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New Enterprises · Lecture 10 of 12 · 2:18

Lecture 10: Market Segmentation with SensAble Technologies, Part II

Market Segmentation with SensAble Technologies: Part II on YouTube

Study guide

What this lecture covers

Continuing directly from Part I, this lecture finishes walking through the SensAble Technologies market segmentation matrix. Aulet lists the range of industries the team analyzed beyond entertainment, including industrial design, medical visualization, and scientific applications, and explains what the team gained from doing this analysis thoroughly.

After watching, you should understand how a broad market segmentation exercise narrows into a confident shortlist, and why the upfront effort matters even though it is time-consuming.

Key ideas

  • Additional markets analyzed: industrial design, medical visualization (including companies like GE working with CAT scan and MRI data), surgical simulation, computing for the blind, molecular modeling, assembly path planning, and geo-seismic data analysis.
  • Consistent process: each market was broken down the same way as the entertainment example in Part I, examining what the end user was actually doing.
  • Time investment: the team spent a week or two digging into each candidate market before stepping back to compare opportunities.
  • Payoff of thoroughness: doing the work upfront gave the team higher confidence when they eventually chose which market to pursue.
  • Outcome: this segmentation process is presented as one that worked well for SensAble Technologies in practice.

Before you watch

  • Watch "Market Segmentation with SensAble Technologies, Part I" first, since this lecture continues that same worked example.

Check your understanding

  1. What other markets, beyond entertainment, did the SensAble team analyze in their segmentation matrix?
  2. Why did the team spend a week or two on each candidate market rather than moving quickly to a decision?
  3. How does this real example connect back to the beachhead market concept from earlier lectures?

Vocabulary

continuing (adjective)
Carrying on from something that started before.
This is a continuing case study from the previous lecture.
industrial design (noun)
The practice of designing physical products for manufacturing.
Industrial design was one of the markets the team studied.
visualization (noun)
Making data or shapes visible as an image so people can understand them.
Medical visualization let doctors see scan data in three dimensions.
scientific (adjective)
Relating to careful study and experiments in fields like biology or physics.
Molecular modeling was one of the scientific applications explored.
CAT scan (noun)
A medical scan that creates detailed cross-section images of the body.
GE worked with CAT scan data for medical visualization.
MRI (noun)
A medical scan that uses magnets to create detailed images inside the body.
The device could help doctors explore MRI data by touch.
surgical simulation (noun)
Practicing an operation on a computer model instead of a real patient.
Surgical simulation let trainee doctors practice safely.
molecular modeling (noun)
Building computer representations of molecules to study their shape and behavior.
Scientists used molecular modeling to understand how molecules fit together.
assembly path planning (noun)
Working out the order and movement needed to put parts of a product together.
Engineers used the device for assembly path planning in factories.
geo-seismic (adjective)
Relating to underground rock and earthquake data used to find oil or study the earth.
Geo-seismic data analysis was one of the more unusual markets considered.
consistent (adjective)
Done the same way every time.
The team used a consistent process to analyze every market.
candidate market (noun)
A market being seriously considered as a possible choice.
Each candidate market got a week or two of research.
thoroughly (adverb)
In a complete and careful way, missing nothing important.
They researched each market thoroughly before deciding.
upfront (adjective)
Done at the beginning, before the main work starts.
The upfront effort in segmentation paid off later.
time-consuming (adjective)
Taking a lot of time to complete.
Researching every market was time-consuming but worthwhile.
step back (phrasal verb)
To pause and look at the whole situation instead of the small details.
After the research, the team stepped back to compare opportunities.
payoff (noun)
The good result you get from an earlier effort.
The payoff of thoroughness was higher confidence in the final choice.
pursue (verb)
To choose to follow or work toward something.
They decided which market to pursue after comparing all options.
outcome (noun)
The final result of a process.
The outcome of this process worked well for SensAble.
unusual (adjective)
Not common or typical.
Geo-seismic analysis was one of the more unusual markets studied.

From the YouTube description

MIT 15.390 New Enterprises, Fall 2013
View the complete course: http://ocw.mit.edu/15-390F13
Instructor: Bill Aulet

Bill Aulet discusses how he and his team at SensAble conducted market segmentation for their novel 3D imaging technology.

License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
More information at http://ocw.mit.edu/terms
More courses at http://ocw.mit.edu

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