GoodWalks Reflection

For Project 1, I had the pleasure of working with the GoodWalks team, pivoting multiple times to arrive at our final product of a customizable orthopedic shoe line. 

My experience with joining the team was a bit different from my teammates. After realizing my section time would conflict with my class schedule, I switched into the Thursday 4pm schedule, and was given the chance to choose which group I wanted to join based on their problem space. Out of the choices I had heard, GoodWalks seemed the most interesting to me, and was the most different from other projects that I had worked on before. I was really grateful that my new team was receptive to new ideas, and that I joined towards the beginning of the project.

One of the most rewarding aspects of this project was how well we worked together as a team. We discussed a wide range of ideas, sharing insights and perspectives that helped us see the problem from multiple angles. Our brainstorming sessions were lively and often led us to new ideas that we hadn’t considered individually. In addition, though we had some scheduling conflicts that made it hard to meet often in person, we made great use of our section time in order to get a jump on our tasks. We were able to split up the work fairly and ensure that everyone was engaged in meaningful contributions. 

We also learned the importance of knowing when to pivot. Early on, we seriously considered a licensing model as our primary approach, thinking it would allow us to tap into existing fashion brands’ expertise while still leveraging GoodWalks’ orthopedic technology. However, thinking deeper and receiving feedback from the teaching team helped us to see our blindspots. It became clear that this model was a bit limiting, and it would be difficult to get companies that already sell reasonably comfortable street shoes to partner with us. Rather than get attached to any one solution, we stayed agile, pivoting away from this model when it didn’t fully align with our goals. After looking into customizable orthopedic shoes, we took our TA’s advice to look at more uncomfortable styles of shoes, and finding a novel way to solve issues in that space. The idea of offering customizable orthopedic heels allowed us to merge function with fashion in a way that felt fresh and customer-centric.

Receiving feedback from the panel was one of the most valuable aspects of this project. The industry professionals and teaching team provided insights on the feasibility of creating a truly healthy shoe, and forced us to think more deeply about how to differentiate our product in a competitive market. Their feedback confirmed some of our ideas, while also revealing areas we hadn’t fully considered, the logistics of returns and prior failures in similar domains.

I really enjoyed my experience with learning about product management through this project, and will walk away with tools to utilize both broadly in group projects and more specifically as a product manager. I’m definitely thinking about exploring possible roles as a PM at some point in my career.