- Modern product design is not purely functional.
Competition is high.
And so are customer expectations.
Nowadays product practices include aesthetics, environment,
ergonomics, reliability, quality, security,
and many other parameters,
besides traditional functionality and cost.
The answer to the question of what product to build
that will delight the customers is not trivial.
There are multiple modern product frameworks and methods
that allow experimenting with products and getting answers
before actually investing time and effort
and building those.
Google Ventures created an methodology
of design sprints that combines design thinking
with lean startup practices.
Five days of intense user research
built on the five phases of design thinking.
This methodology is described by Jack Knapp and others
in the book: "Sprint, How to Solve Big Problems
and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days."
Design sprints at Google Ventures are unique
five days processes for answering crucial questions
through prototyping and testing ideas with customers.
Doesn't it remind you of lean startup?
It's a combination of business strategy, innovation,
behavioral science, and design
all packaged in a step-by-step process that anyone can use.
Design sprints implement the lean startup
build-measure-learn feedback loop in a very unique way.
Day by day of the week.
On Monday, participants map out the problem
and pick an important place to focus.
On Tuesday, they sketch competing solutions on paper.
On Wednesday, they make decisions
and turn the ideas into hypothesis.
On Thursday, they create a realistic prototype
based on this hypothesis.
And on Friday, of course, they conduct user research
and test this prototype with potential customers.
This method enables a thorough
and structured way of conducting user research.
Once the research is completed,
the time comes to define the minimum viable product or MVP.
MVP is an iterative low-risk way
of building a minimal, valuable, valuable deliverable
for the customer and releasing it to the customer.
It's a concept that stresses the impact of learning
in product development.
It represents a early version of a product
with just enough features to satisfy early customers
and provide feedback for future product development.
MVP is a great concept.
It minimizes risk, because it helps test assumptions
about whether the product meets customer needs.
And by doing this, MVP minimizes waste.