About This Project

Background:

In 2019, I came across a Sharjah Government advertisement for a citywide high school and university entrepreneurship competition requiring participants to design something creative with a real business strategy and economics. As a student who always had an entrepreneurial mind, I wanted to test my limits at this moment. I applied with a group of exceptional individuals from my circle.

Research:

Our research revolved around:
1. Target audience, high school students, challenges for innovation.
2. Agile and design methodologies.
3. UX journey.
4. UI design tools.
5. Business professionals, founders who can help us refine our business model.

Solution & development:

Our plan was to create a platform for high school and university student startups that utilises pre-built guidance tools to assist in the creation of a comprehensive business plan from an idea, thereby resolving all of the key obstacles faced by young entrepreneurs. We also considered methods to score these ideas and present a team profile and business plan to investors in order to gain market exposure and early-stage funding for our backed startups. Businesses and investors could benefit from the ability to filter by industry or startup type. Our subscription model included both free and paid options for the tools and services that assist startups in developing a solid business plan. Additionally, we retain a modest percentage of any successful funding.

We titled it “Framework” and used our own development journey to serve as a template for a concept that can assist future startups.

I lead the user workflow and platform understanding design by conducting interviews with industry professionals and startups in order to comprehend and empathise with our target consumers and to solve their most pressing problems.

Agile methods were utilised to swiftly iterate and enhance a platform prototype in order to demonstrate the concept and develop a visual comprehension.

We presented the concept to the panel of judges using a modest slide deck containing data and statistics, speaking directly to them, and keeping the presentation to less than five minutes. We intended it to be brief, imaginative and effective.

TAkeaway:

We emerged second place and were awarded £3,000 (AED 15,000) despite being the youngest and only school with university students to be on the podium. This initiative demonstrated that nothing is impossible if one is determined. Team leadership, collaboration with a variety of professions, and the development of a product that could be commercialised tomorrow to address real-world issues were invaluable learning opportunities.