“A person’s success can be measured by the amount of uncomfortable conversations they’ve had.” – Tim Ferriss

The Design Thinking for Startups Module have been very educative, challenging and interactive. But one unique lesson that I will never forget is to always put focus on the people, not the product.

The module have taught me to think and work differently, empowered me with tools needed in solving not just business related problems, discovering opportunities, and generating innovative, human-centered solutions.

From my experience during the module, creating and lunching a new product is frightening and a challenging task. But adopting a human centered perspective and an attitude of continual experimentation makes the whole task easy to manage.

One thing I have also discovered during this module is the fact there is never a one size fits all mold of how to design and launch new products into the market. Questioning things and going against the grain to understand the underlying process helps to bring any product to the market.

Below are five things I have learnt and I will apply in the near future.

1. Solve a Real Problem:

Solving business related problems involves identify the problem. Consumers or end users of any product and service will always have problems, people will always look for innovative ways or product to accomplish everyday tasks.

But as long as consumers have problems, they will always search for solutions.

Coming up with a solution does demand market testing. It’s important not to create a solution to a problem that does not really exist.

The skill here is identifying a real problem that can be effectively solved using market tested tools and resources.

A clearly defined problem does help expedite the path to finding the right (product or service) solution.

2. The Role of Prototyping in Solving Business Problems:

The problem of finding the right modern business solutions have made prototyping a necessity in lunching new product. One effective way of presenting a conjecture of solution to the end users is through prototyping.

As stated in one of my blog post, in “ the primary purpose of rapid prototype is learning – which assumptions make sense, which ones don’t”.

Prototype helps disentangle complex business problems or need. It allows you gather feedback or opinions needed for product or service alteration. Increases and improves stakeholder engagement. Furthermore, the beauty about using prototyping as a tool for product development is the cost of prototyping is just a fraction of the solution cost.

My business group was able to implement a business idea into a wireframe prototype within two days of conceiving it due to the advice we received in class to keep the idea simple.

3. Designing for your Customer:

It very imperative to have a good knowledge and understanding of your potential customer requirements. To effectively sell to your customers it important to identify and manage their expectations at an early stage of product development process.

Engaging with consumers is also an important aspects of knowing your customers. Some of the Business trade show and exhibition organised was geared at us first, understanding the needs of our potential customers.

It’s also essential to engage with your potential customers directly rather than basing your understanding of them on market research findings.

4. Simplicity is Key!

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.” – Steve Jobs

In the words of Richard Branson, “Keep it simple, stupid!” It is important the keep the initial product design simple. Focus should always be on the core premise of the product.

The customer should be able to know how the product works without them getting frustrated due to complicated design of your product.

5. Role of Good Value Proposition

A truly good value proposition should paint a picture of your brand. It’s should also describe the benefits customers can expect from your products and services. It literally tells your audience:

• How your product or service solves/improves problems

• What benefits customers can expect

• Why customers should buy from you over your competitors

It should also introduce you to prospective buyers and helps you make a strong first impression. Finally, a good design value proposition helps tackle the core challenge of every business — creating compelling products and services customers want to buy.

6. Role of Personas In Design Thinking Process

Applying personas to design thinking process will help you take a step back and build empathy with users, helping you to properly listen and walk in their shoes.

Personas are “not real people or average users but user models described in detail to have the key attributes, needs, values, lifestyle, culture and personal background of the group they represent” (Giulia Piu).

Alice Comi categorically stated that ” Personas are not specific users but rather ideal types that are built upon observation of multiple users.”

A persona shows attitude, behaviour, emotions and anything that will give more context to understand the personas behaviour.

 

“Personas were informally developed by Alan Cooper in the early ’80s as a way to empathize with and internalise the mindset of people who would eventually use the software he was designing.”

How Are Personas Created?

Personas can be created in a myriad of ways, This includes;

• Interview and/or observe an adequate number of people.

• Find patterns in the interviewees’ responses and actions, and use those to group similar people together.

• Create archetypical models of those groups, based on the patterns found.

• Drawing from that understanding of users and the model of that understanding, create user-centered designs.

7. Role of Finance and Pricing in Business

The ultimate goal of financed and product pricing is to achieve three benefits: business support service, lowest costs and effective control of the business environment.

Money is the lifeblood of a business and accurate profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow is needed to promote a successful business enterprise.

Reference

• Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services, Kim Goodwin

• The Essential Persona Lifecycle: Your Guide to Building and Using Personas, Tamara Adlin and John Pruitt

• The User Is Always Right: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for the Web, Steve Mulder

• Personas and the Advantage of Designing for Yourself,” Joshua Porter

• “Personas: Practice and Theory” (PDF), John Pruitt and Jonathan Grudin, Microsoft

• The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design, John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin

• “Losing Yourself in a Fictional Character Can Affect Your Real Life,” Jeff Grabmeier, Ohio State University

• “Real or Imaginary: The Effectiveness of Using Personas in Product Design,” Frank Long, Frontend

• “The Personas’ New Clothes: Methodological and Practical Arguments Against a Popular Method” (PDF), Christopher N. Chapman and Russell P. Milham, Microsoft

• “Putting Personas Under the Microscope,” Suzy Thompson, Cooper Journal

• “Quantitative Evaluation of Personas as Information” (PDF), Christopher N. Chapman

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Most organisations looking to grow often find themselves caught between conventional and newer approaches to innovation. While traditional strategy calls for rigorous analysis and critical thinking, design thinking espouses ‘thinking by doing’.

