Connect
Eric Ries, author of the bestselling book The Lean Startup, defines a pivot as making a “change in strategy without a change in vision” (Ries, 2012). While this makes for a great soundbite, if we unpack this statement, deciding when to make this change can be a critical inflection point in the product/service development cycle.
The concept behind the pivot relates closely to this module’s focus on iteration and the cyclical nature of Design Thinking. Iteration acknowledges that we are unlikely to achieve perfect product-market fit in our first attempt, and that the sooner we can realize this, the sooner we can adapt our strategy accordingly.
So, let’s start off this module with a quick look at some of the biggest pivots in the tech industry. Some will surprise you!
The 7 Greatest Pivots in Tech History(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (3 pages)
Content
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
identify and summarize learnings and insights from the measure and test phase,
use these insights as an input into a subsequent iteration of the Design Thinking process, and articulate the need for, and impact of, a major product/service pivot.
Iterative Design
By this point in the course, it should come as no surprise that the final stage in our examination looks at the iterative or cyclical nature of Design Thinking. So far, we have learned that Design Thinking is deeply rooted in testing and validating assumptions—about the needs of users, their pain points, their unmet desires, and so on. If we carry that understanding forward, it means that at certain points in the design process, we will get something wrong.
While many books and articles on Design Thinking provide illustrations of perfect-looking loops that cycle back from the test stage to somewhere earlier in the process, the reality of actually “doing” this type of design is much messier. There are an almost infinite number of paths that can be taken, and one of the subtle skills of the Design Thinking leader is the ability to navigate this kind of pathfinding with confidence and ease.
What is important here is to look for signals throughout the design process that it might be time to revisit an earlier stage. The introductory podcast introduced a hypothetical scenario in which the validation stage pointed to a missed user pain point, which led the design back to the ideation stage in order to address this pain point.
In other cases, the insights learned from user feedback (for example, through the utility or usability testing that is conducted) may point to a need for further refining the design or layout of the product or service. In this scenario, the iteration may go back to the prototyping stage. There are no hard rules here in terms of how often to iterate or exactly what stage needs to be revisited during each iteration.
Being an effective Design Thinking leader or facilitator is about carefully observing and identifying subtle clues or indicators that a solution may not be performing as anticipated, may not be effectively addressing the needs of your users, or even that those needs were misunderstood or incomplete to begin with.
Mid-Cycle Iterations
There is a secondary consideration to be made as you think through the nature of iterative or cyclical design: it is not always necessary to wait until the end of the process to cycle back. In fact, the earlier you can find those signals that point you in the direction of iterating back, the more efficient you will become.
Let’s unpack this point a bit further by returning to our example of the hospital waiting room app.
Before doing so, first consider another form of testing that was not discussed previously. Known as “hallway testing” it is a very rapid form of utility test that involves taking a concept—which could be anything ranging from a value proposition that’s been developed to a fully functional prototype—and simply asking people in near proximity their opinion about it. There are several key considerations to keep in mind when doing hallway testing:
The people you test with may or may not be your actual target end-users.
Someone’s opinion about a solution does not necessarily indicate whether or not they would actually adopt or purchase the solution/product.
Hallway tests rely heavily on a “gut reaction” to a concept, and are used primarily to build confidence that a solution is being developed in the right direction.
This type of testing is not a replacement for thorough utility or usability testing (and it’s for this reason that it was not introduced in the previous module!).
Jumping back into our example, let’s now assume that during the ideation stage where the concept for your waiting room app is being developed, you take a 15-minute break to “gut-check” the idea with some co-workers who may be familiar with the overall problem in the abstract, but may not have had a recent waiting room experience. One after the other, the people to whom you show the concept provide you with some kind of feedback related to the idea of wanting to be shown an estimated waiting time.
Eureka! This may be an ideal moment to go back and examine the insights developed from the empathy stage to ensure that these potential user pain points or unmet needs are understood and incorporated into the design.
