Why You Can't Afford to Skip the Product Design Process
How To Progress From Ideas To Designed Product Experiences That People Love
By Chris Hammond, Fractional Head of Product Design, Outrigger Group
If you’re a technology company founder, you likely think your idea can become the next big thing. Now, the crucial question remains: What’s Next?
Too often, the answer is simply, “build.” You and your team are excited, so you put in the hours of heads-down work to make your idea a reality. But you may be missing a critical step involved in progressing from an idea to a sellable product: the design process.
Focus On the Problem, Not the Solution
Statistically, 90% of all start-ups fail. Why? As former Outrigger Group CEO Evan Schnidman observed in an earlier article, they “fall in love with the solution, not the problem.” (How to Build A Successful Business: Define Your Own Success — Outrigger Group)
Ask yourself: is my idea a solution or a problem?
If it’s a solution—even one built on AI—pivot to the problem, right away. Congratulations, you’ve now increased your chances of success.
Now that you are focused on the problem, what’s next? Let’s start by asking ourselves some questions:
Who is experiencing the problem? (Your “user” or “persona.”)
What problem did you observe them having?
What is the context of the problem? What is the trigger that causes the problem to occur? What else is going on around them?
Are others affected by the same issue?
Step back from the problem and focus on the human—what are their underlying needs? (How to create a Needs Statement: Needs Statements Toolkit activity - Enterprise Design Thinking)
Sketch out what happens for the user before, during, and after the problem occurs. (How to create an As-Is Scenario: As-is Scenario Map Toolkit activity - Enterprise Design Thinking)
Don’t operate on assumptions or broad generalizations. Get feedback on your observations from real people. Observe them and talk to them to test your assumptions and documentation.
Please note: this is by no means a comprehensive list, merely a thought starter. Contact us if you want to discuss with a team member.
Still feeling good about the problem you’re focusing on and the people you’re helping? Then let’s go design a better future.
Read more: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-research/start-by-learning-user-needs
Design the Future—Thoughtfully and Strategically
Now that you’ve identified a real problem that needs solving, it’s time to “design” a better future.
As Nobel Memorial Price winning economist Herber Simon put it, design is about “things as they ought to be.” That is our goal. We’ve identified a problem and we’re going to envision and create what ought to be.
Here is your checklist to get started:
Look around: Has anyone else tried to solve this problem before? How? Did they succeed or fail? Why?
Generate different ways to address the needs you’ve identified. There are many ways to do this, but we suggest starting with: Big Idea Vignettes Toolkit activity - Enterprise Design Thinking
Aggregate and evaluate your ideas. Which ones do you think will solve your users’ problem the best? Which ones are the most feasible to actually build, operate, and sell?
Remix your ideas and prioritize them based on importance to your persona and feasibility. Narrow your list down to 3–5 strong options.
Determine the lowest fidelity medium (prototype) to test the concepts. Include a hypothesis of what would be true if you delivered the solution to your persona and tested it in a real-world setting.
Get feedback on your concepts. Test your ideas with real humans. Ask: how is your concept better than existing solutions? (Read more: Plan a round of user research – GOV.UK)
Create new concepts or refine the existing ones. Your goal is to converge on a solution that your personas consistently respond well to. As the concepts mature, continue to evaluate feasibility, value, and commercial viability.
Now, rinse and repeat this process—but not forever. Your goal is to converge quickly on a validated need and a promising, tested solution that will be well-received by your users.
As we’ve seen, the design process is not a needless formality or a drain on resources—it is a crucial step to bringing your game-changing idea to life in a way that connects with and solves the problems of real humans.
Additional Resources
Human-Centered Design Guide Series: https://digital.gov/guides/hcd
Gov.uk Design Service Manual: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/design
Enterprise Design Thinking (IBM): ibm.com/desiDesign - Service Manual - GOV.UKgn/thinking/ (Free with an IBMid)
Stanford d.School Design Thinking Bootleg: https://dschool.stanford.edu/tools/design-thinking-bootleg
Want help translating your design thinking into operational execution or tailored go-to-market strategy? Let’s talk.
At Outrigger Group, we provide fractional executive support to help you achieve your version of success. Whether you're scaling, pivoting, or refining your strategy, our experienced team is here to offer support without slowing you down. Reach out to info@outrigger.group if you want to start a conversation.
