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Can you envision a smartphone keyboard to help sales reps in conversations?
Challenge Type: business
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$1,600
top 22
103
submissions
DONE
63 months

Top 10 will receive $100 each.  12 runners up will receive $50 each.

We are a company that allows a lot of people like you to run their own business by giving you access to products that you can sell in your own community, no matter where you are in the world. Unlike a traditional retail setting, our independent sales reps are out in the world interfacing directly with consumers to sell our products. Reps might make a sale during a private one-on-one conversation, within a small group setting, at a hosted event, etc.  

All of our sales reps are independent business owners, each trying to grow their own business by selling our products within their network, and we want to equip them with the skills and tools they need to do so!  In particular, we want to help our reps use the latest technology to their advantage.  Currently, we are considering how our sales reps might be able to use a customized keyboard with unique functionality as a tool to improve or increase sales.

Today our sales reps are able to send customers to a website where those customers can purchase products, and the sales rep gets credit for the sale - we call this a “personal retail website." Understanding that private 1-on-1 conversations are growing in prevalence and importance when building trust, we want to imagine how an Amway-curated keyboard might assist in 1-on-1 conversations.

Today, we want you to imagine that you are one of our reps!  Your objective is to sell our products within your network (i.e. friends, family, anyone you might be able to connect with!).  To help you picture it, take a look at these products and imagine this is what you're selling:

Now, imagine you had a customized Amway keyboard with a layout and functionality that would make your job as a sales rep easier, faster, or better.  How would it work?  How would you be using it?  What does it look like? 

How might it help you talk to your friends about Amway’s products?

Imagine you could share information that would help explain why your friends need these products, what would you share?

Imagine you could recommend a specific nutritional supplement to a friend who needs them, what would you share?

How might the content in the keyboard bridge the gap between products that Amway sells and consumer needs?

Deliverables

Using the scenario above, think of the creative ways you might be able to use a customized keyboard to your advantage as a sales rep.  For this challenge, think of a  customized keyboard as a customized smartphone input device, whether it's an overlay to an existing keyboard or a separate piece of hardware.  Please answer the following:

  1. What are the top three things you would like to be able to do using a customized keyboard in order to grow your independent sales business?  What would you be most excited about? Please feel free to use the products in the challenge brief as an example of how you would like to use the keyboard functionality!
  2. Propose one or more unique ideas for a customized keyboard that would help you grow your business and/or make sales.  What would this be?  How would you use it? Why would this be helpful?  This should be something innovative that many people may not think of.  
  3. Briefly, walk us through a day in your imagined life as a sales rep using a new customized keyboard.  When do you use it?  When is it the most helpful?

Considerations:

  • Please keep in mind that you need to envision using the customized keyboard in 1-on-1 conversations.
  • Check out Google's keyboard for an example of a customized keyboard: Apple App Store and Google Play.
    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Rating
Reward Tiers
10 Winners
will receive $100 each
12 Honorable Mentions
will receive $50 each
Leaderboard
$100.00 Brendan Costello University of Ontario Institute of Technology
$100.00 Boni Aditya BITS PILANI
$100.00 Avijit Majumder Manipal University
$100.00 Hitendra Singh IIT - Roorkee
$100.00 Marina Radovanovic Queen's University
$100.00 Wesley Wallace Radford University
$100.00 Joseph Alison Massey University
$100.00 Andrews Kwesi Ankomahene University of Cape Coast
$100.00 Rishav Bose University of Technology Sydney
$100.00 Jacqueline Duong University of California, Los Angeles
$50.00 Karen Miller West Virginia University
$50.00 Isaac Barnett Ofori University of Mines and Technology, Ghana
$50.00 Sumana Mahata UCSD
$50.00 Matthew Gaiser Queen's University
$50.00 Eric Jordan Radford University
$50.00 Robin Watts
$50.00 Ingrid Montenegro Penn Foster
$50.00 Rita Dill Bowie state University
$50.00 AMAL VS APJ Abdul kalam Technological University
$50.00 Jasmine Arora Punjab university
$50.00 Olivia Greiffenstein University of Colorado
$50.00 Mirko Tadic Belgrade University
Submission questions


For good and valuable consideration, Solver agrees to assign and does hereby assign, sell and transfer to Access Business Group International LLC, a Michigan limited liability company, having a place of business at 7575 Fulton Street East, Ada, Michigan 49355 (hereinafter referred to as Assignee), Solver’s entire right, title, and interest in and to all intellectual property rights in or relating to the Submission in the United States and in all foreign countries, including without limitation all: (a) inventions and patent applications therefor, including all utility applications, design applications, invention applications, utility models, provisionals, nonprovisionals, divisions, continuations,  reissues, reexaminations, substitutions, renewals, and extensions claiming priority directly or indirectly therefrom including the right to claim for any such application the benefits of the International Convention, and all patents that may be granted on any of the foregoing in the United States and in all foreign countries; (b) copyrights (including derivative works created in connection with the Submission, such as modifications or original designs, extensions, and any other derivative works); (c) trade dress and trademarks; (d) trade secrets; (e) confidential information; and (f) any other valuable intellectual property rights in or relating to the Submission.  Solver authorizes and requests the patent office officials in the United States and in all foreign countries to issue all the patents, when granted, to Assignee as the owner of the entire right, title, and interest in and to the same.  Solver agrees to communicate to Assignee all facts known to Solver respecting the Submission intellectual property; to testify in all legal proceedings; to sign all documents; to execute all applications and registrations; to execute all necessary assignment documents to cause all of the registrable intellectual property rights to be ­issued to Assignee, to make all rightful oaths, and generally to do everything possible to aid Assignee, its successors and assigns, to obtain and enforce proper protection for the Submission intellectual property in the United States and in all foreign countries.

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