Blog #3 Generative Research

Close to Me

What I can’t live without

My family – My parents are divorced, but I still have a really good relationship with each of them. My mom and I are incredibly close, and I can’t imagine life without her! She’s my go-to person for advice and support. I also am so fortunate to have my two younger brothers living in the same city with me now! I’m so appreciative to have such great siblings. As the oldest sibling, I always felt like I looked out for them growing up. Now that we’ve gotten older, they equally look out for me. Just in the last week, this has happened: “Megan, want me to grill you dinner? Megan, you have a nail in your tire and you don’t have time to get it fixed? Don’t worry, I’ll go! Megan, need me to walk your dog?” I’m so loved, and I’m so lucky! I would do anything for my brothers.

My dog – I come home everyday to this sweet, cuddly and perpetually cheerful dog! Bentley leaps into my arms each time I walk into my apartment, and it makes me so happy! Bentley is three years old now, and he’s my buddy. When I moved out of the dorms and finally into an apartment my senior year of college, I really wanted a puppy. Bentley came to every college tennis match that I played in, and he thoroughly enjoyed college life. Bentley was loved by so many pet deprived college students (we were required to live three years in a dorm on campus). He’s a big fan of graduate school and life in Austin because there are so many dog friendly places.

Coffee – My addiction! In the last ten years, there has probably only been a few days that I haven’t had a cup of coffee.  A caramel macchiato is currently my favorite drink. My mornings feel so much brighter once I’ve had my caffeine fix.

Having good health – I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never had any major health issues. I used to play tennis competitively. I unfortunately was plagued with minor injuries (a stress fracture in my foot and seemingly chronic tennis elbow). Luckily, these occurred separately but both lasted for over a year each. It made me appreciate playing a sport so much more when I was healthy. Playing without pain is such a good feeling. I want to be able to stay active! I never take my health for granted, and I want to always be able to live my life to the fullest.

What I care about

Exercise – This is an important part of my life. I don’t consider myself naturally very athletic, but rather I am disciplined when I want to learn a sport. My family plays tennis, and it was something I started doing at an early age. I played competitively for most of my life, and the last two years I have taken a break. I really want to get back into it! Now, I practice yoga four times a week at a nearby Austin studio. I enjoy exercise that provides a mind/body connection. I exercise because I think it’s fun! I have always enjoyed individual sports, but also like being part of a team!  

Travel – I wish I could travel more! I had never been outside of the United States until I decided to study abroad. While working towards my undergraduate degree, I was able to take a two-week business course in Europe. Then, I was able to spend an amazing semester in Sydney, Australia.  I was also fortunate enough to work on my language skills while spending a summer in Madrid, Spain. Every opportunity to travel has been such a learning experience for me.  I enjoy learning about different cultures, and gaining an understanding for how people live in different parts of the world. I also like the sense of adventure, and the feeling of accomplishment after trying new things (i.e. food, watersports, skydiving).

Education – Speaking of learning experiences, I always want to challenge myself to learn more. Maybe it’s a little nerdy, but I really do enjoy it.  It’s always been my goal to earn a master’s degree, and I’m less than a year away from achieving this.  Although this is probably the last of my formal education (not doing the PhD route), I want to continually be a student. I could see myself taking a cooking class, trying an online course outside of communications and getting a Google analytics certification.

Digital Ecosystem

Web search: I search the web as my main source of news and information. If I have a question about something, I will immediately look it up. I use Google to search for relevant news related to class topics, and often look up news during my internship. I frequent AdAge and Adweek on a daily basis. I prefer searching the web from my computer, but find myself looking at mobile websites because I am on the go.

Social media (Facebook/Twitter): I use this all the time! I’m always commuting somewhere, and Twitter is such an easy way for me to get quick snippets of news. I often scroll my Twitter feed when riding the bus to campus. I don’t tweet very much content. However, I do like following business people, my friends and news sources that interest me. For example, I follow:  Ted Talks, Fast Company Design, Forbes, E! News, Advertising Age and Freakonomics. I check Facebook more out of habit rather than as a news source. I rarely post status updates, but I do like sharing and viewing pictures of my friends.