Depending on the situation, you may wish to go back and conduct a bit more research to further validate these insights. You may also just accept that these additional pain points are valid and continue your ideation with that in mind. There is no right or wrong answer here; but what is most important is to be aware of the fact that things change quickly. A core strength of the Design Thinking practitioner is to adapt to these changes in near real-time.
Study
We continue with the next chapter in the course textbook, which will come to an end in the next module. It should be noted that the link from Nielsen Norman Group (listed third below) is rather long and dates back to 1993. It is therefore presented here as optional reading, although it is very useful for demonstrating that iterative design is not a new concept, and that the method itself, along with its measurable impacts, have long been understood.
The final link provides a great overview of the whole Design Thinking methodology through a slightly different lens. Take note of the diagram included at the beginning of the article, which shows many sub-loops, rather than one “perfect” design cycle.
Chapter 7: Creative Confidence to Go: (32 pages)
From: Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All
Design iteration brings powerful results. So, do it again designer!(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (3 pages)
Iterative User Interface Design(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (15 pages – optional/skim)
Design Thinking as an Old, Iterative, and Non-Linear Process(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (5 minute read)
When to Pivot
Once we understand the iterative nature of design, it is also important to recognize that sometimes a larger strategic shift may be required. As we saw in the Connect section above, the term for this kind of shift, as coined by Eric Ries, is a “pivot.” A pivot is the idea that while the original vision for the product, service, or platform may be the same, the strategy for how to solve the problem may need to change.
Taking this one step further, there may be times where the understanding of the problem is not (fully) correct, and the pivot may involve actually reframing the problem as originally stated.
Most commonly, a strategic pivot tends to occur after an initial launch (this may be in the form of a pre-release or beta version of the product distributed to select users), and the usage or adoption of the solution either doesn’t meet expectations or changes (in a significant way) at a certain point in the future. In general, there are two types of factors that would cause a team or organization to consider a pivot: internal factors and external factors. More information about each type of factor is included in the study material below.
Starting with a Pivot
In many cases, teams and organizations who adopt a Design Thinking approach are not starting with a brand new product or service development from scratch. Rather, they are often working on either modernizing or relaunching an existing offering. There will be times where the existing solution was created using approaches that differ greatly from the Design Thinking methodology, and these present a unique opportunity to bring the Design Thinking process in to a team or organization.
In situations like this, you may find yourself needing to adapt the Design Thinking methodology to the particular circumstances. When doing so, it is crucial to keep the mindset of Design Thinking alive—meaning that the focus should remain, first and foremost, on understanding the needs of your users and designing the solution to meet those needs and address key pain points (some of which may be hidden). Again, let’s look at an example to illustrate what how this adaptive process and workflow might play out.
Imagine you have been brought into a team that has built a working version for the hospital waiting room app we have been discussing. The app has now been launched into the mobile app store and has been downloaded by some number of users. However, the usage statistics and reviews indicate that the app is not necessarily meeting the needs of those users.
There are a few things to consider when determining the how to proceed in this situation, and this is where your experience and judgement as a Design Thinking leader and facilitator will come into play. The following steps may be useful starting points for charting a revised course:
Review what (if any) research was conducted ahead of designing the app. Was it chiefly secondary research, or were target users consulted directly?
How were the insights from that research captured and framed?
Review how the initial problem statement was defined. Is it presented as an opportunity or as a prescriptive recipe for what the solution should be?
If a prototype was built, perhaps it is worth reviewing any feedback collected from target users who were shown or given access to the prototype. Was this step skipped?
These are only three potential next steps, and there are many ways to approach the Design Thinking process when starting with an existing product, service, or platform. The best practice here, if possible, is to go back as early in the process as is feasible, and to leverage as many elements of the methodology as you can.
For instance, if time or budget restrictions don’t allow you to go all the way back to the empathize stage, perhaps you can still bring some of that empathy into later stages of the process. Again, this isn’t hard-coded, and with time and experience, practitioners will uncover patterns in what works well under which sorts of circumstances.
Finally, a note about organizational dynamics. Different teams and organizations will change the way you may want to approach the introduction of a Design Thinking methodology.
