Assessment 1: Portfolio of Users and Their Features
Individual Assignment; report
Scenarios/Industries: 7 options, presented by Liquid Interactive during the lecture in Week 1 (see
list below).
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Background:
In this assignment, you will select one of the 7 scenarios/industries presented by Liquid Interactive in
week 1 and conduct an analysis, aimed at identifying and describing a portfolio of users and their
features in such scenario.
Each scenario illustrates current trends experienced in a business/social context, with particular
reference to a specific industry. As a designer, you will need to identify end-users who are experiencing
challenges, or for which there are opportunities, worth addressing in that same scenario. Following a
design-led approach, you will need to ‘put yourself’ in the shoes of the identified end-users, to collect
as much as information as possible about them and build empathy with them. This will allow you to
truly understand what their ‘pains’ and ‘gains’ are. This will be the first, fundamental step for you to
find ways to alleviate those pains and magnify those gains, i.e., designing innovative products/services
for the benefit of your end-users.
Keep in mind, though: Assessment 1 does not require you to ideate products/services. You will do just
that in Assessment 2. In Assessment 1, you will stop at the ‘data gathering about users’ needs’ stage.
What you will need to do:
In your work, you will need to provide a critical, synthetic overview of the scenario and its associated
industry, identify at least 3 categories of users that you consider relevant to that scenario/industry and,
using the DT tools and techniques learnt in EIBS7300, unpack the most important features of those
categories of users: Pains and gains, ‘ups’, ‘downs’, needs, problems, opportunities, personal attitudes,
pain-points, feelings, ‘jobs to be done’, etc.
It is essential for you to utilise primary and secondary information sources to build an understanding
of, and ultimately empathy with, your identified end-users. Primary information sources include
qualitative (e.g., go and interview end-users), quantitative (e.g., run a survey to extract descriptive
statistics of a phenomenon) or a quali-quantitative data collection methods (e.g., run an online
questionnaire and register respondents’ answers). Secondary information sources include academic
(e.g., research papers on the industry/scenario and/or the end-users) and grey literature (e.g., consulting
reports on the same aspects), statistics websites, online fora, information publicly available on social
media, etc., etc.
There are no requirements in terms of how much primary and/or secondary information you create or
utilise. Keep in mind, however, that a good designer always interacts directly with their end-users;
purely relying on secondary information sources can greatly jeopardize a designer’s ability to build
empathy.
Finally, you will select, among the 3 categories of users you analysed and built empathy with, the most
relevant one, that is to say, the one category of users that should be addressed as a priority through a
design-led approach aimed at creating new services or products/improving existing services or products,
for them. It might be useful to think of that category of users as the final customers of the product/service you will ultimately build for them.
Structure of your work:
The following offers an indication of how you should structure your work:
Part A) Scenario analysis:
Start your work by providing a high-level analysis of the selected scenario/industry. Examine recent
and current trends, main challenges, key-players, emerging products/services, etc. Conduct research
and support your analysis with solid evidence. Use the selected scenario as a starting point and expand
your work to include different sources. This analysis will be fundamental for you to be able to identify
appropriate categories of end-users: the more you know about your scenario and its associated issues,
the easier will be for you to ‘find’ people to assist.
Part B) Portfolio of users and features:
The core component of the assignment requires you to identify at least three relevant categories of
users (current and/or potential) in the selected scenario/industry. Based on your understanding of the
scenario/industry, provide a detailed description of such users and their features: who are they, what are
their intrinsic characteristics, what are their needs, what are their pain-points, what opportunities do
they see in operating in that scenario/industry, what are they trying to achieve by using the products and
services offered in that scenario/industry, what ‘jobs’ do they need to get done, what are their ‘moments
of truth’, etc. Apply the tools and techniques learnt in EIBS7300 and gather real-world data about the
users: use online reviews, administer surveys, conduct interviews, build journey maps, etc.
