Discribe the 5 Steps of ideation.

Ideation is a design methodology that provides a solution-based approach to solving

problems. Its extremely useful in tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or
unknown, by understanding the human needs involved, by re-framing the problem in
human-centric ways, by creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and by adopting
a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. Understanding these five stages
of Design Thinking will empower anyone to apply the Design Thinking methods in order
to solve complex problems that occur around us - in our companies, our countries, and
even our planet.

The five stages of Ideation are as follows: Empathise, Define (the problem), Ideate,
Prototype, and Test.

1. Empathise
The first stage of the Design Thinking process is to gain an empathic understanding of
the problem you are trying to solve. This involves consulting experts to find out more
about the area of concern through observing, engaging and empathizing with people to
understand their experiences and motivations, as well as immersing yourself in the
physical environment to have a deeper personal understanding of the issues involved.
Empathy is crucial to a human-centred design process such as Design Thinking, and
empathy allows design thinkers to set aside his or her own assumptions about the
world in order to gain insight into users and their needs.

2. Define (the Problem)

During the Define stage, you put together the information you have created and
gathered during the Empathise stage. You will analyse your observations and synthesise
them in order to define the core problems that you and your team have identified up to
this point. You should seek to define the problem as a problem statement in a human-
centred manner.

To illustrate, instead of defining the problem as your own wish or a need of the
company such as, We need to increase our food-product market share among young
teenage girls by 5%, a much better way to define the problem would be, Teenage girls
need to eat nutritious food in order to thrive, be healthy and grow.

3. Ideate
During the third stage of the Design Thinking process, designers are ready to start
generating ideas. Youve grown to understand your users and their needs in the
Empathise stage, and youve analysed and synthesised your observations in the Define
stage, and ended up with a human-centered problem statement. With this solid
background yourself and your team members can start to 'think outside the box' to
identify new solutions to the problem statement youve created, and you can start to
look for alternative ways of viewing the problem. There are hundreds
of Ideation techniques such as Brainstorm, Brainwrite, Worst Possible Idea,
and SCAMPER. Brainstorm and Worst Possible Idea sessions are typically used to
 stimulate free thinking and to expand the problem space. It is important to get as many
ideas or problem solutions as possible at the beginning of the Ideation phase. You
should pick some other Ideation techniques by the end of the Ideation phase to help you
investigate and test your ideas to find the best way to either solve a problem, or provide
the elements required to circumvent the problem.

4. Prototype
The design team will now produce a number of inexpensive, scaled down versions of
the product or specific features found within the product, so they can investigate the
problem solutions generated in the previous stage. Prototypes may be shared and
tested within the team itself, in other departments, or on a small group of people
outside the design team. This is an experimental phase, and the aim is to identify the
best possible solution for each of the problems identified during the first three stages.
The solutions are implemented within the prototypes and, one-by-one, they are
investigated and either accepted, improved and re-examined, or rejected on the basis of
the users experiences. By the end of this stage, the design team will have a better idea
of the constraints inherent within the product, the problems that are present, and have
a better/more informed perspective of how real users would behave, think, and feel
when interacting with the end product.

5. Test
Designers or evaluators rigorously test the complete product using the best solutions
identified during the prototyping phase. This is the final stage of the 5 stage-model, but
in an iterative process, the results generated during the testing phase are often used
to redefine one or more problems and inform the understanding of the users, the
conditions of use, how people think, behave, and feel, and to empathise. Even during
this phase, alterations and refinements are made in order to rule out problem solutions
and derive as deep an understanding of the product and its users as possible.

What is Technology S-Curve? How can you effectively use the S-Curve
to predict the future. Please specify the assumptions clearly to
support your answer.

The S curve, a mathematical model also known as the logistic curve, describes the
growth of one variable in terms of another variable over time. S curves are found in
fields from biology and physics to business and technology. In business, the S curve is
used to describe, and sometimes predict, the performance of a company or a product
over a period of time.
Systems, whether in business or embryology, that follow an S curve have the distinctive
shape of a flattened S, although the slope of a steep mountain that plateaus at the
summit is probably a more accurate description. S curves start with a modest and
shallow growth, described by the mathematical term "the lower asymptote." Then the
growth accelerates rapidly and the slope arches upwards until it reaches maximum
growth. This point of maximum growth is the point of inflexion. After the point of
 inflexion the growth tapers down to its mature where there is little to no growth. This
mature stage of the S curve is called the upper asymptote.

S Curves and Business:

Businesses, or the products of businesses, that follow an S curve are characterized by a
shallow start, where only early adopters and niche markets buy the product or invest in
the company. Then they experience a rapid growth, and the product or business has a
dominant position in the market. After the rapid growth, these businesses maintain a
high performance level but with little growth, which often signals a mature but
saturated market.

Technology:
Technology businesses, such as computer, software and electronic manufacturers often
display an S curve life cycle. One explanation for this, is that initial progress is slow
because the principles of the technology are poorly understood. Once researchers get a
better understanding of the technology, progress accelerates rapidly. However, as time
goes by, the effort required to improve on the technology reaches such a level that
increase slows down and the growth curve flattens out. Businesses and technologies
with a well documented S curve growth cycle include automobiles, semiconductors,
steam engines and disk drives.

Explanation:
It may seem surprising such a variety of phenomena and fields, from the growth in size
of cows to the performance of hard disk manufacturers, follow a similar growth curve.
The reason is they all are constrained by some kind of limiting factor. For instance, the
population of a living organism is limited by the carrying capacity of its environment,
while business growth is limited by the demand of its market or the financial viability of
the products it sells.

What is your understanding of the term technological diffusion? How

does it impact the overall growth of an industry? Support your answer
with relevant Indian examples.
Technological diffusion is the process by which innovations (be the new products, new
processes or new management methods) spread within and across economies. Some
understanding of the process of technological diffusion is essential if we are to gain any
insight into the processes of economic growth and development, for, whatever the
emphasis has been in the past in research and public policy, it is the application of
innovations (diffusion) rather than the generation of innovations (invention or R & D)
that leads to the realisation of benefits from technological advance
 Write a short note on the process of innovation in an FMCG company.
Does Innovation help the organization sustain for longer period of time?
Support your answer with relevant examples from Consumer Durables
industry.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) or consumer packaged goods (CPG) are
products that are sold quickly and at relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable
goods such as soft drinks, toiletries, and grocery items. Though the absolute profit
made on FMCG products is relatively small, they generally sell in large quantities, so
the cumulative profit on such products can be substantial.

The success of an FMCG depends greatly on its marketing strategy. Typically a

marketer pursues a wide combination of strategies. For instance when prices are
competitive the company would use an extensive distribution network, design suitable
advertising and sales promotion schemes for time to time.

Companies make brand extensions in the hope that the extensions will be able to ride
on the equity of successful brands, and that the new brand will stand in its own right in
the course of time. A well respected brand name gives the new product instant
recognition and easier acceptance. It enables the company to enter new product
categories more easily. Example: Amul. With the success of its first product, Amul milk
powder, the company came out with Amul ghee, Amul butter, Amul cheese, Cheese
spread, and finally added Amul chocolates to its portfolio.

Many companies adopt a long term outlook towards growth in an FMCG market. In the
process, short term gains which might adversely affect the long term prospects of the
company are sacrificed. Example: Kelloggs in Mexico. The concept of cornflakes for
breakfast promoted by Kelloggs is entirely American in nature and in Mexico which is
culturally so different from America, could not accept. Kelloggs with its long term
outlook took 28 years before finally breaking even. Today is the market leader in the
breakfast cereals market, enjoying an unparalleled monopoly.