There are nuances and complexities here with respect to team hierarchies, organizational politics, and so forth that will impact how this is most effectively done. The next module will explore this in more depth and arm you with some tools to help navigate this potential minefield!
Study
The following materials will help you think through the realities of what it means to pivot. You will notice that the term pivot can mean different things to different people. The first link, in particular, speaks to a “major” pivot, which involves actually adapting an organization’s business model. In addition to the written article, the first embedded video on the page shows esteemed innovation leader Clayton Christensen summarizing this concept very well.
The second article, is of particular interest, given that the term “pivot” is more of an artifact of the Lean Startup process than of Design Thinking as such. However, the article shows how the processes are quite complementary, and so an understanding of both methodologies can be advantageous to practitioners.
The final link speaks to the fact that knowing when to pivot is key, and in many cases, as a strategic leader or facilitator, you will be on a project that is in flight and mid-pivot right off the bat.
When And How To Pivot A Business Model(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (4 pages + 6 minute video)
Lean Startup and Design Thinking: Getting the Best Out of Both(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (3 pages)
The Strategic Pivot: Rules for Entrepreneurs and Other Innovators(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (3 pages)
When It’s Time to Pivot Your Product(hyperlink opens in a new tab) (4 pages)
Supplemental Materials
Once you complete this course, you can help take your learning to the next level with some additional reading from the list below. These books dive deeper into some of the themes that we have explored in this and previous modules. While they do not directly address Design Thinking, they do focus on some of the broader challenges that Design Thinking practitioners seek to address, particularly in the realm of innovation.
The Innovator’s Dilemma(hyperlink opens in a new tab), by Clayton Christensen
The Lean Startup(hyperlink opens in a new tab), by Eric Ries
Business Model Generation(hyperlink opens in a new tab), by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
Practice
Finish up this seventh module by creating a blog-style post to share in the discussion forum. For this post, you will share an example of a significant “pivot” made by a company relating to a product or service (similar to those discussed in the article from the Connect section at the beginning of this module).
To complete this activity, read the instructions and post in the discussion forum titled Module 7 – Iterate. To learn how to access and use the discussion forums, see Discussions under the Evaluations module.
Take Away
As we move out of the core process of Design Thinking and begin to introduce the real-world applicability of the practice, you should be starting to think more and more about how to apply Design Thinking tools and mindsets within your team or organization.
Evaluations
To learn more about how your learning is graded in this course, review the Evaluations module. Due dates are listed in the Detailed Course Schedule in the About the Course module.
Coming Up
In the next and final module of this course, we will change direction a little and discuss some of the real-world implications and challenges of applying a Design Thinking mindset and methodology to a team or organization..
References
Basulto, D. (July 2, 2015). The 7 greatest pivots in tech history. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/07/02/the-7-greatest-pivots-in-tech-history/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9f38a365d69c
Interaction Design Foundation. (May 17, 2018). Design iteration brings powerful results. So, do it again designer! Retrieved from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-iteration-brings-powerful-results-so-do-it-again-designer
Juncal, S. (November, 2016). When It’s Time to Pivot Your Product. Retrieved from https://www.productplan.com/pivot-your-product/
Krakovsky, M. (September 20, 2016). Lean Startup and Design Thinking: Getting the Best Out of Both. Retrieved from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/lean-startup-design-thinking-getting-best-out-both
Martin. (September 17, 2014). When and How to Pivot a Business Model. Retrieved from https://www.cleverism.com/when-how-pivot-business-model/
Nielsen, J. (November 1, 1993). Iterative User Interface Design. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/iterative-design/
O’Conner, C., Klebahn, P. (February 28, 2011). The Strategic Pivot: Rules for Entrepreneurs and Other Innovators. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2011/02/how-and-when-to-pivot-rules-fo
Ries, E. (2012, July 6). “A pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision. You cannot have a pivot without vision (that’s just wandering around)” [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ericries/status/221318901018017792?lang=en
Soi, B. (April 24, 2017). Design thinking as an old, iterative and non-linear process. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@bhawnasoi80/design-thinking-as-an-old-iterative-and-non-linear-process-b4a2b5806a