Conclude your work by identifying the category of users that you think should be the priority target of
innovative solutions/products and justify your selection. To guide you in your selection, you can for
example consider elements such as how compelling the issues that those end-users are facing are; how
many end-users are there (e.g., if there are not many of them, it would be challenging to justify designled efforts to solve their problems); how ‘important’ are those end-users in the given scenario/industry;
and, associated with the reasons above, how sustainable would it be for a someone to build a business
that has those end-users as customers. After all, DT is about three things: meeting end-users’ needs,
whilst maintain economic viability, with the possibility of leveraging technology in doing so.
What tools can you use:
As for the scenario analysis, feel free to utilise the tools and techniques that you deem most appropriate.
As for the Portfolio of users and their features, make sure you select the appropriate DT tools and
techniques and demonstrate you can use them effectively. Indicatively, any of the tools/techniques
presented between week 01 and week 05 of the course can be utilised. Also, ensure you support your
findings with solid evidence (qualitative: industry and academic sources, interviews; etc.; and
quantitative: surveys, statistics, etc.).
Contents of your report:
a) Title page, containing the following (excluded from page count):
– Course title
– Assessment title
– Date
– Your name
– Student number
– Selected scenario
b) Scenario/industry analysis
c) Portfolio of users and features:
– At least three categories of users
– Use any relevant DT tool and technique, and corresponding theories, to unpack user categories
and their features
Conclude your report with an indication of what category of users you believe is the most
relevant to ‘address’, and explain why
d) Reference list (excluded from page count):
– Reference style at your choice, as long as you use it consistently
– Remember to always use a reference when you may have drawn on certain information sources
to justify your statements, arguments, findings, or when you draw graphics (e.g., figures,
illustrations, tables, diagrams, etc.) from other sources (i.e., you haven’t created them yourself).
References can include journal articles, online reviews, industry reports, statistics, websites,
etc. Every reference needs to include in-text citations
e) Appendices (excluded from page count)
– Optional
– Here you can add additional material, information, data, etc. that you could not fit in the main
body; as a rule of thumb, the Appendices should only contain supplementary information, and
not essential components of your report
SCENARIOS/INDUSTRIES OPTIONS (7)
Presented by Liquid Interactive in Week 1
Select one of the following scenarios for your Assessment 1.
Option 1
Industry: HIGHER EDUCATION (HE)
Scenario: The growth of the HE industry in the last 20+ years has been exponential. According to the
World Bank, the number of students in HE institutions has increased from 89 million in 1998 to 200
million in 20171
. Demand for HE services is increasing worldwide and pressure on HE institutions is
mounting. Such institutions have moved from being simple deliverers of education, to become providers
of a broad set of services for their students: from accommodation to job placement; from food &
beverage to entertainment; from sports to some financial services, etc. To keep up with our rapidly
changing society, and adapt to global scale phenomena (e.g., the pandemic), universities and other
tertiary institutions had to become more creative also in terms of the channels they utilise to deliver
such services: online education, digital libraries, virtual job fairs, but also smart payment systems,
customised enrolment options, ‘freemium’ subscription services, etc. are nowadays commonplace in
HE institutions. At the same time, the word ‘students’ has come to encompass a much wider spread of
individuals: age groups, employment status, country of provenance, professional and personal goals,
etc. all contribute to create a highly differentiated mix of users, with their specific features, needs,
opportunities, painpoints, personal attitudes, feelings, etc. Besides students, academics have a growing
voice in what services universities should deliver and how: far from being considered simple ‘executors’
of teaching programs, academics have seen their roles within universities diversify further, in an attempt
to bring them ‘out of the Ivory Tower’ and enhance the impact of their work on societies. Orchestrating
the work of academics to meet students’ and broader stakeholder groups’ requirements (e.g., local
communities, government organisations, society in general), universities are facing important
innovation challenges.
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: STUDENTS, ACADEMICS, LOCAL COMMUNITIES
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Option 2
Industry: FINANCIAL SERVICES/ONLINE TRADING PLATFORMS
Scenario: The pervasiveness of digital technologies has attracted to the market of financial services a
wealth of new investors that have aptly been named online investors. This has created an entirely new market of financial products and services, including, among others, online brokerage, cryptocurrencies,
trading apps, and other digital share trading platforms. Most recently, US-based, digital financial
services provider Robinhood has claimed to be “on a mission to democratize finance for all”2
. Besides
the convenience of being able to invest money with a couple of taps on their mobile phones, users of
these services are attracted by opportunities such as lower fees, educational services, investments in
sustainable and environmentally friendly businesses, etc. Besides the traditional challenges represented
by global economic trends and financial risks, this market faces context-specific issues such as, for
example cybersecurity, an evolving legislative context, and more traditional financial risks, the latter of
which can be easily misinterpreted by end-users due to the apparent easiness of use of modern microinvestment platforms3
.
