 |
|
|
|||||
Some innovative products are designed to solve a specific pain point for consumers, while others will address a problem they dont even realize they have. Take soggy sandwiches, for example. A focus group wouldnt necessarily highlight the need for a cooler that keeps sandwiches from getting soggybut once the problem was identified, it helped inform the design of Ninjas line of FrostVault coolers, according to Michelle Crossan-Matos, the chief growth officer of SharkNinja. Engineers and inventors are steeped in data that they can then leverage along with insight and empathy, in order to create the wide range of innovative products SharkNinja has become known for, Crossan-Matos said during a panel discussion this week at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York. It’s the marriage of intuition and data that makes all the difference, she said. Data insights Sometimes, customer insight causes a company to shift its focus, as was the case for Sunday. When the company was founded in 2018, the initial goal was to create a non-toxic, natural line of lawn care products, to serve as an alternative to the conventional legacy products. That was before realizing that homeowners didnt know how to care for their yards, said Brad Smith, the companys president. We learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t just enough to develop a good, solid non-toxic product, Smith told the audience at the panel. We also had to invest in relationships with these customers and provide content and personalized guidance to make them successful using our product in their yards. Sunday has since expanded how it collects information that will inform its product strategy, including gathering soil samples from customers to be added to its worlds largest soil database. That wealth of data also informs an AI tool called Sunny, Smith said: Its us engaging and getting very close with the customer and trying to solve their unique problems in their yard. For Pinterest, user data also informs the companys annual Pinterest Predicts report, which has an accuracy rate of about 85% for what trends will be popular in the future, according to Malik Ducard, the companys chief content officer. By aggregating what users save, pin to boards, or create on the site, that helps inform what people are interested in nowand the biggest trends that have not yet happened, he added. Those are the types of signals that we focus the mathematics of our systems on, because what we find is that that then drives higher quality experiencesmore about time well spent, than time just simply spent or poorly spent, Ducard said. Oh, the humanity! But its important to add a human touch in deciding what to do with the insights that data provides. The data don’t make the decisions, and the data doesn’t come out of the blueits powered and informed by people, Ducard said. Remembering that puts data and intuition less at odds, because ultimately the data goes up to a point and then we need to make a decision. Sunday invests heavily in both the data and science necessary to offer a custom prescription for a lawn care solution to its customer. But teams must leave room to be able to constantly make on-the-fly decisions, Smith said: The world doesnt wait for data analytics. For SharkNinja, spending time with consumers to really understand their needs, pain points, and what problems they encounter with products is also an integral part of the process. At the panel, Crossan-Matos recounted experiences that still give her goosebumps, that highlight specific pain points that the companys products could solve. At every point, we’re iterating and learning, she said.
Category:
E-Commerce
Spirit Airlines said on Monday it is preparing to furlough one-third of its flight attendants after filing for its second bankruptcy in a year, as the carrier grapples with dwindling cash and mounting losses. The low-budget airline will temporarily lay off about 1,800 flight attendants from its total strength of approximately 5,200, effective December 1. Spirit filed for bankruptcy again last month after a previous reorganization failed to put it on firmer financial footing. The company forewarned job cuts in a memo sent to employees last Wednesday, adding that it also plans to slash flight capacity 25% year-over-year by November. “We need to shift our focus to a complete rightsizing of the airline, which means volume-based adjustments to our flight attendant group,” the airline said in an email to employees seen by Reuters on Monday. The Association of Flight Attendants, in a separate memo also seen by Reuters, said: “The problem is that the significant reduction of aircraft and flight hours requires a much higher reduction in force and the company is clear that a furlough is necessary.” The airline, with more than 800 staff voluntarily absent now, has so far relied only on voluntary furloughs rather than imposing mandatory ones. It will continue offering voluntary furloughs, even as it moves forward with additional staffing reductions. According to the union, voluntary furloughs are being offered for six months to one year time periods and are set to begin on November 1. The union also said in its memo that it is coordinating to arrange preferential interviews for its members at other airlines. Spirit’s financial difficulties, combined with U.S. carriers competing for premium travelers, have raised concerns that the era of ultra-low fares may be ending for budget-conscious passengers. Last week, United Airlines said it would not pursue Spirit’s assets if they become available as part of the carrier’s restructuring. Doyinsola Oladipo, Aishwarya Jain, and Aatreyee Dasgupta, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
President Donald Trump’s appointee to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors said Monday that the central bank’s key interest rate should be much lower than its current 4.1% level, staking out a position far different than his colleagues. Stephen Miran, who is also a top economic adviser to Trump, said in remarks to the Economic Club of New York that sharp declines in immigration, rising tariff revenue, and an aging population all suggest that the Fed’s rate should be closer to 2.5% instead. According to projections released last week, that’s almost a full percentage point lower than any of his 18 colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, an unusually high divergence. Miran’s comments underscore the different perspective he brings to the Fed’s deliberations over interest rate policy. His appointment has been controversial because he has kept his position as the head of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers while taking unpaid leave, raising concerns about the Fed’s traditional independence from day-to-day politics. His term on the Fed’s board expires in January, and Miran has suggested he would return to the White House after that, though he could remain on the board until a successor is appointed. It should be clear that my view of appropriate monetary policy diverges from those of other . . . members of the committee, Miran said in written remarks. I view policy as very restrictive, he added, meaning that it is holding back the economy and poses material risks to the Fed’s congressional mandate of seeking maximum employment. Miran said that fewer immigrants should free up more housing and lower rental costs, reducing inflationary pressures. And tariff revenueswhich may top $300 billion a year, according to Congressional Budget Office estimatesshould reduce the deficit, he added. Over time, that would mean the Fed doesn’t have to keep its benchmark interest rate as high as it is now to bring inflation down. By Christopher Rugaber, AP economics writer
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||