Blogs: Since I’ve been trying to learn web analytics, I’ve been trying to read more blogs relating to digital insights. I’ve been trying to read more of Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik. I also try to browse relevant advertising blogs. I think it’s interesting when brands create blogs that are a combination of noteworthy content coupled with subtle promotions. I like reading blogs that reveal a personality about a brand or company. I contribute to my company’s blog, and often read an array of thought-provoking content posted by my coworkers.

 My typical weekday

1) Wake-up/Getting Ready for the Day.  I wake up to the sound of multiple alarms going off, and my dog is nudging me to take him outside. I never want to wake up, but I force myself to get out of bed between 7 to 7:30am each day. I try to wake up by using my phone as a source of information. First, I check my email. Then, I look at my social media feeds (Twitter and Facebook) to read local and national news. I also look at my calendar for any new event notifications applicable to my internship. There are numerous new daily calendar-meeting invites! I also check the weather to see how I should dress for work. It’s also nice to know it’s not raining before I walk outside with my dog! I definitely take in a lot of information as I’m trying to wake up and prepare for my day!

2) Internship. I’m at my computer most of the day.  I’m checking my email and calendar to stay up to date with the meetings scheduled for the week. I often browse the web, national news, entertainment activities, and community activities as they pertain to my job and client. I try to keep up with current industry trends, and send my team a weekly email with relevant articles that I’ve come across during the week. I use different databases to access advertising information for certain periods of time. I also check social media campaigns of competitors of our client, and synthesize this information for my team. I access a lot of information during this time!

3)Making dinner. I’m not much of a chef, but this gives me the chance to unwind from the day. My best friend from high school and his girlfriend now conveniently live in the same apartment complex as I do. We make dinner (also with my brother) at least once a week together. Sometimes, we’ll go grocery shopping together as we plan our meal. We swap new recipes that we’ve found online; we talk about our busy schedules, and discuss interesting news.  I usually like to talk about news pertaining to the advertising industry, and they like to discuss public affairs and financial news.  It’s an interesting information swap! We’ll have the TV on as background noise, and sometimes we’ll put on a movie.  If our dinner looks really good, one of them will snap a picture to post on Instagram or Facebook. After dinner, I usually am back on the web to start doing homework for the rest of the evening!

Blog #2: Journey Mapping

Louis is a tall slender man, starting to bald, who is approaching his late fifties.  He has a quiet disposition, but is passionate about things he cares about (his job and his kids). He has been a workaholic his whole life. Finally, in his fifties, Louis has seen the importance of exercise (as he enjoys Pilates twice a week) and tries to eat healthier (a salad whenever he can).  He has a love for the outdoors. He kayaks, sails and hikes on the weekends.  Louis spent much of his life working hard at his job to provide for his family. His career has involved only working for a handful of companies. He values education (he is an engineer and has an MBA) because he can take on leadership roles with confidence. He believes that an education is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Louis earned his Executive MBA (with a 4.0) while working full time and starting a family. He quickly learned the value of time management. He is also an optimist, and approaches every problem like he will find the best solution. He isn’t usually ruled by emotion, and is a very analytical person. Louis likes to stick to his plan, and prefers timeliness. Louis enjoys crunching numbers, creating spreadsheets to weigh the pros and cons of a decision, and reading reviews before making high involvement purchasing decisions.  Louis likes to feel like he is making the smartest decisions with his time and money. Louis dresses professionally, but is not concerned with the latest trends and fashions. He doesn’t care about what is ‘cool,’ but buys both clothing based on comfort, functionality and quality. He also tries to stay up to date with technology because of his profession, and because he considers himself a first mover in terms of both hardware and software programs. Louis has all the latest gadgets because he thinks they provide utility to his life. He sees no use for social media, and doesn’t want to take the time to understand it. He does find value when looking at online reviews and uses Yelp, Zagat, Trip Advisor, Priceline, Kayak, and Google reviews among others when planning a trip. Despite his love for a routine, Louis is still open to new experiences and adventures that enrich his life. He is always motivated to learn something new.  His children jokingly tell him that his theme song should be the Indiana Jones theme song.

