Leadership Development Mobile app

Developing New Products and Services - Fall T2 Layi Ali-Ajibode David Darkwa Maribel Garcia Abhishek Samanta

LeadTech
The Problem:
Traditional teaching methods are limited in teaching and developing leadership traits. People learn best through active engagement and practice, not through discussions or completing assignments.

Current solutions in the market place offer very short-term engaging experiences: (LO Intensive Change Management simulation, Ethics simulation, corporate training, 360 feedback). They are one-time experiences and lack reinforcement abilities.

Potential Users
End-users
Students Managers

Buyers
Graduate & College Leadership Faculty

Leadership Consultants/Coaches
HR Departments of companies

How we validated the problem

Spoke with Darden Leadership faculty/ Corporate HR Reps
Understand pros/cons of current solutions for classes and corporate clients Understand current use of technology in solutions

Spoke with Darden students to

Validate current problem and explore other leadership concerns of theirs
Get a feel for how effectiveness of current solutions out there

Reflected on our own LO experiences and identified potential opportunities for improvement
Single period experience does little to develop long-lasting leadership skills Little room to evaluate personal leadership development over time

Leadership Development App

Our solution to the problem
A mobile app that complements the leadership development effort through real-life, engaging experiences on the end-users phone

How will it tackle current problems:

It will allow schools, colleges to inject real-life scenarios into the currently theory-heavy leadership curriculum
It is designed to run for longer periods than traditional simulations and easily mirror the Quarter, Semester or Term system Its gamification approach makes it highly engaging and more prone to daily use

It will introduce a competitive/collaborative component into the exercise via multi-player options
Solution will allow for peer feedback, instructor assessment of student performance & a rewards/penalty management system It will feature multiple, rich leadership themes using familiar simulation characters

HR Departments
Current System
Formal Classroom Setting

Add-ons: assessments, 360 feedback etc.

Downside
Expensive Effectiveness not easily measured

Employees do not take seriously

Needs
Cost effective Measurable

Integration with current systems used

Actionable exercises/Hands-on experiences- preferred by employees

MBA Students
Current System
Traditional lecture/case discussions Theme-based simulations combined with traditional course content

Downside
Discussions/lectures are largely theoretical and academic in nature

One-time simulation exercises that lack reinforcement ability

Needs
Need for retention of leadership concepts over the long-term

Need to make leadership real and engaging

What must the product do?

Functional requirements
It will be a mobile app that works on smart phones
It will feature multiple leadership themes per school/program curriculum It will deliver content through realistic scenarios and combine same or similar characters/avatars with multiple leadership themes It will have an interactive multi-player component that allows for real life simulation It will provide periodic feedback to both user and instructor on an ongoing basis Scenarios can be customized to run for the length of a customers calendar system (Term, Quarter, Semester, etc)

Non-functional requirements
It will operate on only 3 mobile platforms (for the foreseeable future): iOS, Android, Windows Phone/Symbian
Scenarios will run for no longer than 4 months It will provide an interface for integration with current leadership development programs In the very first phase, other mobile devices such as tablets and netbooks are excluded

Q&A