When is an idea born and how does it develop? In the common imagination, the beginning of a project is often associated with sudden lighting, a spark that illuminates the path or the inspiration of an individual.
In real life, on the other hand, the idea and the intuition need to be nourished by the knowledge and training of daily practice.
Making an idea grow requires a lot of work that apparently seems to have little to do with creativity and is less poetic than you think.
When someone tells us: “I had an idea!”
We:
Every idea has an intrinsic problem: it is only one and whoever tells it to you is in love with it. Both as storytellers and as listeners, we must therefore look at the idea with a wide-angle lens, which allows us to observe and evaluate it from all possible and imaginable perspectives.
Only in this way can we broaden our reasoning and deepen what we do not yet know. The initial spark must be nourished and developed: to give substance to the idea, it is necessary to insert it into a context, make it grow, create connections and structure it.
In addition, we are convinced of one thing: what at first seems like a good idea, is sometimes just an intuition and all too often it is already a solution, but it is not that simple: we live in an increasingly complex world and we cannot afford to make a wrong project for not having had the right approach to the initial idea.
Making mistakes is not that difficult, it has happened and will happen, we always try to remember some important cases from which it is possible to learn some lessons.
Let's start with this project designed by Fuse Project, an international studio that boasts high-level collaborations, international awards and projects of a certain impact.
Juicero, was a start-up founded in 2015 that wanted to revolutionize the market for juices and fruit extracts through pre-packaged “capsules” to be squeezed at home.
The project had many funders, including Google and Campbell Soup Company, but it soon turned out to be a flop and in 2017 the product was withdrawn from the market.
Why did it fail?
The main problem concerned the idea itself, that of solving a problem not relevant to the user, complicating something as simple as drinking a juice.
In addition, other factors have played against the start-up:
Users began to use the product less and less: at first they crushed the bags with their hands, because it was easier and faster, and finally they abandoned the idea of squeezed bags in favor of other devices, such as fruit and vegetable extractors that were spreading at the same time.
What did he teach us?
Design has the role of finding simple solutions to complex problems and we must question the usefulness of what it designs.
If you want to learn more, here is the link:
https://www.ilpost.it/2017/09/02/juicero-startup-spremifrutta-chiusa/
Google Glass were smart glasses with voice control, which displayed information in the area visible to the user.
Why did they fail?
For a variety of reasons:
What have they taught us?
Available technology that pursues potential problems is often a failed path. A product should not be created just because it is technologically feasible, but should be done only if someone is found willing to pay for that solution.
Fun fact: You can find Glass and other projects abandoned by Google on the site Killed by Google
https://killedbygoogle.com/
Here, however, you can find the video with the point of view of someone who knows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMHbAt3GVog
How to forget them: TVs that brought the depth of the third dimension into our homes. All the biggest manufacturers made their model, they were often to be watched with special glasses and only a few rendered 3D well even with the naked eye.
Why did they fail?
The glasses looked very cheap, could cause headaches and eye fatigue. In addition, there wasn't much content dedicated to 3D at launch yet.
What have they taught us?
The experience of a product can be ruined by the smallest touchpoint, such as glasses, treated too marginally for the impact they had in declaring the failure of the product itself. Also, adding steps is never a good idea, because the user expects to do less and better.
All these famous examples have taught us that it is very easy to make mistakes. But we have the possibility of reducing the chances of failure by following the design process which, despite not being a simple recipe, cannot lack three fundamental ingredients:
1- Listening: necessary to make yourself available to the actors involved in the project and to absorb as much information as possible.
Alert: those who talk too much have a secret to hide!
2- The prototype: useful for giving substance to the proposals made and bringing the drawings into the real world.
Tips: when in doubt, make a prototype, even an ugly one (we'll talk more about it in the article) MVP: how to accelerate the development and reduce the costs of digital products)
3- The test: essential for collecting feedback and advice to adjust some characteristics of the project.
Tips: Test solutions as soon as possible. The solution must be right before it becomes perfect!
The design process that we apply at Rawr is flexible, adapts to the different nature of projects and helps us to keep quality high. It is the result of years of experience and experimentation in a mix of different approaches studied and applied, from the very first Green Rice by Bruno Munari to the better known Design Thinking, passing from Design Sprint techniques and references to Service Design.
In”From what comes what”, a book that we recommend to everyone, creative or not, Bruno Munari tells how the solution does not arise directly from a problem, but from how it is analyzed and defined by the designer himself to the point of disassembling it into its components. To tell it, use the example of Green Rice.
Design Thinking, which is associated with Double Diamond, is a much more famous methodology than Green Rice. It is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is distributed by the fathers of Interaction Design, David Kelley and Tim Brown, founders of IDEO, one of the most important design studios on the international scene.
The two representations have many elements in common, including one that cannot be seen: even if represented following a horizontal or vertical line, the design processes are never linear.
Design is much more than a series of sequential steps: it is a dynamic process, which unfolds through various stages. To manage this complexity, we divide the creative process into three main parts, each with its own key steps.
We always start by asking a lot of questions that allow us to quickly collect a series of information and propose the most effective design path.
In this exploratory phase we try to look at everything with eyes clean from any preconception. We become avid observers, tireless scholars and picky analysts: we scan the company inside and out, with the same curiosity that we have when we go to discover a new city.
— Analysis
We define the limits of the project by listening to the needs of stakeholders inside and outside the organization. We organize sharing workshops to collect all the information necessary to start the project.
— recherche
We analyze quantitative and qualitative data with reference to the market and competitors. We study social, technological and environmental trends to understand how they can impact the project, the user and all the actors involved.
— syntheses
We interpret the research through the collected data, identify recurring patterns and project insights and highlight any critical points.
We are designers and therefore we design to bring the customer's ideas to life: this is the visible part, the easiest to tell because it is linked to know-how. Here lies most of the creativity, which allows us to interpret the data collected, to connect all the dots to adequately respond to the project objectives defined in the previous phase.
— Ideation
In this divergent and creative phase, we evaluate, select and transform all the information collected into creative ideas and obvious applications. We facilitate co-creation workshops to transform all participants into designers, even if only for a short time.
— Definition
We define the best version of the concept and develop it in detail, in collaboration with the technical partner. We implement the technical solutions and further adapt the design.
— Validation
We create working prototypes of one or more designed solutions. We collect feedback from users and stakeholders and apply it quickly to the solution to update it as soon as possible.
We integrate support for the company and technological partners in updates and in the continuous collection of feedback, which we transform into improvement changes applied both before and after the launch of the product.
From this process, it is easy to see how our work is transversal and touches multiple departments, inside and outside the company. For us, the project must respect all the actors and our role is to orchestrate the feedback of everyone, from management to research and development, from marketing to sales to external stakeholders involved during the entire duration of the project.
Here's what happens when an idea is told to us: in our head we begin to imagine a long journey consisting of many stages - those we have listed above - and many questions.
The idea is precious but it is a raw element, it is the starting point of the process and needs to be nourished and developed through the three phases:
And now, tell us your idea!
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