Acumen
Education and guidance
for new business founders
The Problem
New entrepreneurs struggle to find informative resources or mentorships leading them through the process of starting their own businesses.
Our Goal
To create an accessible solution that minimizes the learning curve many new business founders face when starting their business.
Research
Secondary Research
In 2015 there were 15 million people who were self-employed in the U.S. By the year 2020, there will be an estimated 42 million self-employed people .
Insights
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The number of people who are self-employed is significant and continues to grow
User Interviews
After exploring the rise in self employment, we knew we needed to talk to business owners firsthand. We interviewed a wide range of individuals who are previous, current, and future business owners. Our participants’ owned businesses in industries including restaurant/food, handmade goods, retail, service, and consulting. We conducted over 400 minutes of interviews which were essential to understanding the complexities of starting a business.
Insights
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When looking for answers, there are often too many resources, which make it difficult for inexperienced individuals to sort through which ones are valuable.
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Business forms are hard to find and often contain jargon making them difficult to understand
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Inexperienced business owners struggle to find a way to gauge progress
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There is no easy way to find reliable answers to specific questions
Personas
Affinitization
Affinity Mapping
Our gathered insights from extensive interviews helped us identify common problems that new business founders may encounter. We affinitized these findings and identified three key problem spaces.
Problem Spaces
Lack of industry specific resources
Current business resources are often general and do not provide advice or insights to specific industries.
Steep learning curve
Complicated jargon and scattered resources create a steep learning curve for inexperienced entrepreneurs.
Lack of individualized guidance
Meaningful mentorships are critical to success and often difficult to obtain.
Opportunity Area
No central platform exists where one can learn how to start a business via tutorials and walkthroughs, how to fund it, as well as have access to mentorships to help provide guidance along the way.
Design Solution
Acumen is an educational streamlining platform designed to provide the necessary tools and resources to potential business owners, guiding them through the early stages of starting their business.
Step by step Guidance
Acumen provides users with easy to follow step-by-step modules that guide them from their first idea to their first sale. Users can explore video courses to learn about the necessary steps for creating a successful business. After each course, Acumen prompts users with questionaires to help users solidify their ideas and suggest their next steps.
Filling Business Forms
Acumen allows users to fill out necessary registration forms directly through the app. After completion, Acumen sends the forms to the proper outlets and users receive a notification when the task is completed.
Acumen Assistant
The Acumen Assistant answers general questions such as defining jargon, and can direct users to the relevant courses within the app. The Acumen assistant can also match users with a compatible mentor to provide individualized guidance.
Mentor Connections
Mentor Chat allows users to communicate with mentors who provide essential insight and guidance. Users can have multiple mentors who may specialize in specific subjects to answer their questions and guide them along the way.
Timeframe
16 weeks
Collaborators
Leah Van Proeyen | Jordan Brown
Brogan Bunner | Will Garlen| Leigh Grier
My Role
Project Manager | UX Design