I am not sure this is the right way to begin this article but well if it is going to be a long read, it better not be boring. Right! After a very careful process of selection, I made it into IFA with thirty-eight other amazing fellows.
Innovate for Africa(IFA) is a hub that basically identifies, trains, and matches African aspiring innovators with startups where they get to intern. That is, as an IFA fellow, I get to learn by doing and not only in the one-month Innovation Readiness Training but also in a real workplace for the rest of the one-year program. Also, very interesting is the fact that this internship is not without pay. I know right! This hub is a solution to the problem of most Nigerian youth as I got to find out similar pain points during my design thinking hackathon project where my team chose to work on career development. By the way, the design thinking classes are always the most interactive as we collaborate intensely, literally think on our feet, and get embodied with the five IFA values: innovation, collaboration, grit, growth mindset and inclusivity and diversity.
A problem statement which defines the real problem you want to solve should be gathered from the target audience. Although in the beginning, assumptions are made to be able to kickstart in a particular direction. The problem statement for my team initially read thus: "Youth need ways to land great jobs but they lack in-demand digital skills". However, during our primary market research(PMR) we realized that while some youth are in need of industry skills, the majority are skilled howbeit self-taught, and are looking for entry roles that are not readily available as most companies require some years of experience. To get these pain-points, we conducted qualitative market research in form of interviews where we asked open-ended questions like : "What are you currently engaged in?"
"What is your dream career/place of work/company?"
"What skills do you need to achieve this career path?"
"What steps have you taken towards achieving your set goals?"
"What challenges/ difficulties have you faced trying to reach your career goals?"
Asking these questions which is the first step in the design thinking process, helped us redefine our problem statement and immerse ourselves in the situation of our users rather than assume. Now that the flakes have fallen off our eyes through design thinking, we now have a real problem to solve through ideation. Thank you for reading and please do leave a comment.