I just met someone who is in dire need and she says “I need something that I can fill with liquid and drink from.”
I design 1.
But to understand a little more about this problem, I say, “Tell me more about this. What kind of things are you going to be drinking? Water? Milkshakes? Tea?”
“Well… I need it for drinking coffee.”
Now my product changes to 2.
I keep going. “How will you be using this? Just around the house? Or taking it with you when you walk the dog, perhaps?”
“Well… I need it for my hour long commute into work, so I’d like it to keep my coffee hot for a good while.”
Now my product becomes 3.
“Now that you mention it… It should probably hold about 2 cups.”
I say, “OK I think I have enough to get started. Let me take some time to synthesize this into a prototype and get your feedback.” I return a few days later and present her with 4. And I say, “I think I’ve got a great solution for you. It’s a metal thermos that will keep your coffee hot for hours. It holds 2 cups and it’s also got an easy sip lid, good for using while driving. Just what you need, right?
“Well… I should have clarified. It has to be microwave safe. My Keurig has a tendency to make some lukewarm coffee so I like to microwave my coffee right before I leave.”
The problem just changed. It’s not terribly different but I have to think about my solution a little differently now, don’t I? I show her 5. “How does this work? It’s ceramic and completely microwave safe. And I’ll tell you what, how about you take it for a test run in your car and see how it feels. Maybe we can get some deeper feedback that way.”
She returns from her test drive. I ask her how it went.
“Hmm… I forgot to mention that the cupholder in my car is a little small and this unfortunately doesn’t fit. Also my hands were slipping on the ceramic. I’m afraid I might drop it…”
Slight adjustments to the equation but we’re getting closer…
Enter 6. “Ok I made the shape taller and skinnier. I also added this rubber sleeve for extra grip.”
“Great! This is perfect! It’s just…” she responds.
“What…” I ask.
“I hate purple.” she says.
What happened there? Did we ever take a drastic turn away from the original equation? No, we refined our understanding of the problem and at the same time we refined our solution until the two were balanced…
We have our final product '7'
Which of the product from 1 to 7 would you say is the MVP in this case?
Credit:
Medium.com/teletracking-design/solve-for-x-1818099bdb9c
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