Week 7
Week seven began with some good news since we received an answer from the elbnb. Their email gave some interesting additional information before we started to build the prototype. We had a small conversation with the Virta contact person as well and we agreed to continue the convesation later. One spesific issue that came to light was the identification process. We had not given many thoughts to that part of the customer joyrney. However, it is very essential that the plugs are used correctly and by the right persons.
We felt ready to start building the very first version of our prototype. At this point it was clear that the prototype would be a small part of the final app, as the course staff suggested. We decided to focus first on the reservation and usage of the plugs. Furthermore, we wanted to have most of the UI ready.
Thus, on our meeting on thursday our recommended outcome was decided to be as followed:
1) Login / Register page
2) Actual Map
3) Possibility to reserve and use different plugs and see their details
4) Sidebar to demonstrate the UI and other functionalities
5) A demonstration of the payment system
On Friday we received information on the lecture about the future presentation and schedule so all the course arrangements are now very clear.
One important issue was that we should be able to build more functions on the prototype when the course continues on upcoming weeks. In addition, the app should be usable in our mobile devices so we could show it to potential users.
At this point everything seems to be just fine. Much of the analysis is done and Computer Science students seemed to be confident that we will have an awesome app. Next week is about presenting the app to the audience and testing the UI both internally and externally.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Friday, November 4, 2016
Week 6 - Value proposition canvases and presentation
Week 6
Schedule of the week
At the end of the week 6, we were asked to hold a presentation about the current state of the project. We decided to present the content as we would have been asking more funding to develop our prototype from the R&D managers. Thus, much of the week dealt with making and practicing the presentation. We divided different topics at the beginning of the week to be worked with individually.
Before our meeting on Thursday Tuomo, a member of the course staff, called our project manager Matias and gave some usufull advices considering our working structure and the whole project. He suggested us to especially concentrate on the cohesion of the text. For example he mentioned that in the different part of text we used different kinds of terms and words to describe the same thing. Since we are forced to make much of the work on our own, it is an issue we really have to consider. He also suggested Skype meetings and gave other usefull advises.
As been said, we met on Thursday and Friday morning to practice the presention. All together, it went quite well. We told the audience how we have achieved some good results. Our concept is proven to work and it has great business potential. Furthermore there are no direct competitors in Finland whereas in Sweden elbnb, a company with more or less the same concept, has been succesfull. We also told how we have moved on to the field work to figure out the necessary customer needs before building the prototype.
One problem that occurred during the investigation of customer requirements is the huge difference in techniques and plugs that are used in EV:s.
Picture 6: An illustration of the time required to charge the EV
State of the fieldwork
Considering the actual fieldwork, at the moment we have have four groups to be interviewed:
1) Potential EV owners
2) Current EV and charging plug owners
3) Companies such as Elbnb and Virta
4) Car manufacturers
We have sent e-mails to for example elbnb and car manufacturers. We have been making a questionnaire to potential and current owners of EV and charging stations and searched actively targeted consumers plus actually found some. We also have one contact from Virta. Thus, the state of the fieldwork is all right and we hope to see results on next week before starting to make to prototype based on them.
Here is a link to our questionnaire:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVea9L8cLy6XP3-XzhZKZGw9q3HeNoKaUQatqDRooCMxtUAQ/viewform?c=0&w=1
Value proposition canvases
We have been working around value proposition canvas during last couple of weeks. I thought it might be a good idea to provide a link to it here. Furthermore, we have also included our recent business model canvas to the same document.
The canvases are available in:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sn7YicEVp8jHiKhCFaiN-oSQ3neebo4puXeuhX2-2CE/edit#slide=id.p3
Feel free to check them :)
Schedule of the week
At the end of the week 6, we were asked to hold a presentation about the current state of the project. We decided to present the content as we would have been asking more funding to develop our prototype from the R&D managers. Thus, much of the week dealt with making and practicing the presentation. We divided different topics at the beginning of the week to be worked with individually.
Before our meeting on Thursday Tuomo, a member of the course staff, called our project manager Matias and gave some usufull advices considering our working structure and the whole project. He suggested us to especially concentrate on the cohesion of the text. For example he mentioned that in the different part of text we used different kinds of terms and words to describe the same thing. Since we are forced to make much of the work on our own, it is an issue we really have to consider. He also suggested Skype meetings and gave other usefull advises.
