How do you manage concept development in agile and lean environments?

1 Understand the problem

Before you start generating concepts, you need to have a clear understanding of the problem you are trying to solve, the needs and expectations of your users, and the context and constraints of your project. This requires conducting thorough research, such as interviews, surveys, observations, or experiments, and synthesizing your findings into insights and opportunities. You can use tools like personas, problem statements, or value propositions to define and communicate the problem and the desired outcome.

2 Generate diverse ideas

Once you have defined the problem, you can start generating ideas for possible solutions. The goal is to explore as many different options as possible, without judging or filtering them at this stage. You can use techniques like brainstorming, brainwriting, or SCAMPER to stimulate your creativity and generate a large quantity of ideas. You can also involve your users, stakeholders, or experts in the ideation process, to get different perspectives and insights.

3 Test and refine concepts

After you have generated a pool of ideas, you need to test and refine them, to select the most promising ones and eliminate the ones that are not feasible, desirable, or viable. You can use tools like sketches, storyboards, prototypes, or mockups to visualize and communicate your concepts, and get feedback from your users, stakeholders, or experts. You can also use criteria like feasibility, desirability, viability, or novelty to evaluate and compare your concepts. The aim is to iterate quickly and learn from your failures, to improve your concepts and align them with your problem and your users.

4 Integrate and prioritize concepts

Finally, you need to integrate and prioritize your concepts, to create a coherent and consistent solution that meets your project goals and user needs. You can use tools like concept maps, story maps, or roadmaps to organize and structure your concepts, and show how they relate to each other and to the overall solution. You can also use methods like dot voting, Kano model, or MoSCoW to prioritize your concepts and decide which ones to focus on and which ones to defer or discard.

Concept development is a dynamic and iterative process that requires creativity, collaboration, and experimentation. By following these tips, you can manage concept development in agile and lean environments, and deliver solutions that are innovative, valuable, and user-centric.