New Product Development Blog

Just Because You Build It, Doesn't Mean They'll Come

Design Thinking’s Winning Formula

Design Thinking is all about needs-based creativity that uses a process driven by speed and agility.

A traditional Design Thinking process consists of 5 steps:

• Empathize (explore the end user’s needs, desires, or struggles)
• Define (pinpoint and clearly articulate specific needs or desires to be addressed)
• Ideate (generate a variety of possible solutions)
• Prototype (create a rough representation of some or all possible solutions)
• Test (assess how well the ideas address user needs or desires)

One of the most unique aspects of Design Thinking is its dedicated focus on the user’s need or some point of friction.

In contrast, new products are often developed in an R&D lab or by an engineering group that develops something new because they have the supplies or ingredients and the knowhow. Unfortunately, those products don’t always address a need. I’ve been in more than one meeting where the conversation went something like, “just because we can build it, doesn’t mean we should.” Leveraging the Design Thinking protocol to stay focused on filling a gap helps avoid what could be a significant waste of effort and money.

Grounded in the knowledge of a real need, the major advantages of Design Thinking over slower stage-gate development are speed and agility.

This is true whether the focus is a new product or service, a customer or user experience, packaging, or a tech platform. The process can work almost anywhere. A few examples are shown below.

Family Meal Menu & Packaging

• Empathize: American families are busy, stressed, and time-constrained and want a good meal at the end of each day
• Define: families need a nutritious, affordable, and convenient dinner option
• Ideate & Prototype:
  • 3-day Design Thinking workshop with client team, highly creative brand customers (Imaginators®), package design engineers, and our innovation team
  • Immersion in customer needs, brainstorm to develop dozens of possible solutions (occasions, menu items, and packaging/delivery systems)
  • 48 hours of iterative brainstorming, prototyping, and refinement
  • Workshop concluded with a focus on one primary solution for development and testing (and each client team member with “move forward” tasks)
• Test: dinner daypart offer moved into 6-month test in two key geographic markets

Beverage Product Line Expansion

• Empathize: Consumers are demonstrating some restlessness in the client’s traditional, relatively static, crowded beverage category
• Define: 1) Flavor innovation is needed to address market trends and defend market share and 2) package innovation could help differentiate the brand
• Ideate & Prototype:
  • Full day of iterative ideation exercises with cross-functional client team and our innovation team
  • Both small- and large-group exercises focused on flavors and package design
  • Ideas brought to life using written concept frameworks and 3-D package mockups
• Test: Ideas were vetted internally and select concepts moved into further development and testing

Next-Gen Commercial Dinnerware

• Empathize: Social media has elevated restaurant-goers’ expectations for style
• Define: Restaurants need updated glassware and flatware that is both aesthetically appealing for customers and durable/long lasting for operational efficiency and cost containment
• Ideate & Prototype:
  • 2-day innovation workshop with client team, highly creative category users (Imaginators®), commercial subject matter experts, and our innovation team
  • Scores of ideas and idea fragments imagined, discussed, and expanded upon in group settings
  • Illustrations and early prototypes developed on the fly for discussion and improvements
  • Consensus reached at end of session regarding ideas worthy of further development
• Test: Final group of most promising ideas built into fully fleshed-out concepts for further testing

There are hundreds of other examples of how Design Thinking helps focus ideation and development on a valid market need. It could be a broken process that leads to frustration, a package design that adds complexity to product usage, a bold new trend driving consumer cravings, or an outdated customer experience begging to be updated. No matter the sector you work in, there are always needs to be met.

What’s a need in your world where a gap could be closed or friction could be alleviated, ultimately leading to a winning new product, service, or customer experience?

Felicia Rogers

Corporate Executive Vice President

Email Felicia

Felicia serves as a strategic advisor to clients and internal teams and works closely with our research teams to address clients’ tough business questions and challenges. During her career, Felicia has partnered with companies across an array of categories. She enjoys supporting clients in their efforts to build strong brands, accelerate new product development, and optimize the customer experience. Felicia began her career in advertising and has since spent most of her professional life in various research and insights roles at Decision Analyst.