Do you feel that your product has met the goals you set at the start of the process?

I believe our product surpassed the initial goals we set at the beginning. Each team member went above and beyond in their respective areas, exceeding expectations. For instance, we not only created a logo, but also developed packaging that perfectly complemented our product. Furthermore, our exploration of recipes options went beyond just three types which was the original plan, as we delved into a wide variety of possibilities before carefully narrowing it down to the final three. This approach and dedication from each team member ensured that we covered all aspects of our product and achieved results that exceeded our original aspirations.

• Did design choices still fit your target audience? – The design choices we made effectively appealed to half of our target audience. However, we only make the product (packaging and logo) in one language english, excluding the Asian/Chinese population that we initially intended to cater to. It would have been more advantageous to create a logo and packaging that incorporated multiple languages, expanding our potential customer base and enabling us to sell our product in a broader range of locations. This approach would have not only increased our profitability but also provided us with a larger and more diverse audience.
• What would you do if you had more time or resources? – I had a strong desire to introduce a third flavor, cookies and cream, which was recommended by our audience. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were unable to create and experiment with it. However, I also believe there is potential in refining and improving our existing two flavors as well. This commitment to continuous improvement is crucial in ensuring that our product reaches its full potential. Additionally, with more resources at our disposal, I would have liked to expand our survey to a wider range of people, enabling us to gain a deeper understanding of our target audience and their preferences. This would have provided valuable insights to further enhance our product and better cater to the needs and desires of our customers.

How would you evaluate your contributions to the team? Anything you would like to work on in terms of team work?

I think I contributed to the team ensuring that I completed all the tasks given to me to the best of my abilities. I also maintained communication with my team members, keeping them updated on the progress and actively engaging in discussions throughout the process. Furthermore, I made a conscious effort to regularly check in on their tasks, offering help whenever needed to ensure the smooth progression of our collective efforts. While our team maintained a good level of communication, I acknowledge that I could have taken the initiative to reach out sooner and ensure that we were working cohesively as a unit rather than individually. By initiating contact consistently throughout the project, we could have potentially improved our collaboration and productivity. I understand the importance of actively seeking opportunities for teamwork and will strive to improve my proactive communication skills in future projects.

What progress has your team made so far? Have any new ideas, questions or challenges arisen from this work?

In our team, we have been actively involved in finance and packaging aspects. To gain further clarity, I conducted a survey aimed at refining our flavor selection and gathering public opinions on pricing, names, and packaging. Thanks to the survey, a new flavor suggestion (cookies and cream) came to light, which we have now chosen to be one of our three flavors. These flavors include Chocolate+Peanut Butter, Cookies and Cream, and Pizza. One of the challenges we faced was the restricted diversity of participants in the survey. Unfortunately, the printer malfunctioned, which significantly limited the number of surveys we were able to produce. As a result, we missed out on the opportunity to gather insights from a wider range of our audience, thus limiting our understanding of our entire target audience.

What progress have you and your group made on collecting data?

To gather valuable insights, I designed a survey seen directly bellow. The survey contained a range of questions, including preferences for dumpling flavors, preferred purchasing locations, desired names, pricing considerations, and packaging color preferences. To ensure unbiased responses, the surveys were individually distributed to classmates, allowing for privacy and minimizing potential peer pressure influence. The test was done at their own desk allowing for a comfortable environment, in 5-10 minutes. After completing the survey, participants returned it to either myself or one of my teammates for recording.

In hindsight, we recognize the importance of obtaining opinions from multiple age groups, which would have provided a broader perspective. It would have been beneficial to extend the survey to a diverse range of individuals, covering various age demographics. This approach would have offered us a more comprehensive understanding of our target audience as stated above as well, allowing us to better the product for our whole target audience.

This was the survey handed out (in paper format). Due to blurry image questions will be restated bellow

Would you eat a dessert dumpling? (yes or no)

If so what flavor would you choose? (Chocolate, Chocolate+Peanut Butter, Chocolate+Nut, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter+Nut, Nut+Chocolate, Wild Berry, Cheese, Pizza)

What other flavors would you want to see? (open ended question)

Where would you want to purchase this? (Super market (frozen), Restaurant served hot, old independently (store dedicated to this alone) )

Which Name do you like the most? (Dessert Dumpling, Blissful Bite Delights, Suggest one (optional):)

How much are you willing to pay? (open ended question)

How many would you want per box or order?(open ended question)

What color do you think of when you hear dumplings? (blue, purple, green, white,  orange, pink, grey, brown, yellow, red, black, violet)

Have you worked on visual or financial modeling? If so, provide some insight into those processes.

Financial Modeling 

To ensure profitability and establish a suitable price for our product, we conducted a detailed calculation of manufacturing costs. This involved determining the grams of each ingredient needed per dumpling and calculating the corresponding ingredient costs. By summing up these costs, we arrived at the final cost per dumpling for each flavor. After careful analysis, we found that the chocolate+peanut butter dumpling incurred the highest production cost, being 0.82 RMB. This cost serves as the basis for our final pricing and profit considerations.

In addition to ingredient costs, we must also account for packaging expenses. Considering mass production of packaging, which should be relatively small and designed to hold six dumplings, the estimated cost ranges from 0.5 to 1 RMB per box. This factor needs to be taken into consideration when determining the overall pricing strategy and profit margins.

credits to Hugo he focused and did majority of Financial Modeling

Visual Modeling

Our objective for visual modeling was to create a logo that effectively conveyed the purpose of our product while maintaining simplicity and memorability. To accomplish this, it was important to find a fitting name for our product. After careful deliberation, we arrived at two potential names: Dessert Dumplings and Blissful Bite Delights. To gather public input and ensure an informed decision, we included these names in our survey. Based on the survey responses and the preferences expressed by our audience, we ultimately opted for the name Blissful Bite Delights as the name of our product. After analyzing the survey results, we determined that the complementary color for our logo would be brown. This decision was based on the majority of responses associating brown with both dumplings and dessert. By incorporating brown into our color scheme, we aim to have a strong connection to the core elements of our product and create a visual representation that resonates with our target audience.