As been said, we met on Thursday and Friday morning to practice the presention. All together, it went quite well. We told the audience how we have achieved some good results. Our concept is proven to work and it has great business potential. Furthermore there are no direct competitors in Finland whereas in Sweden elbnb, a company with more or less the same concept, has been succesfull. We also told how we have moved on to the field work to figure out the necessary customer needs before building the prototype.
One problem that occurred during the investigation of customer requirements is the huge difference in techniques and plugs that are used in EV:s.
Picture 6: An illustration of the time required to charge the EV
State of the fieldwork
Considering the actual fieldwork, at the moment we have have four groups to be interviewed:
1) Potential EV owners
2) Current EV and charging plug owners
3) Companies such as Elbnb and Virta
4) Car manufacturers
We have sent e-mails to for example elbnb and car manufacturers. We have been making a questionnaire to potential and current owners of EV and charging stations and searched actively targeted consumers plus actually found some. We also have one contact from Virta. Thus, the state of the fieldwork is all right and we hope to see results on next week before starting to make to prototype based on them.
Here is a link to our questionnaire:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVea9L8cLy6XP3-XzhZKZGw9q3HeNoKaUQatqDRooCMxtUAQ/viewform?c=0&w=1
Value proposition canvases
We have been working around value proposition canvas during last couple of weeks. I thought it might be a good idea to provide a link to it here. Furthermore, we have also included our recent business model canvas to the same document.
The canvases are available in:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sn7YicEVp8jHiKhCFaiN-oSQ3neebo4puXeuhX2-2CE/edit#slide=id.p3
Feel free to check them :)
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Week 5 - Search of interviewees and information
WEEK 5
During week 5 we began to actively search for interviewees. It was more easier said than done since none of us actually knew anybody who would have own an EV straight away. Thus, the very first task was to ask if any of our closest relatives and friends would know someone. For example our parents promised that they would try to find usufull contacts in their working places.
Also, it clearly helps to keep eyes and ears open whenever and whenever considering our project. Matias met on Saturday one older IEM student, who appared to work in Virta, a startup that works with the EV plugs. His dad also gave me some helpfull information about the different EV parking spaces in Kesko's supermarkets.
As been said, we were able to find plenty of more articles related to elbnb, the Swedish startup that uses somewhat same idea than we came up with. It clearly has boosted up the amount of EV plugs in Sweden in just couple of weeks which confirms that we are in the right track. We familiarized ourselves with the core functionalities of the service and thought of how the service could be improved. Linda also sent an email to them and we look forward to get an answer from them, that would be really beneficial considering our project.
If you want to read more about elbnb, here are some usefull websites:
http://elbnb.se/
http://www.thelocal.se/20160706/airbnb-for-electric-cars-launched-in-sweden
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/07/08/swedens-elbnb-like-airbnb-ev-chargers/
We had a meeting once again on Thursday. Juuso announced that he would travel to Singapore for two weeks. He promised to start work with the "mock-up" while abroad, which could be according to him done remote. Matias and Väinö decided to hold the presentation. Otherwise everything seemed to be satisfaying and each of us could continue the work on their own. Since most of us work at least three days a week, much of the work is done remote.
As a reference for the prototype, we decided to use Uber. Uber's user interface and experience is among the best solutions.
Picture 5: Ubers user interface
We will meet once again on Thursday and on Friday the course continiues.
During week 5 we began to actively search for interviewees. It was more easier said than done since none of us actually knew anybody who would have own an EV straight away. Thus, the very first task was to ask if any of our closest relatives and friends would know someone. For example our parents promised that they would try to find usufull contacts in their working places.
Also, it clearly helps to keep eyes and ears open whenever and whenever considering our project. Matias met on Saturday one older IEM student, who appared to work in Virta, a startup that works with the EV plugs. His dad also gave me some helpfull information about the different EV parking spaces in Kesko's supermarkets.
