Sia, Avni and Mudit became friends because all three of them enjoyed creating new things and finding solutions to others’ problems. All the other students used to call their group ‘Magnetic Minds’. During their summer vacation, they worked on the idea of an app to help children manage pocket money. They called the app- ‘Piggy Banker’.
They shared the idea with their class teacher, Mrs. Kapoor. Mrs. Kapoor really liked the idea of the app, but she suggested that any idea, product or project is incomplete without its evaluation. Evaluation will tell you the importance, requirement and value of your idea. The kids understood their teacher’s suggestion, but didn’t know how to evaluate their app- ‘Piggy Banker’.
Mrs. Kapoor helped them to answer the following questions when evaluating any idea, product or a project:
- Understand User Needs: The first step to evaluate any product idea is to understand what your user’s needs are and if your product is helping them fulfil that need.
- Addressing User Needs: The next step is to address the user’s needs. If you want to build an app that helps kids then make sure it is for them, i.e., it is easy and simple to use.
- Proactive Collaboration: Sia, Avni and Mudit did collective brainstorming which encourages problem-solving and highlights the importance of teamwork.
- Visual Idea Mapping: Mrs. Kapoor then suggested they use a big poster to help them organize their ideas clearly.
- Engagement with Feedback: Feedback is a very important aspect of evaluation. The ‘Magnetic Minds’ should be open to feedback from their users, which are kids and apply that feedback to their app.
- Openness to Questions: Mrs. Kapoor suggested they present their idea to the principal. But before going ahead, make sure you are open to answering various questions and asking questions, if required.
On presentation day, the Magnetic Minds were confident to answer any question because they had critically evaluated the usage of their app. When the group introduced- ‘Piggy Banker’, the principal asked, “Why did you choose to invent such an app?”
Instead of panicking, the group smiled and Sia said, “Great question, Sir! Let’s explore it together!”
The principal leaned in, curious. Avni opened the poster on which they had brainstormed their idea. Then she said, “We had one question in mind, and we wanted to answer it, which was- ‘How can we help kids with less money?’”
Then Mudit explained, “We found out that kids might have less money, but to understand that less amount is enough for their expenses, they should be tracking them, they should be saving some money. And they could also learn budgeting with this. So that’s why we wanted to build an app.”
A week later, Magnetic Minds received the news that the principal was so impressed with their idea that they decided to give them funds to develop the app. The Magnet Minds jumped for joy, realizing that teamwork and critical thinking made all the difference.
