By Haidee Thanda, EDC Instructional Designer and Matt Di Giuseppe, EDC Computer Mediated Instructional Technologist
On the weekend of July 25, we attended Startup Weekend EDU in Montreal and it was a 54-hour adventure. The aim was to develop tech solutions to fix what is broken in our education system. Here’s what goes down at a startup weekend:
A bunch of people with different skill sets come together and form teams with the aim of solving a problem. Within 54 hours and minimal resources, attendees are asked to develop a solid business case, validate a solution, build a prototype and pitch to a panel of experts. On average, half of startup weekend’s attendees have technical or design backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds. Compared to the other groups, we were the smallest team with what seemed to be the least applicable backgrounds: a developer, two instructional designers, a bioethicist and an accountant. So when we were told “prepare your MVP for Sunday,” the majority of us were thinking “…got it, find our Most Valuable Player.” What the event organizers actually meant was Minimum Viable Product. If your curiosity is piqued, please read the blog post: Using quick prototyping to develop Massive Open Online Courses.
After 54 hours and two elimination rounds, our team won third place for our MVP – Career Catcher. Here are the three lessons we learned.
Lesson 1: Embrace the mental fog and work in spirals then lines
In a 54-hour event, the underlying idea is to make the most of your time by working on ideas quickly and systematically. At times, our entire group would have hours of discussion that resulted in no tangible outcome and more confusion. By focusing our conversation on our business model, we flushed out nearly 10 different ideas within four hours. By considering different features, competition, and “user pains” we were able to develop a comprehensive understanding of our problem and solution.
Lesson 2: Listen closely; your team is the most valuable asset you have
At an event like this you are likely to have team members that bring divergent perspectives. Although you may initially disagree or not understand, it’s important to listen and let the information simmer before responding. Members need to feel like they are contributing and that they can express themselves. The greatest solutions stem from an interdisciplinary approach.
Lesson 3: Test, build, measure, learn and test again
It’s important to validate your idea before you invest resources. Building the right solution is an iterative process and testing frequently is the key. By testing frequently you can learn what your users need and want while investing little time in going down unnecessary paths.
To learn more about the product we developed please read this article.