Maryland Innovation Center (MIC)
—
The Maryland Innovation Center is an incubator and accelerator in the Baltimore area that focuses on fostering and growing entrepreneurs as opposed to only investing in ideas. The MIC came to us to help them design new programming and strategies for reaching underserved entrepreneurs in Howard County. The MIC provided us with the initial problem statement of:
How might the MIC reach historically underserved entrepreneurs in Howard County and clearly express what we provide and how to access it?
Scope
User Research, Service Design, Storytelling
Client
Maryland Innovation Center
Duration
8 Weeks
Project Objectives
Stakeholder Map
empathize
ENTREPRENEURS: Interviewed non-tech entrepreneurs including restauranteurs and a yoga instructor.
MARYLAND INNOVATION CENTER: Hosted in-depth conversations with internal MIC networks.
FIELD EXPERTS: Connected with field experts including successful entrepreneurs and those that work closely with successful entrepreneurs.
Initial Insights
EQUITABLE
FUNDING
Fair and mutually beneficial is difficult to find for non-tech entrepreneurs.
INDUSTRY SPECIFIC NEEDS
Industry specific networks are considered highly reliable and
credible.
MEETING BASELINE NEEDS
Administrative and operational needs can bog down entrepreneurs and restrict their growth.
Driving Insight
Although business owners are most passionate about their products, there are more
elements to running a business than creativity and customer care. Baseline business
needs are slipping due to lack of time, passion and knowledge of resources, not
allowing the businesses to reach their full potential.
When entrepreneurs are able to outsource certain business operations to trusted
individuals, they are able to grow and expand their businesses beyond the incubator
stage and into disruption.
The MIC Entrepreneur Current State
How might the MIC provide outlets for the entrepreneurs lacking time or knowledge to outsource baseline business needs so that they can focus on their top passions in order to grow and expand their businesses?
Ideation: Reverse Brainstorm
concept validation
The approach was validated when we did co-design session with MIC Directors, where we showcased brainstormed ideas and asked them to place them on a high/low impact and high/low effort matrix. The leading idea was perceived as a high-impact opportunity with medium effort. Based on their feedback they were also excited about pursuing this as a new initiative to the MIC.
Proposed Solutions