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: ONLINE INVESTORS, BROKERS
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Option 3
Industry: CYBERSECURITY
Scenario: According to IBM, the average total cost of a data breach has increased to 4.35 million USD
in 2022, setting a record high, at a 2.6% increase compared to the previous year4
. In Australia alone,
during the FY 2021/2022, the Australian Cyber Security Centre has received 76,000 reports for cybercrimes, a nearly 13% increase from the previous FY5
. Towards the end of 2022, some of these attacks
have involved well-known brands (e.g., Optus6
, Medibank7
). Ransomware attacks, cyber-breaches to
critical infrastructures, and geopolitical dynamics (e.g., the conflict in Ukraine) have characterized the
global cybersecurity scenario in 20228
. Several are the reasons behind successful cyber-attacks
perpetrated to organisations as well as individuals: cybersecurity appears to be a complicated domain
for non-experts; digital technologies have increased the number of digital touchpoints for end-users;
Covid-19 and the post-pandemic world have increased the number of online interactions and purchases
of goods and services; and a general sense of ‘it won’t happen to me’ often making individuals feel
over-confident towards their usage of digital technologies (e.g., sharing passwords, using insecure
passwords, etc.).
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: ALL END-USERS OF ONLINE SERVICES, SMEs
Option 4
2 https://robinhood.com/us/en/support/articles/our-mission/
3 https://www.9news.com.au/finance/micro-investing-platforms-advantages-disadvantages-explainedexperts-warn-financial-risk/a9030e98-75e0-4ce2-9b28-6448fb39c47e
4 https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/3R8N1DZJ
5 https://www.cyber.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/ACSC-Annual-Cyber-Threat-Report-2022.pdf 6 https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2022/09/optus-notifies-customers-ofcyberattack
7 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-16/ahm-quote-customers-caught-in-medibank-databreach/101858300
8 https://www.cyber.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/ACSC-Annual-Cyber-Threat-Report-2022.pdf
Industry: SUPPORT SERVICES FOR FORCIBLY DISPLACED PEOPLE
Scenario: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines forced displacement
as a displacement of individuals “as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence or human
rights violations”9
. From 2010 to 2020, the number of forcibly displaced individuals worldwide has
doubled, from more than 40 million to the current 82.4 million. These individuals experience traumatic
circumstances, many of them being separated from the families, leaving their lives behind to start a new
journey in a different country. Besides the psychological trauma entailed by this dramatic experience,
they need to rapidly re-adjust to a new life, find a house, a job, a new network of acquaintances and
friends, whilst maintaining, where possible, contacts with the home country. Despite the restrictions to
mobility imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of refugees, asylum seekers, etc. worldwide
has steadily increased. The situation was exacerbated by large-scale conflicts, especially in the African
and European continents, which contributed to the steady increase in the number of displaced people.
Climate change is also considered a contributing factor. On the recipient side, governments, not-forprofit organisations, and private companies are multiplying their efforts to provide support services for
forcibly displaced people and make these interventions sustainable from both an economic and
environmental viewpoint.
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: FORCIBLY DISPLACED PEOPLE, OPERATORS
WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY
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Option 5
Industry: MINING
Scenario: An industry under constant scrutiny and a lot of pressure from different stakeholders, mining
has nonetheless recorded incredible financial results in 2021. The 40 top miners across the world
recorded an increase in revenue of 32% and in net profits of 127%. Given the current focus on achieving
net zero emission and the present energy transition, demand worldwide for critical minerals is surging
(such minerals are utilized for low-emission energy: lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite for energy
storage; copper and aluminum for energy transmission; and silicon, uranium and rare earth elements for
solar, wind and nuclear energy generation)
10. At the same time, mining is under constant spotlight in
terms of its ability to maintain stakeholders’ expectations on sustainability. Environmental (e.g., adverse
effects of mining activities) and social challenges (e.g., the impact that mining has on local
communities) are multiplying and miners cannot adopt a shareholder-focused approach to their
businesses anymore. Against this backdrop, mining companies are exploring new avenues to improve
their reputation, corroborate their social license to operate and, in short, innovate responsibly.
