Are You Asking Customers the Right Questions
Whether you are a Lean Startup junkie, a Design Thinking guru, or any other human-centered innovation practitioner, you know that getting out to customers early and often is required, in order to discover real problems, hidden needs, and unique customer-generated solutions. One of the easiest techniques is the customer interview. Once you have embraced the […]
What Is Design Thinking- Is This Innovation’s Panacea
When I first heard the term “Design Thinking” it tied my brain into knots. What did it mean? To my mind, “design” is either a verb or a noun. As a verb, it means either to create or execute an idea, or to conceive a plan. As a noun, a “design” is the result of […]
Innovation Is A Lot Like Stand-Up Comedy
Innovation is serious business. The lifeblood of your company depends on your ability to serve the changing world with new products and services while continuing to generate profits. What does this have to do with comedy? Turns out there are a lot of similarities. There is, after all, a process….In creating a stand-up comedy act, […]
5 Lessons Startups & Enterprises Can Learn From Each Other
Entrepreneurs are continuing to launch startups at a rapid pace, and the majority continue to fail. At the same time, large companies are looking to increase their innovative activity to remain competitive, and many have turned to investing in new ventures or establishing innovation centers in order to gain a foothold on the emerging technology […]
Lean Customer Research® is more than Trolling Starbucks
Lean Customer Research® is more than Trolling Starbucks for Captive Customers With the focus on “getting out of the building” as soon as possible and validating ideas with customers a la “the lean startup” approach, researchers often hit up the nearest Starbucks. Starbucks happens to be a good place to find people to interview. Many […]
Why I Love Moderated Usability Research – A Short Story
VP Sally (not her real name) was asked by her boss to “borrow” me in order to help them get to the bottom of the uproar caused by a recently installed system for expense reporting and supplies ordering in the company. How could a little, incidental piece software for ordering pens, pencils, and staplers cause […]