elsum, I. R. (2011). THE THREE FACES OF BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION: CHALLENGES FOR ESTABLISHED FIRMS. Research Technology Management, 54(3), 52-59. doi:10.5437/08953608X5403009
3. Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
4. Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., & Smith, A. (2014). Value Proposition Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5. Strategyzer. (2014, July 21). Value Proposition Canvas Explained [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN36EcTE54Q