In December of 2011, Louis decided he wanted to give himself and his children the ultimate Christmas gift – a family vacation.  His three kids range between the ages of 18-25.  His objective was to spend quality time to bond with his children, make memories and provide an educational experience.

The first journey milestone was inviting family to travel. Louis knew he only wanted to invite his three children because it had years since a family vacation. Louis rarely took time off from work, and since his divorce, he really wanted to prioritize being a dad. Although his children were older, he still wanted to make memories with them and be influential in their lives. Louis’s children no longer lived with him, so he made a point to communicate with his kids through email, phone calls and text (he learned for them) on a weekly basis. He wanted to invite his children on this trip to provide an educational experience for his family. He also didn’t know when else the four of them would be able to take a trip together, and Louis wanted to seize the moment.  This holiday time seemed like the perfect opportunity. It makes Louis feel good to act as a leader and provide the opportunity for his family to have new experiences.

Once his three children agreed to go on the trip in December, Louis started looking for available dates that worked with all four schedules. A main factor for making this trip happens was the availability of all four travelers. It was stressful to coordinate school and work schedules. Once the dates of December 16 to 21^st were locked in, Louis was thrilled and relieved. He was glad the schedules matched up. It is important to him to have a good relationship and make good memories with his children. With less than a month to plan, Louis began to research places within the United States. He felt that it would be more economical to stay within the United States, and there were so many places he hadn’t been. His primary influence was picking a place that the whole family could enjoy. He looked at travel sites, and top cities in the US to visit. Since it was around the holidays, Louis narrowed the choices down to snow skiing (he last took his children when they were too young to remember) or New York City (because his children had never been, and he had gone once in the third grade). He opened up the decision to his children, and New York was the top choice. Louis was excited that he could really start planning. He felt that NYC could provide an educational opportunity in terms of culture, restaurants and activities. The price for airfare also influenced selecting the destination location, and the flights to NYC were priced better than the flights to Colorado.  However, after Louis purchased the plane tickets for his family, he worried that he might have been able to find a cheaper deal. He felt like he got better prices through browsing multiple travel sites, but he also worried that better deals were always coming up. He didn’t have too long to brood over this decision, because there were more parts of the trip to book. Ever the optimist, Louis knew he would find a way to make it all work out.

After the airfare was purchased, Louis started researching hotels. He wanted to find a quality hotel in the center of the city. He also wanted a reasonable price, and he did price comparisons on sites such as Priceline, Kayak and Travelocity. Louis was trying to adhere to a budget, and assumed they would barely be in the rooms for all the activities they were planning.  Louis also wanted to pick a hotel close to the activities of the city so that they could walk to all the activities rather than rent a car. He also wanted to experience the subway system in New York and the art of hailing a taxi. Louis felt like this would add to their trip. In the end, he booked their hotel rooms at the Sheraton. He liked the convenience of the location, and the quality of the rooms. Although it was a little more expensive than he had planned, he reminded himself it was a vacation after all.

Once these details were established, Louis started inputting trip details into a TripIt app. In case the group got separated, everyone on this trip to know what activities were scheduled per day. Louis planned all the tours in advance, and even chose the restaurants prior to arriving in New York. He used online reviews to base his decisions, and wanted to maximize their time.  Since everything was planned, he thought it was help his family pack accordingly for each activity. The weather was another consideration to what clothes were packed, and for which activities were scheduled per day. For example, Louis said he scheduled the Statue of Liberty tour on the day least likely to rain.

