Generative Research

I. Close to Me- The six things that are closest to me are:

1. Islam

2. My best friend and "monkey" (nickname)

3. My sister and best friend

4. My parents

5. My cell phone

6. Entertainment media

I couldn't live without my faith because it is a guiding factor that has shaped my life. So many of my relationships with people and things have changed or been broken but my relationship with my faith and God has stayed constant, even if it goes through cycles.

Though my faith is extremely meaningful to me, entertainment media like TV shows, movies, and music are essential to my life. They provide me much needed escape from my daily life or troubles. They also make me happy and provide fun, easy activities. I usually access these with my laptop.

Though I have a complicated relationship with my parents, one where there has been a lot of tension, at the end of the day, they truly love and care for me. They have done everything to provide me such an amazing life and continue to do so. I couldn't live without them and am extremely thankful for them. I turn to them with every major decision, as much as I may want to pretend to be "grown up" and independent.

The five things that I care about are:

1. School/Education

2. My future

 3. Money and Quality of life

4. Nature

5. My three other best friends 

I drew a shooting star to symbolize my future. I also connected it to education with an arrow. I care a lot about my future, and have invested a lot in it throughout my school career with grades, internships, and more. As I prepare to graduate, my future is becoming alarmingly close. I am excited to see where I end up.

I care greatly about money and quality of life. I'm truly blessed to be where I am, and mainly it allows me to hope and dream, which I really care about. I have an easy and comfortable life, and I'm very grateful.

I'm not exactly an outdoorsy person- I can't see myself going camping every weekend- but I love nature. I care about being able to sit outside on a nice day, soak in the sun by the lake, or appreciate the gorgeous natural beauty we have around us. 

II. Digital Ecosystem- I use web search, online video, Twitter/Facebook, and more, national newspapers online, and blogs and forums to feel connected to the world. 

I primarily get most of my news/entertainment/updates from Twitter and Facebook. I get almost all my news from Twitter, or if friends link articles on Facebook. I also enjoy getting life updates from friends on those outlets and Instagram. I also stay updated with products on Wanelo.

I also use blogs and forums a lot, namely BuzzFeed and other websites like that. Several websites use gifs and memes which depict every day situations we all relate to. I enjoy visiting these.

My first venue to learn about anything is to Google it. This is why web search is what I most use. I utilize this for everything from learning about new technologies, events, activities, concepts, and more.

III. Typical Weekday- I wanted to add a few descriptions on busy points of my day here so they could be seen easier-

1. There are several bullets between my lunch and study periods. This varies based on the day- Monday and Wednesday I am in class for a large part of this time, eat quickly, and focus on trying to be productive on campus. When I come home on those days, I'm usually exhausted and don't study until later. On Tuesday and Thursday, I come home earlier and eat lunch, take a break, then study. On Fridays-weekend, I usually work and do more fun things, and study in longer periods. Shopping, hobbies, web, work, and clothing (changing) all find a place here. 

2. Another busy time is between study time and dinner. This is similar to above, it's a more flexible time that I may be studying, watching movies, catching up on E! News, using the web, and cooking. Because I don't have prior commitments, it varies daily. 

3. The rest of my day seems to be pretty evenly split in activities. In the morning I am usually getting ready, and if I have time I do some homework and watch a show. On weekends I have breakfast with my roommate and usually head to campus in this time if I am going there. The night time can be a time of heavy studying before deadlines, job applications for full time, or just relaxing and being on Facebook and watching shows. On weekends, this is a time for going out and hanging out.

David's Journey Map

I have to say- being a business major I never really expected someone to be as passionate about engineering as David is. Medium height and build with black hair, David is 20 years old, always smiling, and a great friend. He loves soccer and is minoring in French. He just came back from a soccer practice before our interview- his first of the semester. He loves being outside and is the captain of his team.

When I ask him when he first thought about his major, he stops to think for a second. His current love for his major makes it hard to pinpoint just the point when he began making this crucial decision. He settles with the summer before Freshman Year. Both of David's parents are engineers- his father Petroleum and mother, Chemical. David's family is from Colombia, and most of his relatives live there. Being far from them, his immediate family in Houston are very close. David was inspired by his parents and influenced to follow the path to Engineering. David also was influenced to this field by his 12th grade Physics teacher. David has a vibrant personality and connects to people easily. Before the interview, we were just speaking about how we like to find friends in every class, a contrast to his girl friend and one of my best friends, who likes a "break" from talking and knowing people in some classes. He is very extroverted, and it makes sense that he was influenced more by people than other factors in choosing a major.

David was admitted to UT in Petroleum Engineering. He chose this field as a temporary entry into the school. Because he was exposed to the field from his father, it was an easy choice for him. However, he did not feel very sure about it. He wanted something more broad, so that he wouldn't be limited in his future profession. He did not feel too worried about it as he knew it was easy to change majors within the Engineering school, and he was still 100% sure about Engineering. He was considering Chemical or Mechanical Engineering

His second semester of Freshman year, he took a Statics class, an Engineering class that he really enjoyed. This class specifically relates to Mechanical Engineering, and the people and material covered in this class pushed David to be 100% sure he wanted to transfer to Mechanical. For many college students, decisions don't come as easily or as strongly as they did for David. However, that's just his personality. When David likes something, he loves it. He has strong emotions and strong attachments. He likes grand gestures, and it makes him who he is and a great guy to be around. In fact, he wanted to treat Taylor (his girl friend) and I by bringing us Which Wich sandwiches while we were studying before the interview.

He officially transferred to Mechanical the first semester of his Sophomore year. That year, his classes in terms of what he learned, the professors, and his fellow students validated his decision. He was not only 100% sure in his major, but really felt passionate about it. He began his search for a summer internship by attending the career expo and communicating his passion for the field. He got an internship with a Nuclear Plant in a small town near Houston.