As been said, we were able to find plenty of more articles related to elbnb, the Swedish startup that uses somewhat same idea than we came up with. It clearly has boosted up the amount of EV plugs in Sweden in just couple of weeks which confirms that we are in the right track. We familiarized ourselves with the core functionalities of the service and thought of how the service could be improved. Linda also sent an email to them and we look forward to get an answer from them, that would be really beneficial considering our project.
If you want to read more about elbnb, here are some usefull websites:
http://elbnb.se/
http://www.thelocal.se/20160706/airbnb-for-electric-cars-launched-in-sweden
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/07/08/swedens-elbnb-like-airbnb-ev-chargers/
We had a meeting once again on Thursday. Juuso announced that he would travel to Singapore for two weeks. He promised to start work with the "mock-up" while abroad, which could be according to him done remote. Matias and Väinö decided to hold the presentation. Otherwise everything seemed to be satisfaying and each of us could continue the work on their own. Since most of us work at least three days a week, much of the work is done remote.
As a reference for the prototype, we decided to use Uber. Uber's user interface and experience is among the best solutions.
Picture 5: Ubers user interface
We will meet once again on Thursday and on Friday the course continiues.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Week 4 - Defining customer requirements and existing solutions
Week 4
Once we had decided to develop our "AirBnB" solution, it was time to investigate the current solutions worldwide and start to look for possible interviewees. We wanted to find especially current EV owners, but also interview car owners who do not find owning an EV usefull at the moment. Furthermore, it was very interesting to notice that for example in Sweden, one company has launched lately a service called "ElBnb" that uses somewhat similar concept we had thought.
Picture 4: A picture of Elbnb's user interface
On Thursday we had a meeting where we discussed about the preferred outcome of the project and dealt responsibilities for next week. The meeting was very efficient and we reached agreement about the content fast.
We found four different parts of the project we have to take into account
1) Background
- Current situation of EV charging
- Problems
2) Requirements
- End users
- Customers and stakeholders
3) Solution
- Functionalities
- Value Proposition
- Business plan
- Prototype
4) Launching plan
- How to make our solution "nationwide"
Our responsibilities for week 5 were as followed:
Matias: Background study
Jani: Questionnaire for non-EV users
Linda: Elnbn and other current solutions
Väinö & Juuso: Car manufacturers
All: To find EV owners and get familiar with the topic!
We will meet propably on Thursday and find out what each of us has done during the week.
Until then, see you!
Once we had decided to develop our "AirBnB" solution, it was time to investigate the current solutions worldwide and start to look for possible interviewees. We wanted to find especially current EV owners, but also interview car owners who do not find owning an EV usefull at the moment. Furthermore, it was very interesting to notice that for example in Sweden, one company has launched lately a service called "ElBnb" that uses somewhat similar concept we had thought.
Picture 4: A picture of Elbnb's user interface
On Thursday we had a meeting where we discussed about the preferred outcome of the project and dealt responsibilities for next week. The meeting was very efficient and we reached agreement about the content fast.
We found four different parts of the project we have to take into account
1) Background
- Current situation of EV charging
- Problems
2) Requirements
- End users
- Customers and stakeholders
3) Solution
- Functionalities
- Value Proposition
- Business plan
- Prototype
4) Launching plan
- How to make our solution "nationwide"
Our responsibilities for week 5 were as followed:
Matias: Background study
Jani: Questionnaire for non-EV users
Linda: Elnbn and other current solutions
Väinö & Juuso: Car manufacturers
All: To find EV owners and get familiar with the topic!
We will meet propably on Thursday and find out what each of us has done during the week.
Until then, see you!
Friday, October 14, 2016
Week 3 - The working structure
Week 3 - The working structure
At the beginning of the week, we were eager to get our hands finally dirty and get started with the actual content. However, we quickly realised that we should structurise our work more. Luckily in terms of the course, this weeks agenda dealt with the working structure! So it was time to stop for a moment and brainstorm, what we are actually going to do and especially when. Our course staff provided the necessary questions we should answer in our working plan and we divided them between our group.