As the trip approached, Louis and family strategically packed gloves, hats and long coats. The flight from Texas to New York went seamlessly, and Louis was happy with the travel arrangements he had made.

Since it was such a short trip, so Louis worked to incorporate activities that would be capture the essence of New York. Louis initially found Real New York Walking tours on Trip Advisor, and was influenced by the thousands of positive reviews.  Louis thought, all these people can’t be wrong; I want my family to have this much fun seeing New York. He liked the uniqueness of seeing the perspective of a “real New Yorker” rather than just getting a complete tourist experience by self-guided tours. Louis selected the tour guide Ben because he seemed to identify with his family – he had a love for food. Louis thought to himself, I’m really proud that I was able to find this; my children are going to be so surprised by this experience. Louis recounted what a great time they actually did have on this walking tour. He tried dim sum for this first time, and had a real New Yorkers’ view of the city. This activity far exceeded Louis’s expectations.

Louis had never been to a Broadway show, and his children hadn’t either. His youngest son begged to go to The Book of Mormon over Wicked, so Louis relented. The Book of Mormon had received numerous awards, and was written up as a great comedy. Although very expensive, Louis purchased the tickets to make his son happy. His children laughed hysterically at the show, but Louis felt uncomfortable during parts of it. Louis didn’t appreciate all the lewd jokes, and said it wasn’t anything he would have picked to see. He did enjoy the experience of attending a Broadway show, and he was glad his children at least enjoyed it. Louis maintained a positive outlook about the whole experience.

On the following day, Louis and his family took the ferry to an iconic US landmark. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were highlights of the trip. The Statue of Liberty was under renovation during the time, but nevertheless very impressive. Louis was overwhelmed by the history and significance of these places. So many families immigrated to the U.S. through Ellis Island, and Louis wondered if any of his relatives were among them. Louis and his youngest son were fascinated with history, and this was a highlight of the trip for them.

Since Louis and his family loved trying new food, this became a main component to the trip. They learned of more restaurants from the walking tour than had been initially selected from online reviews. Louis made it a personal mission to find the best pizza places in the city – his two sons supported and appreciated this greatly. Di Fara was a hole in the wall pizza place located in Brooklyn. Zagat, New York Magazine and New York Daily News ranked it #1 Pizzeria in NY. So, this was a restaurant the family didn’t want to miss. In order to get to this pizza place, the family had to navigate a subway from the hotel to make it to Brooklyn. Louis remembered the long trek, but it was well worth it. It was the best pizza he and his family had ever tasted. To this day, they still reminisce about Di Fara’s pizza.

Louis also took his family to Rockefeller Center, the Rockefeller Christmas tree and the American Museum of Natural History. Although he enjoyed all of these activities, he mainly spoke of the previous listed activities during our interview.

Once the New York family trip ended, it was time to pack up and head back to Texas. The family was exhausted from all the walking and sightseeing, but Louis thought it was an overall successful trip. They accomplished all the activities he had planned to see and more. After the family returned home, they shared photos from their vacation. Louis was happy that they could all share these memories.  

Blog Post #1: Empathy Map

"Megan, you're so old," is a constant remark from my youngest brother J. In fairness, I turn twenty-five this week. It seems really old when you’re a teenager – I’m five and a half years older than J. We haven’t lived in the same city since I graduated high school in 2007, but we decided to be roommates this year. It’s my final year of my master’s degree, and it’s his first year as an undergraduate transfer student. We felt that our age gap, in addition to our different personalities, would allow us to have a better relationship while still being able to lead separate. Regardless of what happens this year, we agreed to always have a love and respect for each other. It’s the perfect roommate situation, right?

Sometimes, I wish I knew what J was thinking. How do you delve into the mindset of a nineteen-year-old boy? So, I thought he is the perfect person for me to analyze when creating a persona. I included an empathy map representative of J at the end of this post. First, his profile will be revealed point by point. 

