Scrappy Happy

Instead of focusing on one experiment, I’ll be focusing on a set of experiments which I thought were more successful in gathering sign-ups or traction.

Our very first experiment was essentially just a huge piece of paper with a Sharpie miserably taped beside it, with a question: “What’s the most effective way to learn a new skill?”

We did this because we were pressed for time and needed to know very quickly if our new direction resonates with students. To our surprise, after only about three days, the paper was filled up. We’d only expected people to select or check the ones that resonated with them, but there were also some comments left behind.

Even though it was quick and scrappy, we knew from this that there was something in our new direction that clicked with students.

Basing off our previous semi-guerilla style experiment, we created sign up boxes that looked similar to our previous poster, but this time upgraded with a box where students can leave their contact info.

We have received around 40 sign-ups (and counting, because it’s still hanging!) from these boxes alone.

We also did two rounds of recruitments at the school entrance and got around 40 sign-ups, so the results of the box and the on-site recruitments are similar. The on-site recruitments were much more effective in terms of garnering traction because we had food (and college students are always hungry). But I found it interesting that these two approaches could have a similar outcome.

There is something about the first two experiments (box and poster) that, I feel, really worked. It seemed like the scrappier and simpler it looks, the more people want to interact with it. I noticed this with other posters in school as well. These experiments made me rethink about the role of visuals, that perhaps by making things look incomplete—shabby even—it lowers barriers and doesn’t intimidate people; fostering more interactions.