The time schedule of the course is quite strict so it definetely was a good idea to schedule rest of the course on the weekly basis. Furthermore, we were able to put other of our thoughts on the paper. It is interesting to see, if we are able to stick with the plan. At least there is some usual content for Matias as a group leader to monitor :)
Our working strucute is available for everyone in google drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7NQRBaZsxycWkZMaTFsVV80ek0/view?usp=sharing
On Friday we had a short meeting after the lectures and made plans for the next week. Unfortunately the next possible time to meet is on next Thursday. However, all the group members seem to be motivated towards our goals. As far as I concern, we understand the problem quite well. Furthermore, we now have on paper the direction we want to move on and the next steps we are willing to take.
Picture 3: Upcoming milestones
Next step is the get more actual content and begin to investigate the customer needs related to the topic (EV parking).
At the beginning of the week, we were eager to get our hands finally dirty and get started with the actual content. However, we quickly realised that we should structurise our work more. Luckily in terms of the course, this weeks agenda dealt with the working structure! So it was time to stop for a moment and brainstorm, what we are actually going to do and especially when. Our course staff provided the necessary questions we should answer in our working plan and we divided them between our group.
The time schedule of the course is quite strict so it definetely was a good idea to schedule rest of the course on the weekly basis. Furthermore, we were able to put other of our thoughts on the paper. It is interesting to see, if we are able to stick with the plan. At least there is some usual content for Matias as a group leader to monitor :)
Our working strucute is available for everyone in google drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7NQRBaZsxycWkZMaTFsVV80ek0/view?usp=sharing
On Friday we had a short meeting after the lectures and made plans for the next week. Unfortunately the next possible time to meet is on next Thursday. However, all the group members seem to be motivated towards our goals. As far as I concern, we understand the problem quite well. Furthermore, we now have on paper the direction we want to move on and the next steps we are willing to take.
Picture 3: Upcoming milestones
Next step is the get more actual content and begin to investigate the customer needs related to the topic (EV parking).
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Week 2 - Defining the objectives and direction
Since many of the stakeholders of our project appeared to prefer english, we have switched the language to English. I have also translated the description and the first blog post.
WEEK 2
Since the messy background of all kind of problems related to charging the electrical vehicles on the road had become more clear, the beginning of the week was all about defining our objectives and the direction we wanted to move on. The ultimate goal of the EU-project our substance advisors are in, is to create an user-friendly and complete ecosystem that would contain all the commercial charging poles and all the big players in a single system. However, the need for this kind of solution has been out there for quite a long time and no perfect solution have occured so far. Thus, we wanted to think a little bit differently and rely more on crowdsourcing.
The idea of an "airbnb" - liked service for electrical vehicles came to light in our meeting on Tuesday. We had investigated the current markets as group and each of us agreed there could be market potential for this kind of new service. We sent the description of our idea to the contact person Kary Främling who approved it. The first smart parking group decided to focus more on the existing situation including players like Fortum and Virta which meant both groups will have their own scope and objectives.
On Thursday we had a meeting with our contact persons Kary and Andrea, smart parking group 1 and Natalia from Forum Virium. Natalia described the current situation thoroughly and gave many great examples of similar projects. Andrea and Kary encouraged us to take also other crowdsourcing and shared-economy opportunities (like shared EV-cars) into account which our group felt usefull. We also discussed about the final solution. Could it be for example a start-up idea? Or should we concentrate on finding an universal answer how EV charging could be done?
The last part of our efficient week was the workshop with course staff and other groups. We held a small presentation and discussed about state of the project.
Picture 2: Group members in the meeting
The outcome of the week 2 was, that our objective is to find a entirely new and complete solution on EV charging, that is based on crowdsourcing and shared-economy. A preferred solution would be an app that is based on the concept we will develop.
Now it is time to get our hands dirty and get the project going - see you next week!
WEEK 2
Since the messy background of all kind of problems related to charging the electrical vehicles on the road had become more clear, the beginning of the week was all about defining our objectives and the direction we wanted to move on. The ultimate goal of the EU-project our substance advisors are in, is to create an user-friendly and complete ecosystem that would contain all the commercial charging poles and all the big players in a single system. However, the need for this kind of solution has been out there for quite a long time and no perfect solution have occured so far. Thus, we wanted to think a little bit differently and rely more on crowdsourcing.
The idea of an "airbnb" - liked service for electrical vehicles came to light in our meeting on Tuesday. We had investigated the current markets as group and each of us agreed there could be market potential for this kind of new service. We sent the description of our idea to the contact person Kary Främling who approved it. The first smart parking group decided to focus more on the existing situation including players like Fortum and Virta which meant both groups will have their own scope and objectives.