As discussed in class, design thinking is a holistic approach to business that, unlike the rigid structure of business, utilises both logic and creativity.

In order to effectively combine and focus these two forces, design thinking is said to be carefully guided by three principles: inspiration, ideation, and implementation. With the help of these three principles, design thinking encourages you to recognise communities with complex problems that you can fix and fuels innovation so you can do just that.

With the help of these three principles, design thinking encourages you to recognise communities with complex problems that you can fix which ends up fuellings innovation.

Below are three Ways design thinking  aid iInnovation in business:

1. Encouraging Creativity. Unlike the traditional structure of the business that analyses the probability of failure before a project is started, design thinking allows you to explore an idea fully so you can see if the solution is effective.

Design thinking encourages you to cast the fear of failure aside and let your creativity accompany you as you brainstorm, experiment, take risks, and expand your mind.

2.Inclusive Communication. The human-centered nature of design thinking necessitates that you communicate with your community in order to thoroughly understand how the product will impact them.

This communication fuels innovation because you cannot attempt to solve a problem if you do not comprehend it. Another level to how communication fuels innovation is through the group sharing and exchanging of ideas, as design thinking encourages collective ownership.

3. Constant Change.  As experienced, design thinking implementation involves creating prototypes that must be tested quickly to measure how they will affect the end users and they must be a process in place for continuous alteration and improvement.

This environment of constant change keeps you from getting stuck on one path and in one way of thinking and instead prompts you to consistently adapt to new problems and develop new solutions.

 

 

Hi everyone, welcome to my first blog post on Design Thinking for Startups module at Kingston Business School!

My name is George Uka  and am currently studying Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship MSc at the above-mentioned institution.

My professional work experience spans years in all facets of enterprise resources planning with extensive knowledge in SAP eRP implementation processes and configuration.

My interest in the role of Information Technology in business and government establishments formed the initial core of my undergraduate education (Information Systems) at Kingston University London, but my focus on the human and creative elements in business and the underlying connections with technology led me to broaden the scope of my studies.

Things you can expect from this blog includes important information about the module and practical learning outcomes, with a few random musings thrown in there. You might even get some pictures of my attempts at being creative if you’re lucky.

Aims:

 “This module aims to give students the knowledge and understanding of creative and business behaviours necessary for developing a product/service and establishing an innovative multidisciplinary business enterprise. Students will work in teams to set up a business. Business mentors will be available to coach the teams”.

The module Director Dr Janja Song constantly asked students to provide our thoughts and opinions during class discussions. She encourages students to make mistakes and be wrong since a certain amount of risk-taking is inevitable with creative thinking .

The module is also about bridging the gap between Business and Creativity. Establishing a solid connection between the two industry is the ultimate aim of this module.

Reflection : 

Reflecting on my first two weeks on this module, I think the three words I would use to describe it so far would be: Intense, Engaging, and Enjoyable. I remember being asked in class if we consider ourselves creative? some students (including me) found themselves unsure if they were or not.

So then, what does it actually mean to be creative? As discussed in class, creativity is the ability to imagine or invent something new. The ability to generate new ideas by “combining, changing, or reapplying existing ideas“.

As further explained by the module Director, “there is not a single person on earth who is not a creative being. “Creativity is  the creation of noble ideas in every domain“. People are curious about a new and innovative object.

How do we influence people with an object? How do will design Technology driven products? She said, we will learn not only what it means to be creative, but how to manifest our own creativity.

Business Idea Into Prototype Within 2 Days:

My group was able to implement a business idea into a wireframe prototype within two days of conceiving it due to the advice we received in class to keep the idea simple.

We were advised to stop wasting time on (Mr John sex orientation) but focus more on the deliverables, thereby eliminating the initial need of aiming for an absolute faultless product prototype.

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Creativity and Why is it Important?

In his TED talk video from 2006, which was played in class Ken Robinson stated, “Creativity is now as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”

Ken Robinson reiterates all of us possess everything necessary to be more creative. The problem is we’ve been trained away from our creative instincts by schools, parents, movies and workplaces.

1st Field Work : 

After watching three insightful videos in class about  ” What Makes a House a home” we were ‘drove‘ out of the class and segmented into two various groups with the aim of going around the campus asking students about ‘What makes a house a home’?

A straw poll of students surveyed threw up similar themes: ‘it holds all my favourite things and my favourite person in one place’, ‘it’s about having cool, smooth sheets but also feeling free to make a mess’, ‘it’s the place I retreat to for peace from the frenetic, bossy outside world’, ‘it’s where I can spend the whole day in my pyjamas watching Mad Men, if I so choose’.

After taking part in this class for two weeks, I now find myself asking lots of ‘Why’ questions. This course is much different from other module’s because with every lecture I feel like I have learnt something that can be applied to real life most annoying personal obstacles.

So that was a quick overview of everything up till now if you have any questions or comments feel free to post below, and I will see you in the next post!