In Associate Professor Yoo-Seong Song's Applied Business Research class (IS 540), students learn advanced techniques of business research through hands-on experience with real-world clients. This semester, a team of students has been working with entrepreneur Douglass Lee, founder of the startup OneSoftDigm (OSD) and a senior in business at the University of Illinois.
In 2017, OSD released a product called One Smart Diet, the first pocket-size device that measures body fat, skeletal muscle mass, basal metabolic rate (BMR), BMI, body water, heart rate, body temperature, stress index, calorie intake, and daily activity. This data can be monitored through an IOS or Android mobile application, which makes it easy to understand the results and analysis as well as the recommendations, such as an exercise guide, customized dietary advice, and nutrition menu.
The One Smart Diet project team consisted of 11 students who were carefully chosen based on their expertise and relevant experience. MS/IM student Rahul Chandran served as the project manager. The team included two subgroups, one focusing on business strategy, led by MS/IM student Grace Lee, and the other focusing on analytics, led by MS/IM student Ziqi Jiang.
The goal of the project was to explore how data gathered through the device could enhance the user experience with the mobile application, ultimately helping individuals become healthier.
"We prepared for the project by extensively conducting interviews with Douglass to understand the challenges he was facing in the current market, including how competitors are faring and what innovative methods they are trying, and how our team could help structure key aspects of the business," said Chandran.
The team learned that the One Smart Diet device is very unique and offered at the best price range available in the market. In addition, they discovered a need for the product in several industries, including the fitness industry, which usually spends thousands of dollars for similar devices.
"We came up with many unique parameters and findings based on our research papers, which we believe will play an integral part in OSD’s future roadmap. Tableau visualizations, new graphs, and new ways to present data were all provided for OSD to incorporate within their mobile app when they take on the next phase of development," said Chandran.
For Lee, the greatest benefit of working with the iSchool team is the "different perspective" he received.
"As a CEO, it is crucial to approach any matters with various perspectives to understand the situations and draw a bigger picture," he said.
One of the things he learned through the team's findings is that most Americans still rely heavily on weight and BMI, which is not an accurate representation of overall health.
"You could have two people with the same weight and BMI but totally different body composition," Lee explained. "One can have higher body fat percentage and lower muscle mass than the other, and this kind of disproportion in your body composition can put you as a risk of various health conditions. However, this type of measurement is only available in clinics, or the devices are too big and expensive to afford for the regular household."
Lee highly recommends the Applied Business Research course to other entrepreneurs because working with student consultants is cost effective and brings fresh ideas and new perspectives to businesses looking for insights on how to enhance their products or services.