On Thursday we had a meeting with our contact persons Kary and Andrea, smart parking group 1 and Natalia from Forum Virium. Natalia described the current situation thoroughly and gave many great examples of similar projects. Andrea and Kary encouraged us to take also other crowdsourcing and shared-economy opportunities (like shared EV-cars) into account which our group felt usefull. We also discussed about the final solution. Could it be for example a start-up idea? Or should we concentrate on finding an universal answer how EV charging could be done?
The last part of our efficient week was the workshop with course staff and other groups. We held a small presentation and discussed about state of the project.
Picture 2: Group members in the meeting
The outcome of the week 2 was, that our objective is to find a entirely new and complete solution on EV charging, that is based on crowdsourcing and shared-economy. A preferred solution would be an app that is based on the concept we will develop.
Now it is time to get our hands dirty and get the project going - see you next week!
Friday, September 30, 2016
Week 1 - The journey begins
The project
Before we talk about what happaned during the first week, in our opinion it would be worth to take a quote of our project "Helsinki Smart Parking and EV Charging"
"The project consists in specifying how electrical vehicles (and their drivers) can discover and reserve compatible and free charging stations close to where they have a meeting or other appointment...
The group should identify how this kind of service would be best implemented, what kind of user interfaces are needed, how billing and payment would work with such services and who are the existing service providers and stakeholders".
Week 1
Our project was launched on the very first lecture of SCI Project course on 23.9. Before that the students had been divided into project groups based on their own interest. Before the first lecture we had more or less even no clue how other group members look like. However, after a bunch of telegram messages, we were able to find each other. After that, we noticed that our group consisted of three Computer Science (Juuso, Linda, Jani), one Information Networks (Väinö) and one Industrial Engineering and Management student (Matias) - a rather diverse collection of skills!
The rest of the Friday and basically the first week were spent getting familiar with the topic and especially defining the project carefully. For example we examined the current apps for loading Electronic Vehicles (EV:s from now on). At this point, it was not 100% clear what our client wants from our project. Thus, there was much of a discussion with the other group, that has the same topic, about the goals of the project.
Furthermore, we thought about our strengths and dealt responsibilities. Most likely the Computer Science students will work around the possible prototype while Matias and Väinö will concentrate on project management, business models and user experience.
Picture 1: Responsibilities
All together, at this point all directions are still open. We arranged a meeting with the client on 3.10. After the meeting we will probably begin to work with the project more.
The project is now launched and much more is about the come. Stay tuned!
Before we talk about what happaned during the first week, in our opinion it would be worth to take a quote of our project "Helsinki Smart Parking and EV Charging"
"The project consists in specifying how electrical vehicles (and their drivers) can discover and reserve compatible and free charging stations close to where they have a meeting or other appointment...
The group should identify how this kind of service would be best implemented, what kind of user interfaces are needed, how billing and payment would work with such services and who are the existing service providers and stakeholders".
Week 1
Our project was launched on the very first lecture of SCI Project course on 23.9. Before that the students had been divided into project groups based on their own interest. Before the first lecture we had more or less even no clue how other group members look like. However, after a bunch of telegram messages, we were able to find each other. After that, we noticed that our group consisted of three Computer Science (Juuso, Linda, Jani), one Information Networks (Väinö) and one Industrial Engineering and Management student (Matias) - a rather diverse collection of skills!
The rest of the Friday and basically the first week were spent getting familiar with the topic and especially defining the project carefully. For example we examined the current apps for loading Electronic Vehicles (EV:s from now on). At this point, it was not 100% clear what our client wants from our project. Thus, there was much of a discussion with the other group, that has the same topic, about the goals of the project.
Furthermore, we thought about our strengths and dealt responsibilities. Most likely the Computer Science students will work around the possible prototype while Matias and Väinö will concentrate on project management, business models and user experience.
Picture 1: Responsibilities
All together, at this point all directions are still open. We arranged a meeting with the client on 3.10. After the meeting we will probably begin to work with the project more.
The project is now launched and much more is about the come. Stay tuned!
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