Skipping To The Solution Is A Really Bad Idea
Your first design, while it may seem like a solution, is usually just an early definition of the problem you are trying to solve. Luke Wrobleski
Product Development sometimes has a bad habit of skipping right to the solution, much like reading the last page of the book or skipping to the last few minutes of a movie. They missed all the good bits. If asked what the book or movie was about, most often they would get the whole plot totally wrong.
It’s the same with building and designing products. You need to get into all the ‘good bits’ to understand the problem and who you are solving for. That takes some time and work to get there, so your first meeting, assumption, or wireframe will definitely not be the last.Â
Don’t believe me, well stats don’t lie. Many product launches and designs fail, actually most do, because teams jump right to the build and don’t think fully (or at all) about the problem, market or customer.
Between 80% and 90% of new product launches fail, according to multiple studies including Harvard Business Review (1)
In the U.S., every product team represents, on average, approximately $1-2 million a year of investment, and up to 95% of features built are never used because they do not solve important needs (2)
Approximately 20% of new businesses fail within the first two years (3)
2%Â of shutdown business ventures that launched a new product failed to solve any significant customer problem (4)
55% of all product launches take place on schedule, and for the 45% that are delayed, 20%, on average, fail to meet their internal targets (5)
But why do all these really smart companies and teams fail so badly? Unfortunately, product design and development teams can face quiet a few challenges that lead to product failure include three themes:Â Research, Customer-Focus, UX, and Marketing
Research Issues:
Lack of Product-Market Fit or Market Research
Poor Pricing Strategy
Lack of Customer Understanding:
Not Solving the Right Problems
Neglecting Customer Feedback or Support
Lack of UX & Product Design:
Poor Product Design
Launching Too Late
Lack of Funding & Experience
Product Technical Issues
Failure to Innovate or Iterate
Lack of Time & Support
Lack of Marketing Support:
Poor Marketing and Messaging
Lacking Marketing Budgets
Lack of Sales
To overcome these challenges teams, need to be customer-focused, conduct thorough research, iterate based on customer feedback, conduct proper design, and ensure strong internal alignment and execution.
Now before I get into the process and how to make it work for you, let spill the tea… very few orgs and teams do it right. They try, they believe, and they so want it to work but there’s timelines, budgets, and promises to keep… (rolled eyes).Â
Teams need to be laser focused on:
Innovation
Design focus
Goals and requirements
Customer or problem identification
Team and organization makeup
Ok, you may be one of those people who just want to build cool Sh!t and hate process. I understand, I truly do. But cool sh!t bult not following a process, usually is just sh!t.
The Process: So, how do you ensure your teams get it right and don’t fail right off the bat. Process, Research, Process… (its work not magic)
If you’ve been in Product or UX you’ve probably heard of, and hopefully use, some sort of agile(ish) product development or design workflow. There are many flavors, titles and practices but basically it has a few discrete parts and players. It may even look something like this
Every company I worked at big or small was reinventing how we built and designed. It took a lot of time, and many decks, and I created a lot of those! The processes had slightly different labels, but they had the same premises.
When these teams ran the process, they were empowered and held accountable. We moved from waterfall orgs with no roadmaps or timelines, to efficient agile machines with best-in-class customer-centric solutions with great returns. It was all about the process.
No, it doesn’t have to take months, hundreds of thousands of dollars and big teams. It can be a team as small as three: 1 product manager, 1 engineer, and 1 UXer and it can take 2 weeks (or less). I know because I worked in such a rapid development team for app products for Microsoft.  You’ll probably say—well I can do it all by myself. Well good for you… Most enterprise solutions have a little more rigor and a party by yourself is not as fun as with more people.
If you are a team of one-or many, don’t become another failed product statistic.
Still not a believer? Well, I say just give it a try and if you do one part of the process give Ideation a whirl. It’s my favorite and honestly the most fun part. Need help? Book a free session to learn more.
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