Methods and tools for continued work
Now that you are ready to take your idea live, it is perhaps easy to fall back into old habits and ways. The tools and the methods that you have acquired and used could well be useful in the processes to come. A development process is complex work with a lot of repetitive activities, major or minor, that you will have become familiar with from this guide. In technical language, this is called ‘iteration’, i.e. you regularly switch between the phases for support, understanding, development and realisation during the process, depending on what is needed. Do you need more customer insight as the product or service takes shape? How can this be realised in the business? Would it be useful to modify or change an element of the value proposition and the business model? Or have you quite simply identified new opportunities along the way?
The majority of the tools and methods you have acquired and used up to now can easily be used again through these iterations, but there are some methods that are more important than others:
- In-depth interview – The techniques from in-depth interviews are always worth using, whether you need to gain more insight or want to test prototypes. Be open and curious, and set aside your own opinions and expertise.
- Prototype testing – The techniques for testing prototypes are always worth considering no matter what point you are at in the development process.
- Business Model Canvas – This is an important tool to always have to hand throughout the development process for use in adapting the value proposition, and constantly assessing whether or not you are creating value for customers and capturing value for the business. It may be worthwhile drawing the canvas on brown kraft paper/a whiteboard and putting it up in the room where the team usually meets, in order to assess and modify elements in it.
- Customer journeys – A good customer experience is a competitive advantage. Always focus on what the intended customer journey might be, what experience the customer might have along the way, and when their objective has been achieved through use of the company’s products and services.