Design Thinking For Innavation Class Notes

UNIT-IV
Product Design
Problem formation: Even exciting product ideas can flop without an understanding of the user problem to
solve. A design problem statement is an essential step in the design process for creating products that truly
matter.
In 2006, Microsoft made the competitive move and released Zune, its version of the futuristic, one-buttoned,
every-song-in-your-pocket iPod. The onscreen colors were punchy and the interface was type-led with a
beautiful minimalist font. It was a bold move to challenge Apple, but in the world of product, success is not
always about being first.
The Structure of Product Thinking
You begin with the user and determine:
• What the problem is that you need to solve

• The audience that you’re going to solve the problem for
Then you look at the job to be done:
• Why are you doing this (what’s the vision behind it)?
• Strategy – the how will we do this?
Finally you reach your outputs:
• What goals are we setting? What exactly will we achieve?

• What features will this manifest as? What will we do to reach our goal
What is Product Design?

The definition of product design describes the process of imagining, creating,
and iterating products that solve users’ problems or address specific needs in
a given market.
The key to successful product design is understanding the end-user customer,

the person for whom the product is being created. Product designers attempt
to solve real problems for real people by using empathy and knowledge of
their prospective customers’ habits, behaviors, frustrations, needs, and wants.
What are the Types of Product Design Jobs Available?

What different companies think of today as product design jobs might include
several roles under different names. For example:
UX designer
User-experience and interaction designers focus on refining a product based

on how their research into user behavior suggests people will get the most
satisfaction from using the product. UX designers aim to increase users’
happiness.
Graphic designer
The most artistic job within product design is creating the graphics, icons,
logos, and other visual elements of the product experience. Their purview is
as broad as selecting a color scheme to as narrow as tweaking individual
pixels.
Motion/animation designer
If the product experience involves elements “moving”—be it slick transitions

or a user-controlled avatar—these specialists work on this extremely
complicated part of the design. They don’t create the art, but they bring it to
life.
User research
In a large enough product design organization, they are solely focused on

understanding customers. Interviewing, running usability studies, presenting
prototypes and mockups for feedback, and building out demographics and
personas that fall under their purview.
Data analyst
These designers focus on user research and other data to identify ways to
improve a product’s layout, feature set, and visual aesthetic. In other words,
their primary role is a scientific one, but they are also designers.
Prototyper
Prototypers are the product team members who bring the team’s ideas to a
tangible state to help the company quickly validate with users the product’s
features and other characteristics. In a company that makes physical products,
prototypers will hand-craft mockups. For digital companies, the prototyping
team will develop wireframes or other virtual mockups.
Product designer
Of course, in many cases, a company will hire a person to handle several of

the roles above and others under a product designer job. Other companies
will handle some of the bigger picture, strategic elements of developing new
product ideas.
What Types of Tools Do Product Designers Use?

Because it covers a broad range of disciplines, the role requires several
different types of tools. Among these are:
• Journey mapping apps

• Wireframing apps
• Graphic design apps
• Prototyping tools
• Research and data analytics tools (e.g., spreadsheets, sophisticated A/B
testing apps)
• CAD (computer-aided design) software
• Project management apps (e.g., Trello)
• Product roadmap apps (e.g., ProductPlan)
What Is Product Strategy?
The product strategy is a detailed plan that lays out your company’s goals
and how it plans to achieve them.Such a plan acts as a map to develop your
product and its features.
Since it is detailed, businesses use it as a reference point to make crucial

decisions.It helps ensure everything gets done correctly on time.
Some of the critical questions that the product strategy answers are:
• Which user persona does this product serve?

• How will they benefit?
• What are the company’s objectives throughout the
product life cycle?
The product strategy also outlines how the product will help the
business grow.
It explains the user problem that the product will solve and maps its impact
on the customer and the company. Once the product strategy is clear, you
can define your product to know what you need to develop and when.
The product strategy helps understand the product’s success before, during,
and after its development. You can always count on Chisel to create
roadmaps out of your product strategy.Moreover, you can also align team
members and build customer connections once your product strategy is in
place.
What are the Key Components of a Product Strategy?
Product management expert Roman Pilcher suggests a strategy should
contain the following key elements:
• The market for the product and the specific needs it will address.
• The product’s key differentiators or unique selling proposition.
• The company’s business goals for the product.
Another way to understand this is that a product strategy should include the
following three components:
1. Product vision
As we discussed above, product vision describes the long-term mission of

your product. These are typically written as concise, aspirational statements
to articulate what the company hopes the product will achieve. For this
reason, a product vision should remain static.
For example, Google’s early vision statement for its search engine was,
“Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and
useful.”
2. Goals
A product vision should lead to high-level strategic goals. These goals will,
in turn, influence what the team prioritizes on its product roadmap. Examples
of product goals include:
• Increase free-trial downloads by 50% in the next 6 months

• Improve our average customer rating by one star on major product-
review sites
• Generate $3MM in revenue within 12 months
Using SMART goals is the best approach to utilize when setting goals for
your product strategy. Like product roadmaps, goals should be specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
3. Initiatives
Initiatives are the strategic themes you derive from your product goals and
then place on your roadmap. They are significant, complex objectives your
team must break down into actionable tasks. (The product roadmap is, after
all, only the high-level blueprint.)
Examples of product initiatives include:
• Improve customer satisfaction

• Increase lifetime customer value
• Upsell new services
• Reduce churn
• Add customer delight
• Break into new industries or geographical areas
• Sustain product features
• Increase mobile adoption

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UNIT-IV

The Structure of Product Thinking

You begin with the user and determine:

• What the problem is that you need to solve

• What goals are we setting? What exactly will we achieve?

What is Product Design?

The key to successful product design is understanding the end-user customer,

What are the Types of Product Design Jobs Available?

User-experience and interaction designers focus on refining a product based

If the product experience involves elements “moving”—be it slick transitions

In a large enough product design organization, they are solely focused on

Of course, in many cases, a company will hire a person to handle several of

What Types of Tools Do Product Designers Use?

• Journey mapping apps

What Is Product Strategy?

Since it is detailed, businesses use it as a reference point to make crucial

• Which user persona does this product serve?

As we discussed above, product vision describes the long-term mission of

• Increase free-trial downloads by 50% in the next 6 months

Examples of product initiatives include:

• Improve customer satisfaction

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