So far, the evaluate phase has been the most challenging for me. I think part of it was the need to balance openly getting feedback over trying to defend (what I thought was) a good idea. I’m a big proponent of falling in love with the problem and not the solution, but it is easier to say than actually do. I think another part of my frustrations is also coming from the issue of making this profitable, or at least not hurting the bottom line: we got the most feedback on wondering why people from Delta would even support the sustainability rewards program.My take (and what I pitched) is probably a bit too idealistic: if we want things to change, we all have to change behaviors, and even a company like Delta who has to make a profit can make big changes that, yes, might be a small sacrifice monetarily (or not, we don’t know), but in my opinion worth it. It is frustrating as a consumer, not even to mention as a student in this class, to hear from others that this might not be a sacrifice they are ready to make.
Still, it’s important to think about feasibility and maybe the world or the airline industry isn’t ready yet for something that might lose them money by having people fly less. The direction we plan on going in takes this feedback into consideration. People loved the community days and earning miles in a way that is not only unrelated to flying, but that also helps their community. This looks good for Delta as well, and sounds a whole lot like something they would put in their corporate responsibility report. We are going to switch focus away from the harder-on-Delta and flesh out more of our incentives that benefit the flyer as well as Delta in a more obvious way. It’s also important to pivot and to meet halfway; I’d rather start off more idealistic than start off too mild and then try and get more idealistic based on feedback. I’m also proud of my team for coming to realize this, and for taking actions to pivot a bit and (hopefully) get some more feedback that before our final presentation.
However, I love feedback grids and have made them the primary way I collect feedback for a number things for about a year now. I loved filling them out as I discussed projects with my classmates, and it helps sort through the most relevant information. Than if you asked “what do you think?” Pitch day was fun because I got to see what everyone else has been working on, and it was useful to hear from some EP’s who actually resonated with our main persona and our idea.