Blog 8 - Project Reflection - Due 4-Dec

Here is your final blog assignment. 

For this one, I'd like you to spend some time reflecting on the design-thinking group project that you have been working on all semester. This blog is fairly structured, so please read and consider this one before completing your blog entry. This is your last one, so enjoy it! (oh, remember that you only need to complete 6 out of the 8 total)

First Paragraph

Pick one main idea, core concept, topic, or skill (or a combined set of any of those) from this course that you believe you understand better as a result of working on this group project. Describe what it is and give a specific example of how the project helped you gain a better understanding of it.

Second Paragraph

Pick another main idea, core concept, topic, or skill (or a combined set of any of those) from this course that you believe you understand better as a result of working on this group project. As above, describe what it is and give a specific example of how the project helped you gain a better understanding of it.

Third Paragraph

What part of the project was not useful or do you feel like was not of value in working on this group project. As above, describe as best you can and provide specific examples.

Fourth Paragraph

Lastly, describe the emotional reactions you had along the way as you worked on this project. Reflect on the experiences you had with your teammates, the instructor (me), and the process of the project. Do you feel like working with your group contributed to your learning and/or enjoyment of this material? Explain why or why not.

Blog 7 - Ethics of Insights - Due 11-Nov

For this one, I'd like for you to think seriously about the ethics of what we do in marketing to gain insights about people that we then hope to use to influence them to buy/use our products and services (or buy/use them more often).  Living in a world of big data and creating opportunities to capture key insights in more qualitative approaches, we are always attempting to pull in more and more data about people and more and more of that data is becoming more personal and, often, more sensitive in nature.

So, is there or should there be some limit to all of our efforts or is all of this just fair game in the pursuit of a free and more effective marketplace, placing the burden of responsibility on the people who end up providing their information through one means or another (either answer surveys, using social platforms, shopping in our stores or online, etc)?

There are several articles assigned for you to read on this topic and there have certainly been numerous other recent articles on the topic (especially around big data and social media). 

For this blog, please pay attention (again) to the guidelines in the syllabus and at the top right of this class blog page.  I'd like to see your ability to present, discuss, and, support/refute various perspectives on this topic, while also writing about your own experiences as a person in the marketplace and incorporating the articles mentioned previously (either those I have assigned or others you have read).  There should be plenty of material here for you to write quite a bit. 

Have fun with it, although think seriously about this topic.