Let's remember what it's all about
Deon Hanns
Founder & Lead Visual Storyteller at The San Scribe | Certified Goal Mapping Coach. Empowering individuals and organizations to visualize and achieve goals through impactful visual narratives
The true nature of a thing is the driving force behind its existence. If you tap into that, you're in for certainty! What is the true nature of the products we design?
Lean UX is the practice of bringing the true nature of a product to light faster and is inspired by Lean Start-up and Agile development theory. As a visual and lean UX practitioner I find it's easy to get caught up in the "busyness" of product design and lose sight of what the product is fundamentally intended to do - satisfying a customer's need.
To get to the true nature of a product you're designing for is not a once-off exercise. The true nature of your product only emerges after several iterations and possibly countless user validation activities. It is emergent in nature and you don't see it clearly in the beginning of your product design process. This is why making assumptions about what the business wants and what your customer needs at the start of your process and THEN validating it with your customer is better from a risk-reduction point of view.
How many horror stories have you heard about companies that spent huge sums of money on a product that failed in the market, because their product did not connect with their audience? The true nature of your product is its ability to satisfy your customer's need in such a way that they will use it again the next time. Why? Because your design process locked their immediate need into your product. Know your customer (KYC) is about falling in love with the problem and pain points of your customer and solving it in the quickest possible way.
The true nature of a product means the next time they use your product it will meet their need again, faster. Why? Because the practice of bringing the true nature of a product to light is continuous and iterative. People's needs change all the time and your product feedback loop should inform you when this happens so that you can repeat the process again to hit the sweet spot of customer satisfaction.
Hope this article helps you in your quest to design awesome product experiences.