Our FinTech client was wildly successful with their first product during the peak Covid years. But now they needed to evolve their portfolio of products to stay competitive.
But what products to launch, and for whom? The lead executive had a point of view. The strategy and product teams had plenty of ideas. But the client needed to find product-market fit fast - even if they weren’t aligned yet.
This can be a tense moment. Picking one direction can be a commitment, and commitments often get caught up in organizational dynamics (to put it nicely). At the same time, teams need to make a decision on how to move forward.
The Amplify team answered these questions and helped our client identify a path for growth in six weeks using Lean Customer Development -- a hybrid research/design approach involving quick bursts of customer interviews, rapid prototyping, and synthesis and iteration after every session.
We used LCD to quickly:
- identify the likeliest customers and their biggest needs
- hone in on a value proposition
- determine core features most likely to resonate with this group.
Here's what's unique about the LCD approach and how we made the most of it in this project:
There's an emphasis on two things: speed (don’t wait for someone to let you speak with customers!), and directional progress over perfect plans.
1. You're speaking with customers immediately.
Sometimes uncomfortably fast. We were talking with customers within a week. You’ll learn that not all customers will be the right customers, which is good (it gets you to target-customer clarity faster) and challenging (you may need to quickly recruit different participants).
2. You may not initially know what you’re looking for.
That’s generative research. Your first job is to understand the pain points. The value designers bring to this process: the ability to quickly make sense of what they’re hearing.
“Designers are powerful integrators. Designers have the unique ability to visualize what's in people's heads and create powerful artifacts that make a question or problem approachable for everyone.” - Daniel Tauber
Good designers add value to this process by making sense of these listening sessions with sketches, i.e. "is this what you're saying?" Make sure you also have designers who are capable of quickly sketching what-ifs.
3. You're prototyping constantly
We created 30 prototypes over the course of 23 conversations. Some of these evolved in mid-conversation. Again — make sure you have people who are great at Pictionary.
4. You're sense-making quickly
No waiting for dozens of people to send a strong signal. Direction over perfection. Risk: seeing patterns that aren't there. It's why we invite the broader team to be part of these sessions — to counter interpretation biases.
5. There's no apples to apples comparisons
Since we have multiple prototypes that evolve over time, there’s no apples to apples way to compare participant responses. It’s iterative — if you’re constantly learning, you’re constantly refining. This is not a good fit for teams that are uncomfortable with ambiguity.
In short, LCD is a great method if you're starting a product discovery process without clear user needs or product direction defined, and your teams are stuck in what-now mode. However, changing prototypes and hypotheses every day may make some leaders uncomfortable if they're seeking crystal-clear, definitive answers with lots of data behind them.
Drop us a line if you want to chat more about using this method with your team.
About Noel
Noel is a San Francisco-based research and design leader. He helps organizations frame their opportunities for innovation; leads cross-disciplinary teams to hatch impactful ideas; and guides the creation of digital products and services that help people and companies grow.
Noel was previously Executive Creative Director with R/GA, VP product and design with Zelle, and VP user experience with Crispin Porter & Bogusky.