Though he enjoyed learning about the workings of the plant, he did wish he got to do more meaningful work in the internship. Nevertheless, it didn't reduce his passion for the field going into his Junior year. He again really enjoyed his classes with concepts, projects, and people. In particular, he loved his thermodynamics class- another major specific class. He went through the recruiting process to get another internship for the summer. This time, he opted for a company in Downtown Austin, with only 3 employees at this location. He really enjoyed himself, and was especially influenced by his mentor. He found that his mentor was very smart, and gave David work that was both meaningful but not overwhelming. He was also able to apply concepts he had learned in class. David was making a real impact in his internship.

David is now in his Senior year. He is recruiting with companies and his energy and passion for his field is sure to get him great prospects!

Blog 1: Empathy Map

9/9/2013

It’s my first blog post! Today I will be starting on an empathy map for someone dissimilar to me. I think this tool will be very useful to me as a Marketer. In my internship this summer, I had to try to imagine myself as a consumer in the retail landscape. However, the customers of the large discount retailer I interned for were extremely diverse and especially very different from me. I think developing empathy will be both essential for my future as a Marketer, and a fascinating way to understand other personalities.

For my empathy map, I chose Rameses. This is an alias..he’s not actually named after the Egyptian pharaoh. In fact, he is an electrical engineer, newly married, and a new Dad. He was born and raised in Bombay, India, and attended the University of Houston for Graduate School. He moved to the US in 2010 for his graduate schooling and got a job at Hewlett Packard after. He met his fiancé at the University of Houston. Generations in his family had arranged marriages, but his fiancé and he went back to India together to meet each other’s families and got engaged when their schooling ended. Rameses is a distant cousin of mine, but because I have no family in Texas, he is close to our family. This summer, Rameses had a son. He is extremely tiny and cute, but keeps the young couple up all night! Rameses’ wife’s, mom came to stay with the couple for a while and take care of the baby. Later this year, Rameses’s parents will visit as well. Rameses represents an immigrant whose family from now on will be Americans. He brings unique needs marketers should address in a diverse city like Houston, which attracts several immigrants.

Here’s a little more about him-

1.      What does he think and feel?

a.       From my assumptions, what counts to Rameses are religion, his family, fun activities he can still partake in as a new dad, his son, his work, providing for his family, his parents and brother

b.      Major preoccupations he has are that his son will be growing up in a different culture than he did, that his wife and he are new parents and may make mistakes, that his job may not be stable

c.       Rameses worries about the stability of his job and future of his son

d.      Rameses aspires for his son to have a good life. He also wants to be a good dad and a good provider for his family.

2.      What does he see?

a.       Rameses’ environment is in the suburbs of Houston. He sees his new house, a developing neighborhood, his job at a Hewlett Packard, his wife and child, and his parents who will be visiting soon.

b.      As a new young couple, he and his wife will be making new friends. Other couples in their neighborhood are also having newborn children, thus his friends are changing from his bachelor friends at UH.

c.       As a new dad he sees products for his newborn child. He sees the use of a good swaddling blanket. He seeks easier ways to balance his work life with being with his son.

3.      What does he say and do?

a.       Rameses’s attitude in public is polite and friendly

b.      Rameses has the appearance of a middle class young man who is starting a family. He is skinny, has short hair, clean shaven, and still wears sweatpants and t-shirts. During the week, he wears tucked in polos and jeans for work. He wears his glasses more often now as a new dad  

c.       Rameses is friendly towards others, he makes small talk with waiters and waitresses, interacts with neighbors, invites family over for dinner and occasions, skypes his family long distance regularly (in fact, he keeps an iPad open on the dining table to easily talk to them) and shares frequent pictures of his son with them

4.      What does he hear?

a.       Friends tell Rameses about new issues to think about with his new son, about their new experiences and what is happening in their lives, about how they miss their lives in school/college/graduate school (wherever they met Rameses)

b.   His bosses are much older and experienced and have advice for him as a new dad as well as input into his performance at work

c.   Influencers, like his parents and uncle (my dad- his only close family in Houston), have different inputs into the different investments Rameses should be looking into, parenting tips, what is normal for the baby, Google allows Rameses to quickly research different actions with his son, his wife influences when he goes to work/goes to lunch/comes back home

5.      What are his pain points?

a.       Rameses fears that he will not be able to instill his cultural values in his son, or find the right balance between raising his son Indian or American. 

b.   Being a new parent and not having as much time for himself and his marriage is a frustration. Not having the culture and environment he grew up with can be frustrating when he misses it. Having constant responsibility instead of days of endless video games and pizza as he did only a few years ago is a frustration. Being far away from his Mom and Dad is a frustration.  

c.   HP's seeming decline and the volatility of the technology industry is a large obstacle to Rameses being sure in the stability of his job and his future. The gap between American and Indian culture is an obstacle that he will have to face when beginning to raise his child. His values also differ greatly from generations before him as he represents a younger generation.

6.      What does he hope to gain?

a.       Rameses wants to provide a good life for his family and newborn son. He hopes to gain status and reputation in his career. He wants good friends and a good neighborhood for his son. He needs to instill good values in his son, preferably the oens he wishes to carry on from his Indian culture and faith. 

b.   Rameses measures his success at work with how his superiors evaluate him and the tangible fruits of his work. He will measure his success as a Dad with individual instances with his son.

c.   Rameses faces obstacles of challenging, time consuming work and a work environment not conducive to motivation and innovation. He does not feel passionate about his work. He will face obstacles related to having his first child, the strain having a child puts on a relationship, integrating both his cultures into his life, his marriage, his child's upbringing, and his parents and wife's parents' visits to his home. 

That's all for now! Thanks for reading.