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IT & Computer Science
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Designing Product, Service, or Experience. IT & Computer Science Essay

Essay Instructions:

Design a product, service or experience for you favorite subject.
List 3 objectives or Critical Success Factors for your innovation,
How important a role does IT play?
How much will customers be willing to pay, how much will you pay your suppliers, labor costs, and other contributors to this product?
What will be the industry impacts if the product scales up?
How long can you sustain success?

 

Product: myMarathon – a complete marathon training app. Although there are many fitness tracking devices and apps currently available they tend to focus primarily on workouts rather than the complete picture including stretching, recovery, nutrition and rest.  Most activity trackers do have additional lifestyle tracking features but inputting calories from each meal can be cumbersome and time consuming so I would enhance this feature by having an option to take a picture of the nutrition label or meal you are eating to input this information.  This app will also partner with a Home Meal Delivery company (Blue Apron, Fresh Direct, etc.) and have the option to sign up for customized nutrition plans based on your training needs.

List 3 objectives or Critical Success Factors for your innovation

  • User Interface
    • The user interface of an app is a major factor of success with such a saturated market.  If the interface is not easy to navigate or buggy in any way the user will not be willing to continue paying for the product.
    • Business Partnership
      • A major difference of this app compared to existing fitness apps is the partnership with a home meal delivery company.  This partnership would be mutually beneficial and so both companies would be invested in working together and the success of the app.
      • Training Program Integrity
        • The team designing the training programs will consist of professional athletic trainers, physical therapists and nutritionists.  In order for the myMarathon app to be successful the programs must be designed by professionals with expertise in their fields.  The trainers will design the workout plans, the physical therapists will be in charge of the run recovery programs and the nutritionists will focus on the food plans.

How important a role does IT play?

IT is an integral part of this product as it is a smartphone app.  It will also have the capabilities to sync with an activity tracker and link to the Meal Delivery apps seamlessly within the one interface.  If these different platforms do not work well together within the app, the product as a whole will not be successful.

How much will customers be willing to pay, how much will you pay your suppliers, labor costs, and other contributors to this product?

The app itself will be free to download with different options for a monthly subscription.  A basic subscription plan will be $50 a month – a general marathon training program ranges from 4-6 months so in total it would cost the user $200-$300.  The meal delivery service will be an add-on feature and the price will depend on how many meals per week the athlete wants to subscribe to (appx. $10 per meal).  Although the price does not seem cheap, the current marathon training programs that different organizations (including Nike and NY Road Runners) offer range in price from $400-$1,000. 

The revenue will ensure that high quality professional trainers, physical therapists and nutritionists can be paid a competitive industry rate for their expertise in developing the programs as well as providing support for the users throughout their training process.  There will be a small management analytics team responsible for the data analytics as well as decision making.  By limiting this aspect of the business to a small team of multi skilled individuals with good salaries we can hopefully alleviate the need for additional employees. The remaining labor costs will be the IT component paid at competitive industry standard rates as it is crucial to have a user friendly app and that any bugs or issues are corrected as quickly as possible. 

Regarding the partnership with the Meal Delivery services, the mutual beneficial relationship will hopefully be the incentive for them to join the myMarathon partnership.  They will receive 90% of the revenue from the add-on meal purchase price and as they will be gaining additional customers through the app, hopefully we could negotiate a discounted meal rate for our users rather than just the standard meal delivery kit costs.  There will also be bundling options – if the athlete purchases more than 10 meals per month they will receive a discounted rate.

What will be the industry impacts if the product scales up?

If the product scales up the existing fitness apps such as Nike and UnderArmor will lose a portion of their market share.  As this app will be specifically designed for long distance marathon training, it will not take over the activity tracking market but for those specifically training for a marathon hopefully they will choose to train though myMarthon rather than another generic fitness app.

How long can you sustain success?

The success of the product can be sustained long term as long as there is a positive user experience.  Customer satisfaction surveys will be emailed to users periodically (with incentives for completion such as a 5% reduction in membership fees for the next month) so management can monitor the favorable and unfavorable aspects of the apps.  Although the market is definitely limited to only marathon runners, if the program is successful and athletes think it is a worthwhile investment the success can be sustained long term.  In my own experience with training, I have found the marathon community to be very helpful with advice and willing to share tips and advice with new runners so if the initial group of users enjoy the app word of mouth advertising will definitely increase the user base and sustain the product.  While there are many athletes who only do one marathon, the main target audience will be more serious athletes who have made marathon running a part of their lifestyle long term and hopefully will continue to use the myMarathon app to support their training.

 

 

Professor：

Great idea, great comprehensive analysis of the business plan.

Add some comments about developing the system with the experts,

funding the initial system and privacy and security issues 

and you have your final essay.

Laura

 

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Designing a Product, Service, or Experience
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Designing a Product, Service, or Experience
Product: myHealthMatters – is a health app that will enable users to get prescriptions of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, advice from health professionals, and healthy lifestyle tips. The app will remind individuals that their health matters and that it should not be taken for granted. Sometimes people purchase medicines and fail to get appropriate prescriptions. When buying drugs from pharmacies or drug stores, one might not get the proper prescription. Indeed, myHealthMatters will be a smartphone app that will enable people to take pictures of medicines they have bought and receive instructions based on their health condition. Individuals will either hold a live chat or call to get the services they need from highly-qualified health professionals. The app will partner with hospitals so that severely ill patients can request for ambulance services to get immediate medical help.
Stages of System Development
The app developers will gather relevant information from customers to know what people would want. Specifically, experts will allow customers to participate in the development process to ensure that the app is designed to fulfill clients’ needs. Before the final version is launched, it will be tested numerous times to make sure it is effective and efficient.
Critical Success Factors or Objectives for Innovation
Simplicity
When coming up with a smartphone app to be used by sick people, the primary emphasis should be simplicity. The app’s button should not be congested. Overall, it should be easy to navigate, and if the user is unable to access a specific service, the support team will be available on live chat 24/7.
User Interface
The user interface is the first impression of an app. As such, it should be motivating such that the user can feel comfortable when interacting with health professionals. In that case, it should not use very bright or dull colors.
Security
When it comes to information involving people’s health, data security should be a top priority. Individuals cannot use an app when they fear that their data might be insecure. For this reason, myHealthMatters will encrypt sensitive patient information, particularly phone calls and chats. Moreover, the app will be updated regularly.
The Importance of Information Technology (IT)
IT significantly determines the success of myHealthMatters. The app will integrate with hospitals’ electronic health record (EHR) systems. However, it will not be able to retrieve patients’ details from the EHR. However, authorized health professionals will have the preference of extracting peop...
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