The most delightful ideas have the greatest potential to delight customers.The most rational ideas are the easiest to implement and closest-aligned with existing processes.It’s called the 4 categories method, where you categorize the best ideas into - surprise - 4 different categories. Luckily, there’s a helpful design thinking process that can help teams get the best of both worlds and routinely select the best ideas. Others - especially with a budding Steve Jobs on your team - will tend to aim way too high, only focusing on the long shot. Some companies stick to “realistic” ideas, often aiming too low in the process. So you should identify the ones with the most potential, and shortlist 10 or so ideas to explore further.Īt this stage, there are 2 potential traps that any project team must avoid. But a list of 50+ unsorted ideas isn’t a good starting point for in-depth evaluation. You can either brainstorm together or separately write down ideas first based on the problem statement and meet to compare and mix and match ideas later - research proves the latter leads to more and better ideas. What is the scope and timeframe for developing the solution?.You can also add more detail if you want. Start by using “how might we” questions to create a list of ideas. You don’t want to follow Microsoft’s footsteps and release an inferior smartphone 4 whole years after the iPhone changed the game.įinally, it’s time to get down to business and start solving the problem. You may find that developing an integration or partnering with another company is the best solution.ĭon’t try to enter an established market without a key differentiator. If you’re trying to solve problems for an existing product or service, starting from scratch isn’t always best. Can you use existing technologies - open-source or otherwise - to solve the problem?.How much are customers spending on similar products?.Do these solutions offer niche-specific versions?.

Are these failing to meet customer needs in any way?.Do current solutions exist that try to solve the problem?.Research the problem in-depthĪt this stage, you’ll figure out the market state, whether any competing products exist or are on their way, and what user needs competitors neglect.Īgain, a few simple questions can help you get to the bottom of things. Project managers highlight poor requirement gathering, upfront planning, and lacking vision as top reasons for project failure, according to PMI data.ĭon’t neglect the upfront legwork. A lot of new projects fail before they even start. What are our limitations - budget and other constraints?Įven if you think you have a good idea, focus on the requirements and your limitations.What are the requirements for this project?.Can the solution help everyone equally?.You and your project or product team need to figure out: Whether you found a pattern in negative customer feedback or you have some R&D budget left to spend, the approach stays the same. Let’s take a closer look at these steps and how you can put the design process into practice for your own projects. Making improvements to and releasing the final product.Evaluating and selecting a promising solution.When divided into 7 steps, the design process ranges from identifying the problem that the design or product will solve, all the way to research, planning, prototyping, and more. The number of steps technically depends on the industry and overall method, but we like 7. What are the 7 steps in the design process? To ensure this, it involves feedback from potential customers at multiple stages, including before you ever create a prototype or invest a lot of time and money into a project. It’s prominent in engineering, architecture, and manufacturing because it helps companies deliver finished solutions that customers want and need.Īt a glance, it looks something like this: The design process is a tool that helps you break down large projects into smaller, easier-to handle stages.

Project management steps