Partner Company: City of Tartu
Course: Digital Product Management Industry Project
Team Tartu City: Veronika Moskalenko, Oleksandr Hranat, Erdem Güngör (Master's in Innovation and Technology Management students), and Gunay Hajizada (Master's in Quantitative Economics)
Semester: Spring 2023
The challenge
Tartu possesses exceptional prerequisites that position the city as a potential international test and development center for novel technologies. These prerequisites include:
- Open, flexible, and inclusive municipal governance.
- High-level research capacity offered by universities.
- Well-established business incubation environments like Tartu Science Park and Tartu Centre for Creative Industries.
- A vibrant and active start-up community.
- A top-notch education system.
- Convenient and accessible e-services.
- Expanding the availability of open data covering various aspects of urban life.
- An airport that enhances connectivity.
- Well-developed public transport connections.
- A safe and inspiring urban environment.
However, despite the presence of these excellent prerequisites, they currently exist in a fragmented manner. The untapped potential to attract both domestic and international entrepreneurs to Tartu is apparent.
Therefore, we are seeking an informative, convenient, and digital solution that can integrate all the aforementioned prerequisites into a single development service. By doing so, we intend to effectively market this service both domestically and internationally, showcasing Tartu's strengths and enticing entrepreneurs to explore the opportunities it presents.
Process and solution
Throughout the course, the Tartu City team actively employed a range of methodologies and tools from Design Thinking and Digital Product Management. The process involved a series of steps, starting with issue identification, followed by user research, idea generation, prototype development, and concluding with user testing.
As part of this process, they carefully crafted two personas based on interview insights. The first persona is Kati Verskii, an aspiring entrepreneur interested in launching her own business in Estonia. The second persona is Andres Kivimägi, the Head of the Research and Development unit at a prominent technology company based in Germany. The team then proceeded to construct user journeys specifically tailored to these two personas, mapping out their existing interactions and experiences. Additionally, the team dedicated efforts to creating Empathy maps and providing a Value Proposition Canvas.
Following extensive research and multiple rounds of developing "How Might We" questions, the team identified several design opportunities. Ultimately, they narrowed down their focus to the following question: HMW create a digital, and easily accessible platform that combines all useful information and resources for startups, companies, researchers, investors and other target groups?
Following multiple rounds of user testing, the ultimate iteration of the website consists of distinct sections tailored to Startups, Researchers, Students, Investors, and Companies. The platform showcases crucial information and consolidates essential links, providing users with a centralized information hub. The website also features information about Tartu projects and the main facts about Tartu. Furthermore, it offers insights into Tartu's life and culture.