How to evolve your idea into a minimum viable product ?

Problem

You have a product / service idea, what stages should you flow through to get your a Minimum Viable Product out on which you can iterate and improve ?

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Action

Utilize Double Diamond Model from the The British Design Council. LINK

Steps

• Start your thinking process from the right end of above diagram and end on the left
• As you flow, diverge your thinking when the diamond expands. Converge, synthesize & prioritize your thinking as the diamond shrinks.
  1. First Half of each diamond is to generate ideas, options, problems & potential solutions.
  2. Second half of each diamond is to prioritize and execute the content generated in first half stages.
     
• Iterate above
• In team settings utilize design thinking sessions to chart above process out on a board or shared electronic media.

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Outcome

• Your idea flows in an efficient logical validation flow:
  
  • Discover:
    • Analyze the market environment your idea can be implemented in.
    • Analyze of the market size your idea will cater to, measure an estimated the revenue scope of opportunity.
  • Define:
    • Synthesizing knowledge of market needs and how your idea can meet those in ways other products haven’t
  • Develop:
    • Explore potential options based on available resources.
    • Discover & validate the optimally possible solutions based on time, human and monetary resources available
      
  • Deliver:
    
    • Prioritize a solution of choice
    • Check for feasibility – technical, financial & other relevant organizational dimensions (E.g. Firm’s overall strategy)
    • Deliver a working solution to market and gather real market feedback
      • Use feedback to deepen understanding and iterate the process in second diamond
• Above process stage gates & distills ideas among product teams towards a feasible, practical and market deliverable minimum viable product option within optimal resources.
• The process also lays ground to spirally re-iterate and build on market feedback continuously over a product’s lifetime.