After designing and building software for clients on more than 100 products over the last 20 years, it's become painfully obvious that there's no shortage of great ideas for new products. Equally obvious is that starting with a great idea doesn't necessarily mean you’ll wind up with a great product. Almost every wildly successful startup has found said success with a completely different product than they originally set out to build.
How have these teams found the secret successful product hiding in the heap of (mostly unused) features their team is furiously designing, building, shipping, and supporting? Sure, you're supposed to get out of the building and talk to customers, but how do you actually do it, and what do you once you have? And what if you got into this whole industry partly because you don't actually like talking to people?
In this issue:
• 1 question you should be asking everyone you meet
• 3 folds to a piece of paper that can turn anyone into a designer
• 8 hours that just might turn your product into the next big thing
• 100 dollars you should be spending on TaskRabbit every month
28. Empathy interviews
Six-up sketches
Three on Thursdays
Opportunity statement
Provisional personas
Experience map
Paper prototypes
Wireframe walkthrough
Story writing & mapping
Cross-functional pairing