How to you deliver an amazing customer experience?

Delivering products and services that solve problems is no longer enough.

Solving a problem is critical to startup success, but companies must also take into account their customers’ end-to-end experience. The ability to deliver on both is becoming critical for success and competitive advantage.

While design has always been part of product development, today, design considerations are critical not only in terms of how a product functions, but also in terms of designing more engaging and delightful overall customer experiences – think Apple or Starbucks.

Design thinking can spur innovative solutions.

Design thinking is a repeatable process for innovation that helps companies to better define customer needs/desires and quickly prototype potential innovative solutions that can be tested and iterated based on real customer feedback.

Originally created for use by architects in the 1980’s, design thinking was adapted for business use in 1991 by David Kelly, founder of IDEO. Today, this process is used by some of the most innovative product companies and universities in the world including IBM, GE, Stanford University, and yes, right here at the LaunchBox.

Creating delightful end-to-end user experiences.

The ultimate goal of the design thinking process is to match people’s needs with what is desirable to them, technologically feasible, and viable as a business. It is the intersection of human desirability, technical feasibility, and business viability where true innovation happens.

Design sprints can be conducted in a little as 90 minutes or run for 2-5 days. With a focus on human-centered design, design sprints allows companies to rapidly and cost effectively ideate new products and processes that enhance customer experience across the variety of interactions a customer has with a company.

By integrating design thinking sprints into their DNA, startups can better envision, novel solutions that can be disruptive in the market and provide a competitive advantage.