In addition to designing a logo, we also developed packaging and advertising for the three different flavors. For packaging, our goal was to create a package that could hold six dumplings while occupying minimal freezer space. After careful consideration, we opted for a slim, upright design that is flexible and easy to store. To differentiate between flavors, we implemented a color-changing feature in the packaging, where the color would vary based on the specific flavor. This approach not only provides convenience and functionality but also adds an element of visual interest to our product presentation.

Credits to Erica she made both logo and package design

What is your product idea and who is your audience?

Introducing our delectable dessert dumplings, crafted with an enticing assortment of flavors. Our product appeals to a wide-ranging audience, making it suitable for consumers of all preferences. The plan is to have it available as a frozen product in both local and international grocery stores, our product extends its reach to cater to the diverse tastes of customers worldwide. By retaining the traditional dumpling shape while keeping the same skin, our product maintains its marketability among the local population in China. However, the inclusion of western style fillings expands its appeal to an international audience. The variety of flavors allows us to cater to different preferences by distributing to specific locations based on their preferences. Example: in China, the profitability of dessert dumplings would require them to have a lesser sweetness and smaller portion size, taking into account the local taste preferences and existing products in the market. On the other hand, in the US, the more profitable approach would involve crafting dumplings that are sweeter and larger to align with the preferences and expectations of the target consumers.

What are your plans for data collection and modeling, as a group or individual?

The data collection plan will primarily focus on a consumer study. This study can gather insights regarding the ideal way to sell the product, preferred flavors, pricing considerations, and recommended cooking methods. By considering the responses, we can make  informed decisions about the product, which we can then be confident are meeting the expectations and desires of our target audience. And regarding the modeling of the package and advertisement the plan is to have it come in different languages in order to be marketable to different people and places which my team mate Erica will be working on.

What is your role in the team?

In our team, my specific role revolves around enhancing the recipe to make it the absolute best it can be. I am dedicated to improving  and testing new elements, striving for the most marketable and best version possible. Although I am mostly geared to working on the recipe I put importance on working on all elements of this project, to gather at least a general understanding of the product as a whole.

What are some potential challenges you may run into over the next 2-3 weeks?

We anticipate facing a few challenges along the way, particularly in terms of timing and the consumer survey. Given the limited time in the kitchen, working with the product wont be possible every lesson. However, I believe that with the time off of the kitchen, I can dedicate myself to researching and exploring past and alternative recipes, making comparisons to ensure our recipe stands out. Additionally, organizing the consumer survey might prove challenging since it hasn’t been explicitly assigned to a specific team member. However, I am confident that we can collectively address these challenges and find an effective solution, considering its importance to having a successful product.

Black Box

The black box is located beside the main HS theater next to the changing rooms, for easy access and partiality (for actors).

The black box consists of 4 black walls, and a blank floor and ceiling. Its an empty room that can be set up to hold any small production, mainly set up in a thrust position to hold the audience.  It has a control panel above the audience where the lighting and sound is controlled.

the black box is a useful empty space that can be used to hold any production (props and the seating arrangement are easy to move and change due to the room being “empty and basic”)

Spotlight Room

The spotlight room is located in the HS theater across and above the stage. It is placed above the theater/stage and point towards the stage in order for the light to project and highlight the actors when needed.

This is a small room that contains two spotlights and a chair. It needs at least one experienced personal running the lights during a performance. The room can and will get heated while the lights are in use because of the heat produced when the spotlights are on, because of this it makes the job more difficult to manage.

The purpose of the spotlight room is to be best placed in the theater where the spotlights are able to reach anywhere on the stage. This is important because while in a production the spotlight will follow an actor throughout the stage in order to highlight or place importance on a certain actor or scene.

Dimmer Room

The dimmer room is located in the HS theater above the stage next to the spotlight room. The dimmer room can be located anywhere in the theater as long as it has easy access in and out.

The dimmer room is full of controls for the lights throughout the theater. The controls control whether the lights are on or off and the brightness of each light. There is a red light which indicates whether the lights are on or off.

The purpose of the dimmer room is to easily control all the lights from one room, instead of having to control each light manually. It saves time and energy although when in the dimmer room you can not visually see the stage, so,  other backstage crew or a stage manger will be feeding information to whom ever is in the dimmer room to correctly control the lights.

ES Stage 

The ES stage is in the ES theater located on the right hand side. The stage takes up most of the room in the theater specially when the extend cat walk stage is fully expanded.

This specific stage is called a catwalk having the audience on three sides surrounding the stage. Most commonly used for modelling and prop-based performances. This specific stage can have the catwalk reclined turning it back into a standard stage with the audience only in front instead of all three sides.

The purpose of the extend stage is to have a variety of shows and different directing opportunities, it also adds more stage space for bigger productions.

ES Seating 

Rising and reclining seats are at the back of the theater on the opposite side facing the stage. There are rising seating on the side near the doors of the theater.

Having reclining and rising seats saves space in the theater opening the room for other activities. But it also give different seating options and arrangements, giving the director different opportunities for staging.  The seats come out from the wall creating a bleacher like seating, but then recline back into the wall opening the space back up.

The seats and where the seats are arranged decides what view the audience is going to see the show in, this can change a perspective of the show. So, the seating arrangement needs to be mindful of each seat and where its sat in order for each of the audience members to equally experience the show.