MY ROLE
Ethnographic Researcher
Service Designer
Storyteller
TEAM SIZE
2 Members
8 Partners
TIMELINE
January 2022-
March 2022
LOCATION
Howard Country, MD
What is the MIC?
The MIC is a unique human-centered incubator and accelerator for entrepreneurs focused on disrupting their industries.
The MIC's priority is to focus on developing the person behind the innovation, not just the business.
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Check them out here!
Challenge Area
Due to COVID-19, the MIC was struggling to attract new members due to their limited community reach.
Without a proven increase in membership, they were at risk of losing their state funding.
How might the MIC reach historically underserved entrepreneurs in Howard County, clearly express what they provide, and how to access it?
User Research
To understand the full scope of the problem, we familiarized ourselves with the existing membership structures, and identified areas of strengths, weakness, opportunity gaps, and the roles of various stakeholders. We interviewed primary stakeholders, such as entrepreneurs at the MIC, entrepreneurs outside the MIC, MIC employees, industry experts, and secondary sources.
Through the use of interviews, focus groups, and co-creation sessions (creating a priority matrix), we were able to collect significant data on users' priorities and experiences.
What Entrepreneurs Said
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"If you find the right person who understands what I am going through, it would be nice to have a person to realte to those challenges"
Findings & Insights
Gap Analysis - The 5 Why's - Personas - Journey Maps - Insight Generation
Themes
Gap Analysis
Overwhelmed
Entrepreneurs
are the sole
decision makers
Rely on References
Entrepreneurs
follow advice
of trusted sources
Juggling
Entrepreneurs wear a variety
of different hats
The 5 Why's
Insight Generation
Isolated
Entrepreneurs are hesitant to join an incubator.
Fear
Entrepreneurs fear giving up equity in their company.
Selfless
Entrepreneurs prioritize their business needs
The Key Insight
Local entrepreneurs do not identify with incubators and want support and guidance from like-minded mentors. There was a lack of alignment with the services being offered and the members’ needs and interests
Problem Reframe
The MIC will need to widen the net of potential disruptors, individualize incentives by industry, and establish a feedback loop.
Personas & Journey Maps
Our interviews and research led us to develop two future state personas and journey maps.
We drafted their goals, challenges, ambitions, and experiences.
These sample journeys are an industry example, the food industry, to communicate the process in that future members might go through to improve their experience.
The Accelerator: An experienced entrepreneur read to mentor
The Disruptor: An up-and-coming entrepreneur ready to learn and grow
New Program Pitch Video
New Circle Member Ecosystem
By leveraging what the MIC is already good at (creating connections, open to learning, focus on the person, take risks, and provide access to capital ), there is a great opportunity to build a shared understanding across stakeholders
Impact & Value
A year after implementing these strategies, the MIC doubled its membership by adding 60 new members, increased its mentors and partnerships with 20 new mentors and partnerships, provided better marketing materials and pitches during events and workshops, conducted follow-up surveys after events to modify offerings based on demand, expanded their language offerings, and introduced onsite classes for non-profit members, all based on their recommendations with 5 different levels of membership.
