Combining Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile into a Single Framework (Part Seven)

Combining Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile into one framework.

by Emma Galvin
Creative Designer at Northstar Research

In 2021, we discussed Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile as part of our seven-part New Ways of Working for Market Researchers series. This included Combining the Lean Startup and Design Thinking for Market Research..

This month, in the series’ final installment, we’re going to combine Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile into one framework.

Why is this relevant to market research?

All three methodologies have their advantages. Design Thinking is used to generate ideas. Lean Startup is used to test ideas and prototypes. Agile is used to turn prototypes into products.

By combining all three, market researchers can understand and enter any part of the innovation process. This provides value to both their clients and their organisations.

How do we combine Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile into one framework?

The goal is to capitalise on the strengths of each methodology and utilize them at the right phase of this combined framework.

The combined framework is split into three frameworks: Using Design Thinking at the start. Lean Startup in the middle. And Agile at the end.

Phase 1: Generating creative ideas using Design Thinking

Market researchers use Design Thinking in the first phase of the framework to generate ideas to solve the user’s problem.

(For more information on Design Thinking please click here. _)
The three strengths of using Design Thinking in phase one are as follows:

1. Empathy: Design Thinking allows you to get to the heart of the problem and fully understand your user by using research techniques such as focus groups, interviews, and surveys to unearth valuable insights.

2. Helps create new ideas: Design Thinking encourages you to think as widely as possible to generate lots of ideas to solve the problem at hand.

3. Viewing the problem from different perspectives: Meeting with team members from different disciplines means you can approach the problem from different angles and therefore generate new and innovative solutions to the problem.

Phase 2: Turning ideas into prototypes using Lean Startup

Market researchers use Lean Startup in the second phase of the framework to build and test prototypes of their ideas, as well as to improve upon them. This lowers costs and reduces any potential risks early on.

(For more information on Lean Startup please click here. _)
The three strengths of using Lean Startup in phase two are as follows:

1. Building cheap prototypes: By creating a Minimum Viable Product (in other words, a cheap prototype), you can quickly test your ideas and fail earlier in the project. This helps minimise failures and costs further down the line.

2. Measure and understand results: By using research techniques such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, you’re able to gather customer feedback.

3. Learning and adapting: By learning from your prototype’s successes and failures, you can apply these new findings to your prototype and test them again.

Phase 3: Making and doing with Agile

In the third phase of the framework, market researchers use Agile to turn their prototypes into products.

(For more information on Agile please click here. _)
The three strengths of using Agile in phase three are as follows:

1. Efficiency: Agile frameworks are designed to be more efficient and eliminate “waste”. They map out the work that needs to be done from a low to high priority. This ensures that the right resources are directed to the right places.

2. Responsiveness: Flexibility is important in Agile frameworks. By being able to adjust what needs to be done, teams can continuously evaluate requirements and results, and improve upon these findings rather than sticking to an outdated plan.

3. Transparency: Transparency is one of the core characteristics of Agile frameworks. By maintaining transparency, teams can understand who is responsible for each task and when it needs to be completed by.

We’ve now concluded our seven-part series on Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile methodologies. We hope we’ve shown you how market researchers can now create ideas, test prototypes, and make products.