My favourite question to ask a designer is “How do you balance business needs with user needs?” I’ve observed that many designers would try to educate business stakeholders on what design is. Frankly, most of the time designers have to give in because business stakeholders are usually the key decision-makers in organizations. I see this as an opportunity for designers to truly understand business, demonstrate how design solves business problems and make a broader impact.
My Approach
Develop strong business acumen and confidence
Be empathetic to both users and business stakeholders
Ask a lot of “WHY” until you reach the root of the cause
Be the translator and speak your audience’s language
Put on the designer hat - ideate, prioritize and iterate your solutions
Build trust with business stakeholders and expand your influence
Selected Project
Situation
VanMoof is a Dutch bike brand, founded in 2008 with the mission to change how people commute to work. Their business goal is to reach €1B in yearly revenue in 5 years and become a category leader for electric commuter bikes. The biggest challenge is getting the company to cross the chasm, reaching mass adoption.
Task
Analyze current business model and propose innovative solutions
Address recently negative customer reviews
Action
Identified innovation opportunities from strategic places, business models and ecosystem maps
Deep dive into the causes of negative reviews leveraging hypothesis-driven design approach and proposed test plans for solutions
Result
Analyzed and proposed three potential complementary business models
Estimated the maintenance costs and number of contractors for customer support service
Proposed 6 strategic recommendations to resolve negative customer reviews and test plans to validate the assumptions