“Innovating for a COVID-19 World” Workbook

What Could Our Post-COVID19 World Look Like?

These articles are a sample of opinions of what the world after COVID19 might look like. Take a look (or do your own search) if you want some ideas to inform your own thoughts:

· “Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How.”

· “Cities after coronavirus: how Covid-19 could radically alter urban life”

· “What Will the World Be Like After Coronavirus? Four Possible Futures”

· “A Historian Looks Ahead At A Transformed Post-Pandemic World”

· “Our post-coronavirus future: 7 ways the tech and services industry could be transformed”

· “Coronavirus is crushing the economy. Here’s how to bring it back to life”

The Problem Statement

Instructions: Use this worksheet to capture which problem you want to address, who is impacted, and how they are impacted.

Health and Wellness

Out and About

Business and Education

· Balancing working from home and staying connected

· Mental health while physical distancing over a long period of time

· Protecting healthcare workers while meeting patient needs

· Exercise and physical fitness

· Caring for the vulnerable

· …

· Buying groceries

· Eating out and restaurants

· Travelling on airplanes, trains, subways and buses

· Going to the movies

· Playing team sports

· Faith-based gatherings

· Dinner parties

· …

· Keeping supply chains healthy and uncontaminated

· Keeping the sharing economy (ex. Airbnb) safe

· Tourism industry

· Concerts, sporting events (ex. NHL, NBA), and theatre

· Interacting with a virtual government

· Online learning communities

· …

Which problem do you want to solve?

Who is affected by your chosen problem?

How are they impacted by the problem?

Your Persona

Instructions: Imagine the person who is affected by your chosen challenge, and describe him or her below.

What is her or his age?

What gender does he or she identify as?

Where is he or she based (location)?

What is her or his daily life like?

How is he or she affected by the challenge you've selected?

How does he or she feel when she or he is affected by the challenge you've selected?

What does he or she do to cope with the challenge?

What does he or she need to overcome or better deal with the challenge?

Your Plan to Set Up an Interview

Instructions: Use this sheet to plan how you will connect with someone to interview, so that you better understand how they are affected by the problem you’ve selected.

What questions do you want to ask?

Who can answer your questions? Individuals affected by the problem? Organizations who work with people who are affected?

How will they provide feedback to you? By phone? Video (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, etc.)? In person?

How can you reach them to ask them to provide feedback to you? Via social media and online search? Who do you know in your network? Who do you know who might know people in their networks?

Interview Questions

Instructions: Use this sheet to capture what you learn in your interview(s). These questions are suggestions – feel free to add your own questions.

How does affect you?

How do you feel when the problem affects you?

Are there others close to you who are affected? How are they affected?

What do you do to cope with, or work around, the impacts of the problem?

What do you think could help you prevent the problem, or lessen its impact?

What stops you from doing or getting these things that could help?

Reflection and Needs Analysis

Instructions: Reflect on what you heard from your interviewee, and identify his / her top challenges, and what he / she needs to cope with or overcome the challenge.

What are 2 top challenges that the interviewee faces each day?

1.

2.

What does your interviewee need most?

Instructions: Rephrase your interviewee's top need to start with the words "How could we...?"

How could we…

Brainstorm Ideas

Instructions: In each box, write or draw an idea that could solve your “How could we…” question from the previous exercise. Try to spend no more than 30 seconds on each idea box. Some participants have found it helpful to brainstorm using Post-It Notes instead.

senecacollege.ca/career-recharge

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Building a Prototype

While the following aren’t the only options available to you, these platforms can be helpful for building and sharing a prototype of your solution. Select a platform (which may or may not be listed below) that will best demonstrate your solution’s capabilities and experience.

To build an app:

· Marvel App (marvelapp.com)

To build a website:

· Weebly (weebly.com)

· Wix (wix.com)

To build a physical object:

· TinkerCAD (tinkercad.com)

· Use materials from around the house, Home Hardware, Walmart, Dollar Store, etc.

To show a process, menu or other diagram:

· Google Slides

· Canva (canva.com)

To show a training program:

· Thinkific (thinkific.com)

To share your solution:

· Loom (loom.com)

· Skype (skype.com)

· YouTube (youtube.com)

· Zoom (zoom.us)

To gather user or expert feedback on your solution prototype:

· Google Forms (docs.google.com/forms/u/0/)

· SurveyMonkey (surveymonkey.com)

Additional resources are available at Seneca College’s Career Recharge Resources page.

Your Plan to Validate Your Solution Idea

Instructions: Use this sheet to plan how you will validate your solution and its effectiveness.

What questions do you want to ask?

Who can answer your questions? Individuals affected by the problem? Organizations who work with people who are affected?

What is the best way to demonstrate your solution?

How will they provide feedback to you? By phone? Video (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, etc.)? In person?

How can you reach them to ask them to provide feedback to you? Via social media and online search? Who do you know in your network? Who do you know who might know people in their networks?

Your Business Model

Instructions: Use this template to map out the components of your business model. Some participants have found it helpful to print this out and complete each section using Post-It Notes.

Forecasting Your Financials

Instructions: Use this template to research what it could cost to run a business that provided your solution, and what you think you could generate in revenue (e.g., sales).

Building a Pitch Presentation

Instructions: Use this table to track what information is outstanding for your pitch presentation. When you have all of your required information, you can create your presentation PowerPoint or Google Slides (or any other presentation software).

Introduction

What is your team’s or business’ name?

Outline the problem

What problem will you solve? How do you know it’s a problem?

Who is impacted by the problem?

How are they impacted?

Your solution

What is your solution’s name, and what does it do?

Do you have a prototype of your solution to show?

How does it solve the problem? What insight drove you to pursue this solution?

Your customer and your evidence

How do you know your solution will solve the problem?

Who (customers, experts, organizations) did you speak to about your solution?

Who else offers solutions to solve the same problem?

Your financial plan

How will you make money?

What is your profit (or loss) in the first 3 years?

What are the big assumptions you’ve made, and have you validated those assumptions?

Your plan

What is your next step to further the solution?

What do you need to move ahead? If you're asking for money, what will you use it for?

Example Pitch Presentation

Kevin from Hedgehog delivered his pitch to a panel of angel investors - watch his pitch here.

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