1. What does he think and feel?

J aspires to be a high achiever. He has always wanted to be a University of Texas graduate because our father completed his undergrad and MBA here. J believes in tradition.  He often wonders what he should do to do well in school.  He worked extremely hard the last year in order to transfer this year to UT from the CAP program. He reflects on this time, and feels happy to be in Austin. J is a very goal oriented person. Aside from school, he is a sports fanatic. He analyzes sports teams (Rockets and Texans specifically), and knows about all the players and game statistics. He feels very passionate and attached to his teams. He is known to wear jerseys, wigs and face paint to the games.  J is very active, and enjoys running and playing tennis. J is also really into current apps. He plays Candy Crush constantly, and is competitive with his friends as to who is at a higher level. J definitely wants to stay current with the trends.

2. What does he see?

J is influenced by what his friends think. He sees what his friends wear, how his friends talk, and the beliefs that they have. He aligns himself with friends from different backgrounds, but all seem to relate by having the same good morals. He trusts their opinions on products, classes to take and restaurants to eat at. J tries to see the best in people. He also sees things through the technological devices he owns, and he is a loyal Apple user. J’s iPhone, iPod, iPad and Macbook all provide entertainment and a source for finding information. The types of offers that J sees in the market is through the mediums he uses. Through the sports apps he uses, he sees mobile ads for sports related products and tickets.

 

3. What does he say and do?

J never looks sloppy. He might wear athletics gear to workout or to be comfortable, but he dresses very preppy going to class or social events. He has good hygiene, and has no piercings or tattoos. He is far from self absorbed, and goes out of his way to help people. For example, it was raining at school last week. J immediately called me to offer a ride home, so I wouldn’t have to take the bus in the rain. J is respectful of everyone, and values opinions different than his own. He is very accepting of other people, and appreciated living with two roommates last year that came from different background.  J is not only loyal to his friends, but is a brand loyal consumer. He demonstrates his love for Nike products through his clothing; his drink of choice is a Dr. Pepper and only uses Old Spice products.  J is also very honest if you ask for his advice.  He is the type of consumer that writes a negative review if he is unhappy with a product.

 

4. What does he hear?

J hears ESPN new all the time. He streams it on his phone, and has it on the TV whenever he can. He also listens to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report as a funny way to get the news. J is influenced mostly by his peers, and values what his friends have to say. He trusts their advice on what is “cool.”  His friends also shape J’s opinion on what are the latest greatest products, and where the fun places are to hang out. Social media influences him if it’s through the voice of his immediate friends. J doesn’t like to admit his family influences his decisions, but they also play a role in the products he purchases and the way he lives his life.

 

5. What are his pain points?

J’s biggest frustrations are currently school related. He was frustrated to have to start his college degree at a UT CAP school, but learned that his hard work paid off. It was a pain point to give up on playing a college sport in order to focus on his academics. He was able to make a 4.0, but still reflects on what his year could have been like as a college athlete. Now that he’s at UT, he’s worried about making good grades. He is still trying to figure out what he wants to do with his degree, and what career he wants upon graduating. J does not want to struggle finding a job, and wants to have a marketable degree. On a consumer level, J likes using products that he’s familiar with and sometimes fears trying new things. He is debating if he wants to study abroad during college, and he fears his Spanish skills aren’t sufficient enough to spend a semester Spain. J has a fear of failure.

 

6. What does he hope to gain?

 

 

J wants to gain a good education to set him up for future success. His G.P.A. is very important to him because he sees it as a measurement of his hard work. He is a goal-oriented person, and hopes to gain validation that his efforts were worth it. He wants the approval of others, and J hopes to get recognition for his hard work. J appreciates technology (such as his MacBook and iPhone) that make his life more easier. Ultimately, J hopes to gain respect from people. J wants to make a positive difference in the world, and always works towards self-improvement.