Jeong-Suh Choi

Business Design

MBA Candidate, Class of 2011

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Jeong-suh.choi@tuck.dartmouth.edu

Mobile: 603-306-2339

Ideas on Better World

Past Projects

Ideas on NUDGES

Branding Products? Branding Producers!

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Trying to brand our pork product as trustworthy, we

disclosed various information including what fodders

are used and which pig will “become our product”

today.

We set a new goal: branding not the product, but the

producers, OURSELVES.

Unlike our expectations, many people were

distracted by connecting the animal with

fresh meat. Earning trust as a producer, we enjoyed the

increase in sales not only for the pork

product, but also for other fresh food products.

We planted peppers under each consumer’s

name and let them monitor the crops through Google

Earth. We also organized many farm tours. They are all

about establishing RAPPORT with people.

Earning Customers’ Trust: Hand Written Review

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

In Korea, no customers trust the reviews written in the

shopping mall, because many of them are manipulated

by the seller or competitors.

We let customers post their hand-written reviews

instead to increase the credibility.

People tend to communicate regarding the review

through their blogs or other social media.Not only more people trusted our brands and reviews,

but the buzz spread out and people started purchasing

our product to simply leave a review.

Earning Customers’ Trust: Review In Blogs

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

One of our major clients, dnshop.com, second largest

online shopping mall in Korea, had the same dilemma.

We recommended our client to change its policy to

let hyper-links of blog posting underneath the product.

People did not trust any review in the site and tend

to communicate through their blogs or other social

media.

People started posting the review on their own blogs

and linking the post to our client’s web page. Bloggers

were happy as they could expose their blogs in one of

the biggest shopping malls in Korea.

Not only customers enjoyed more credible reviews,

but dnshop.com did enjoy increased sales.

This service was often covered by various magazines

and TV shows in Korea and I was invited to many kinds

of retail conferences and lectures as a speaker.

dnshop.com Reviewer’s Blog

YourLab, First Company I Established

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

I always tried to make my employees feel as if the

business is their own. I encouraged them to try any new

idea they came upon. There were ideas looked not

useful, but I thought the trial and error was worth

“buying” as long as we are heading the same direction.

After six months of endurance, we finally launched a

social shopping service called Shozle. Four months later,

we also opened a “green” shopping mall called The Oak

In Acorn.

Although it took time as expected, I trusted my

judgment, and my employees’ passion and capability. YourLab stands for “the laboratory where people

turn ideas into reality together.”

It was when I learned that while a great idea can be

suggested by a single person, it is people together who

realize it. On April 1st, 2008, we finally established

YourLab Co., Ltd., an online retail company.

Better World

Past Projects

Ideas on NUDGES

Shopping GPS Apps

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Shoppers often get lost on the middle of the road

or a shopping mall.

Customers can easily find an item they like using

the message. The more shoppers buy, the more

information on their shopping pattern is accumulated

for better matching.

It makes a good “push” marketing for brands or

retailers focusing on a highly specified target.

An app you can download into your smart phone that

has information on your shopping pattern and guides

you as an item you might be interested in is near where

you are.

Shoppers spends a lot of time visiting the shop and

coming out with empty hands.

10 yards

Key With Breathalyzer

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Drink and drive is bad.

You would always have to blow the key before you

start the car. If you are drunk, the key would not work.

A key with breathalyzer embedded will solve the

problem.

Everybody but the drunk knows it.

Naming Intersections

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

When asked a direction by a stranger, many people

use intersections as a landmark for the explanation.

Win win win situation we can create as the

government enjoys additional non tax income,

companies enjoy marketing effect, and people can

use it for an effective landmark.

Companies would most likely be interested in the

auction as they can advertise on the traffic light!

Why don’t we design a model in which the

government auctions the name of each intersection?

lt is also often hard to tell which two roads are crossing

at the intersection, especially when you are driving in a

city new to you.

IDEO Junction

Lower Drive In School Zone

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

School zone is important.

Sophisticated drainage is required.

Even without seeing the sign, the driver would never

miss the school zone since it becomes so obvious.

Why don’t we build the road lower than the sidewalk

in the zone?

