Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

SECTION A: Before Your Team Meeting

Step 1: Restate your team’s problem statement

Please write your team’s agreed-upon problem statement from Week 5
here:

Step 1: My Team’s Problem Statement

Waste Collection and Recycling Gaps In many areas of Ethiopia, especially urban
and peri-urban communities, waste collection systems are inefficient,
inconsistent, or non-existent. This leads to environmental pollution, health
issues, and missed opportunities for recycling and reusing valuable materials.
Our team aims to explore tech-driven ways to make waste collection more
accessible, organized, and community-friendly.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Step 2: Bad Idea Brainstorm

BEFORE you meet with your team, conduct a Bad Idea Brainstorm with
yourself. List at least 10 bad ideas for how you might solve your problem. You
can get completely ridiculous.

For example: Sharks with laser beams in their heads who burn up
microplastics in the ocean, bees that telepathically communicate in order to
tutor children who don’t have access to quality education, etc.

The dumber the idea, the better! The purpose of this is to get your mind open
to generating ideas without fear of them being wrong, dumb, or bad. (Stay in
divergent thinking.) Need help? You can get inspiration from:
http://labs.jackpine.co/projects/FirstBadIdea/

Step 2: Individual Bad Ideas

Here are 10 ridiculous or “bad” ideas to help unlock creativity:

1. A chicken that pecks on a keyboard to teach people how to type

2. A talking injera that teaches you how to use an app — it tells you when to

click the "Buy Now" button in

3. An e-commerce tutorial taught entirely by goats on Zoom.

4. A drone that follows users around and presses buttons for them.

5. A “smart toilet” that teaches digital literacy while you sit.

6. A robot parrot that repeats online shopping steps until you understand.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Step 3: Possible ideas

Next, list at least 5 “possible ideas” to address your problem. These do NOT
have to be good ideas. The only constraint is that they should be at least
theoretically possible. They should involve some sort of technology (either a
piece of software like an app or algorithm or a physical device such as a
arobotic fish or machine that scans your DNA). You’re still in Divergent thinking
here, so don’t judge your ideas as good or bad.

Step 3: Individual Possible Ideas

1. A mobile app that allows households to request waste pickup from local

micro-enterprises.

2. A GPS-enabled smart bin that alerts municipal trucks when it's full.

3. An SMS-based waste reporting system for low-tech communities to notify

authorities of dump sites.

4. A recycling rewards platform that gives points or discounts for submitting

sorted recyclables.

5. A community dashboard that tracks cleanliness scores by neighborhood

to encourage local competition.

!!! PLEASE BRING THE ABOVE WORK WITH YOU TO YOUR TEAM MEETING.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Please go back to Savanna and continue with your learning content. You
will be prompted on when to return to complete Section B.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

SECTION B: Team Meeting Output

Step 4: Meeting Date, Time, & Location

Please list when and where your team meeting took place.

Step 4: Meeting Date, Time, & Location

A. Date:June 29, 2025

B. Time: 6:00 PM

C. Location: Google Meet

Step 5: Meeting Attendees

Please list who attended your team meeting, and their primary role.

Step 5: Meeting Attendees

1.Elias Agidew: Product Manager (Primary), Visualizer (Backup)

2. hamza husen : Project Manager (Primary), Time Keeper (Backup)

3. Samuel Tadesse: Data Analyst (Primary), Note Taker (Backup)

4. Eyerusalem: UI/UX Designer (Primary), Researcher (Backup)

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Step 6: Bad Idea Brainstorm (Team)

Everyone should share several of their previously bad ideas from Step 2
above. Then as a team, you must generate at least 10 more new bad ideas.

Remember, the dumber the idea, the better! This is to help you work as a
team to be non-critical. Stay in divergent thinking. It helps to say “thank you”
after every idea is shared.

Step 6: Bad Ideas (Team)

Team-shared + New Bad Ideas:

1. A drone that forces people to attend tech workshops.

2. A keyboard that locks unless you answer a tech quiz.

3. Smart glasses that scream when you open a fake website.

4. A shopping cart with a touchscreen for online orders while walking.

5. Giant emoji buttons for e-commerce training.

6. Holograms of e-commerce mentors.

7. A monkey trained to complete checkout for you.

8. Invisible AI that whispers tips in your ear.

9. Magic hat that beams you to a virtual mall.

10. Wi-Fi shoes that only give you internet if you complete tutorials.

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Step 7: Possible ideas (Team)

Next, everyone should share at least 2 of their possible ideas from Step 3
above. Your team then needs to come up with at least 5 new “possible
ideas” to address your problem. The only constraint is that they should
involve some sort of technology (either a piece of software like an app or
algorithm, or a physical device such as a robotic fish or machine that scans
your DNA.

