Week 7 Reflection

Hi everyone,

I think we have finally entered the phase where two classes a week is the norm. The snow doesn't seem to be slowing down our progress anymore, which is definitely a plus. On Tuesday, we had our third and final replacement class with the honors engineers. We were asked to create a consumer story for homework prior to the class based on consumer's pain points pertinent to our product. We were then asked to share our stories within our groups. In doing so, it was very apparent that the engineers were extremely out of their comfort zones. So much so in fact, that the engineers flat out refused to read their stories word for word, and instead opted to provide a brief synopsis of the story. I found this to be quite funny considering we were only reading our stories in our groups and not in front of the class. I think its safe to say that engineers are definitely not used to having to express their feelings in their line of work. Comparatively, business majors utilize people skills as a crucial way of establishing relationships with colleagues and establishing an intricate network of connections. It was shocking to me that people could be so timid about verbal expression and creativity. However, working with the engineers as a freshman has been eye-opening in the sense that the real world does not consist of people that see eye-to-eye with you all the time.

Today's class was information packed, even though we were not able to cover Chapters 13 and 14. We spent a majority of class discussing the diffusion of innovation and adoption processes,in relation to Phone Purse and Revolight. Additionally, we expanded upon these products to look at a more generalized viewpoint on these important concepts. Specifically, we focused on the "innovators" and the "early adopters" in the adoption process, who account for 25% and 14% of consumers respectively. Innovators have a certain intrinsic motivation to try out the latest and greatest products. Early adopters, meanwhile, are driven extrinsically by being trend setters. Personally, I think innovators are an increasingly important and complex group of consumers. As an avid video gamer over the years, I am familiar with the "Beta testers." In fact, I was actually a Beta tester for the Xbox exclusive video game "Titanfall" in 2014. I was able to play online multiplayer matches a month ahead of the game's commercial release. The information collected by the online server provides feedback to the game developers about in-game bugs. By gaining this insight, by the time full console release rolled around, developers were able to correct any coding errors and provide a smooth release of the game. In the extremely fast world we live in, with changes around every corner, beta testing has an increased effect on product launches, which can catapult companies to increased profits. When a product launch goes sour, companies are forced to back track and pump unnecessary funds into correcting the problem. Recently, Apple has been allowing app developers to beta test their newest iOS platforms, which has allowed Apple to work out any flaws in their operating system. There is even talk that eventually, Apple will allow for public beta testing which certainly be cool. Beta testing is already reaping benefits for many companies and its undeniable benefits will eventually force companies to incorporate it into their corporate structure.

Til next week....

-Chris