But the only way a driver can recognize the zone is

through a sign, or maybe a paint on the road. There is no chance that a car goes over the sidewalk

or kids jump on the road.

Stove Thermometer

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

A device that measures the initial weight of the pot

would reduce the chance of fire drastically.

Sometimes people forget to turn off the stove,

which is very dangerous.

If it has a thermometer displayed, it would be much

safer as the cook notices when it is too hot.Anything that is over cooked becomes lighter in

weight, especially when the pot is on the verge of fire.

(1) (2)

The stove automatically

measures the weight

when the pot is placed

It automatically turns off

itself when the pot is

over-cooked and gets too light

Reservation System Using Crowd-sourcing

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Why don’t we connect them with local restaurants

who want to apply a reservation system?

Many small-town restaurants, like those in Hanover,

NH, have a very extreme turnaround ratio as they are

too busy in prime time while many tables are empty

during non-prime time.Once a person signs up as

an reservation operator,

their cell phones or home

phones will be connected to

an integrated reservation

line for the town.

Appropriate reservation system and some

promotions for non-prime time would solve the

problem, but not many restaurants can do it because of

extra costs for maintaining the service or system. When a customer wants

to make a reservation,

On the other hand, there are so many people, like

some housewives or the elderly, in a small town, who

are still willing to use their extra time for work but have

a lot of limitations. Then most of them spend their time

just sitting in a cafeteria chilling out or chatting.

The customer can then check the promotions, pick

one restaurant, and make a reservation.

The restaurant can optimize the turnaround ratio

without taking a risk of running a reservation system,

people with free time can earn extra money, and the

customer can enjoy more info and better choice.

she/he calls the integrated line, and gets directed to

one of signed operators in the town.

Display Board On A Car

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

When a driver cuts in the lane, and the driver behind

was not happy about it, there we hear honk.

Better driving culture, less honk, more quiet city!

It would recognize the voice and display the driver’s

expression like “Sorry” or “Thank you.”

Why don’t we place an electronic display board on

the back window of a car?

Even when the cutting-in driver wants to show her/his

apology or appreciation, there is no effective way to

show the expression. Sometimes, we also hear some

honk for this case.

THANK YOU

Review Table for Restaurants

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Customers often have no idea what kind of food

they want to order even with the menu.

Review can be gathered, put on restaurants’ blogs or

social network, and used as an effective local data.

It would help other customers make a right decision

with more credible information.

Why don’t we set up a paper and a pen so that

customers can leave a review on the table?

Even with help from the waiter/waitress, it is not

easy to pick one.

Glass

Table

Reviews

Cloth Hanger On Shopping Cart

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Why don’t we install a cloth hanger on each side of

the shopping cart?

Especially during the winter, shoppers take off their

jackets and crumple them in the shopping cart.

Easy to use or install, more convenient especially for

winter shoppers.

Shoppers also crumple clothes they just picked in

the shopping cart, causing same problems as Above.

Better for cloth brands as the shoppers will more

easily see what others bought what clothes and get

affected by each other.

It not only is inconvenient but sometimes causes

problems like wrinkle, spill over, contaminated by dirt

on products

Cloth Hanger

Studs

Green Shower

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Let’s connect the drainage of shower booth or bath

tub to garage for car wash or toilet flush.

When you take a shower, you use as much as when

you wash your car.

When you want to wash your car in the garage, now

you can use the water that you have used for shower or

bath.

It is simply too much waste of water and against

environment! Or for flush! It is just as simple as that.

Stevens Institute of Technology

Better World

Past Projects

Ideas on NUDGES

Dining Hall Tables

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

A series of tables that connects every table would

make the situation better.

I noticed there are some students who feel

uncomfortable sitting in a dining hall with other

students because they are shy.

No matter where a person sits, she/he is most likely

involved in any group.

They are afraid of ending up being the only one in a

table, while other tables are filled up with a group.

Maximize the table use as all you need to do is to

grab a chair and squeeze in.

It is also ineffective since the tables are often not in full

use especially when a group of people leave the

dining hall just because they were short of one or two

chairs in a table.

Dining Hall

Lighting Parking Meter

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Why don’t we design a parking meter that lights

some colors depending on how much time it has? (i.e.

Green for ten minutes, Blue for five minutes, Red for

expired, etc.)