9 https://www.unhcr.org/556725e69.html
10 https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/energy-utilities-mining/assets/global_mine_report_2022.pdf
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: BROAD STAKEHOLDER GROUPS AFFECTED BY
MINING OPERATIONS, SOCIETY IN GENERAL
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Option 6
Industry: RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET
Scenario: The global value of residential real estate has seen a growth by 8% in 2020, to some $258.5
trillion. Residential real estate is by far the world’s most significant store of wealth, more valuable than
all global equities and securities combined, and nearly four times the value of the worldwide GDP11. In
this scenario, the lion’s share is taken by China, which holds 30% of the global residential real estate
market value. In the Asian country, the value of residential real estate grew by 13% in 2020, thanks to
an increase in supply and in prices as well. Despite the economic pressures caused by the Covid-19
pandemic, the residential housing market held very well, with house pricing soaring in 60 countries
including, among others, Canada, Russia, Germany, the US, France, Brazil, China, and Australia.
Factors such as generally low interest rates, ad hoc government policies, and greater flexibility on workfrom-home practices by employers have contributed to this phenomenon12. In some countries, and large
metropolitan cities in particular, the rush to buy a house has been described as a ‘feeding frenzy’ or
‘housing madness’13. Yet, things have started to change, in some countries, in particular towards the
second part of 2022 and 2023 looks like it might be a different story altogether14. To respond to
significantly high inflation, several central banks have increased interest rates on multiple occasions.
The net result is an increase in monthly mortgage repayments and a decrease in buyers’ confidence.
This has resulted in a decrease in house prices which will likely continue through 2023. In Australia,
for example, the Reserve Bank has increased interest rates on eight occasions in 2022, ultimately
resulting in a 3.2% fall in house prices over the year to November15. The 2023 scenario will present
new challenges for home-buyers and home-owners alike.
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: HOME-BUYERS, HOME-OWNERS, REAL ESTATE
AGENTS
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Option 7
11 https://www.savills.com/impacts/market-trends/the-total-value-of-global-real-estate.html 12 https://blogs.imf.org/2021/10/18/housing-prices-continue-to-soar-in-many-countries-around-the-world/ 13 https://www.realestate.com.au/news/australias-housing-madness-hits-new-highs-as-properties-sell-atrecord-speeds/ 1414 https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/01/14/will-2023-be-a-good-year-for-the-real-estate-market-in-the-usaand-globally/ 15 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-28/australia-s-housing-market-a-year-in-review/101776846
Industry: TRANSPORT/AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC
Scenario: After constantly growing since 2008 (2.208 billion), to reach 4.397 billion passengers
worldwide in 201916, worldwide air traffic has experienced an unprecedented decrease as a result of the
pandemic. The number of passengers on flights around the world dropped to 1.8 billion in 2020, a 60%
loss in global air passenger traffic17. The pandemic has halted an upwards trend which, in the last couple
of decades, had seen a costant increase in the number and typology of travelling public. The advent of
low-cost carriers, who made air travel an affordable option and started serving regional and less
accessible airports; globalisation and socio-economic trends; and the affordances of digital
technologies, which made booking air tickets an easy and convenient process are only a few examples
of the factors that led to the increase in air traffic around the globe. Similar to what happened in other
industries, the players in this market (e.g., airlines, airports and retailers) have started offering ancillary
services on top of their core businesses, to satisfy a clientele which is more and more exigent, especially
in a post-pandemic world. In this sense, despite quickly recovering their pre-pandemic revenue levels
and achieving profitability, airlines are expecting thin profits for 2023, due to high fuel costs,
widespread inflation, and ongoing service disruptions to the industry and its supply chain.
Broad end-users’ groups to possibly consider: TRAVELLERS, AIRPORT/AIRLINE OPERATORS