You’re still in Divergent thinking here, so don’t judge any ideas as good or bad.
Again, it helps to say “thank you” after every idea is shared.

Step 7: Possible Ideas (Team)

1. App for coordinating trash collection with local providers.

2. Recycling-Education Chatbot

3. Community-based waste reporting system (SMS + App).

4. Interactive digital maps of recycling drop-off points in Addis and other

cities.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Step 8: Narrowed Ideas

Your next task is to narrow your choices, which will put you in a convergent
thinking mindset. You should discuss and debate this and try to reach a
consensus on 3 ideas for a solution (or partial solution) to your problem that
your team will consider working on for the rest of Month 2. These ideas can be
totally new, the same, or variations from ideas you’ve already come up with.

Remember that they should involve some sort of technology (either a piece
of software like an app or algorithm, or a physical device such as a robotic
fish or machine that scans your DNA).

You will not have to build the solution out. But you will have to create some
type of basic prototype (if it is a device) or a set of wireframes (if it is an
app/software). You will not have to actually create the technology or code.

Step 8: Top 3 Ideas (Team)

1. Mobile app & SMS platform for requesting local waste pickup or reporting

illegal dumps.

2. Recycling incentive system that rewards users with discounts, cash, or

points.

3. Smart trash bins with sensors and mobile notifications when full.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Step 9: Selected Solution

Lastly, your team must agree on one idea for a solution (or partial solution)
that you will work on for the rest of Month 2.

Remember, the solution should involve some sort of technology and be

possible to create—but feel free to make it very ambitious! You will have to
create some type of basic prototype (if it is a device) or a set of wireframes (if
it is an app/software). You will not have to actually create the technology.

You must find a fair way to reach a consensus with your group, including a
discussion in which everyone’s voice can be heard.

Step 9: Team’s Final Selected Solution Idea

Ans: Our team selected the Mobile + SMS-based waste reporting and pickup

coordination platform. It allows users in both smartphone and feature-phone

communities to report waste build-up, request local waste collection services,

and track pickups. It connects users with sanitation providers and community-

led recycling teams.

Step 10: Action Items

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In your meeting for Week 7, you will need to share work on a prototype or
wireframes. Please list out here what specific people will do to contribute to
this before the next meeting.

Step 10: Action Items

1.Elias Agidew:Research SMS gateway APIs + draft wireframe

2. hamza husen :Define user roles (citizen, collector, admin)

3. Samuel Tadesse: Start design of the mobile interface (Figma prototype)

4. Eyerusalem: Gather insights from community members & pain points

SECTION C: Reflections
Step 11: Team Roles

Relist your team members’ names and their primary roles.

Step 11: All team members & their roles

1.Elias Agidew:Team Leader & Coordinator

2. Hamza Husen :Research & Wireframes

3. Samuel Tadesse : Design & Prototyping

4. Eyerusalem:Field Research & Liaison

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Step 12: Reflections

Please share your personal reflections on your experience with your team so
far.

Step 12: Team Process Reflection

A. What is working well with your team?

Ans: Team members are enthusiastic and open to each other’s ideas.

B. One good thing that happened during your team meeting:

Ans: We had a fun and creative “bad idea” session that loosened everyone
up and led to better real ideas.

C. One thing your team could do better in the next meeting:

Ans: Be more structured with timing — we went over time discussing one
idea.

D. Any concerns or frustrations?

Ans: Not everyone completed their tasks before the meeting. I’ll follow up
with reminders and offer help if someone’s stuck.

E. Communication rating (1 to 4):

Ans: 4 – Excellent

F. Team satisfaction rating (1 to 4):

Ans: 4 – Excellent

G. Anything else to share?

Ans: I enjoy working with this team. The problem feels real and
solvable, and I think our idea can have impact.

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Professional Foundations | Week 6 Milestone Worksheet

Once you have completed this worksheet:

1. Export/convert to .pdf.
2. Rename it per the instructions.
3. Upload to Savanna as your Milestone 6 Submission.
4. Celebrate a job well done!

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