Parking attendants often pull over their cars first, get

off the car, and check the parking meters.

Parking attendants would not need to get off the car.

In fact, they (including myself again) are checking not the

meter but if any parking attendant tries to place a ticket on

their cars.

People looking for a spot will have a better idea

when they will have some spot.

People often drive

around the parking

area without knowing

when they will have a

spot.

Some people (including myself) prefer sitting by the

window so that they can check the parking meter

through the window. But in fact, they cannot read the

time on the meter most of the time. I will be more “nudged” to either fill more coin or

remove the car.

If there are multiple spots, then some people might easily

recognize a spot with some time left and enjoy free parking!

Vertical Cross Walk

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Some cars hardly stop for the crosswalk crossing the

stop line.

No additional cost is required, and it is easy to

implement. Drawing several vertical lines on the way to

crosswalk would work also.

Drivers would have more pressure of stopping

before the crosswalk.

Why don’t we draw the crosswalk line that is vertical

to drive way?

l found out that almost all of crosswalk lines are

parallel to drive ways.

Bathroom Jam

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Why don’t we install the timer on the other side of

the door so that people on the line can see it?

Some people spend too much time behind the door,

making the line longer and causing some morning

“bathroom jam.”

As people inside have no chance to see the timer, they

would feel pressure to finish their “business” as soon as

Possible.Then companies tried to install a timer on each

door so that people working on their “business” can see

how long they spend sitting.

But it did not work.

The timer out side the door nudges people to use

bathroom efficiently, especially during terrible morning

“bathroom hour.”

Speedometer In Back Seat

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

People in the back seat feel uncomfortable when the

driver drives too fast.

Not only the person in the back seat can always check

the speed and ask the driver to slow down, but it is a

huge nudge for the driver as now the driver knows

everybody in the car watches how fast she/he is driving

Why don’t we place the speedometer in the back seat

also?

But some times it is hard to ask the driver to slow

down especially when you are with someone not really

comfortable to be with like your buyer, professor, or an

investor.

Most of all, it is too hard for the person in the back

seat to check the speedometer.

GPS In The Back Seat

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

When you arrive in a new city and grab a taxi, you

might have wondered if the driver is on the right, that is

the shortest, path or not.

The cab driver and the guest can discuss the short cut,

the consumer can get an idea how it will take or cost,

and the driver also can drive more safely.

Why don’t we install a GPS in the back seat also?

Or you might have wanted to get a picture how much it

will cost or how long it will take to the destination.

There also is a case that the taxi driver does not know

the path and controls the GPS while driving, which is

always dangerous.

The whole idea is to share all the gadgets in the front

seat, which also can be used by or be better off to be

used by people in the back seat. Radio or CD player can

be a good example.

Onsite Review Panel At Retailer Shops

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Shoppers often have no idea what they should buy

when exposed to a shelf with so many different but

same kinds of brands flooding at retail stores.

Win win win situation we can create as the retailer

shop can add a revenue source, brands can reach to the

consumer closer, and consumers can make easier,

quicker, and more trustworthy shopping decisions.

The space on the panel can be either sold to brands

who are willing to advertise their product or filled with

Consumers’ hand-written reviews!

Place a review panel above each shelf, which

explains each product that is displayed on that shelf.

Then they either pick one by gut feeling or ask clerks

to find one for them.

I noticed that there still are plenty of space that we can

use to help “confused” shoppers.

Review Panel

Speed Limit On The Road

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Most of speed limit sign stands on your right.

Easy to recognize without turning their eyes, even

better for inexperienced drivers!

Why don’t we draw the speed limit on the road?

l believe it is not your complete fault even if you miss

one of the signs and keep your speed, because many

people say it happens to them also.

It is always better to keep the driver’s focus right front.

Meeting Room Jam

OBSERVATIONS SOLUTIONS

Why don’t we place a board that lists the name of a

person who booked the room on each meeting room’s

door?

Some people book a meeting room but do not use it.

People or colleagues pass by and notice a room

booked by someone and not being used.

Then there we see a situation that some people

cannot use a meeting room although there still is an

empty room.

The board out side the door is a perfect nudge for

people who booked the room to be more responsible.

John Shea