2B Enterprise Research and Development Team - Unit C

Project Background

The collaborative team is an internal R&D unit within the company, with their primary customers being businesses (2B model). They develop products for end users in response to the demands of corporate clients.

The collaborative team lacks an internal user research department and has previously lacked the experience of engaging with users and gaining a fresh perspective on problems from the user's point of view.

We anticipate launching a four-month collaborative project, completing the design thinking process from clarifying assumptions to product validation.

Challenges Faced by Unit C

As Unit C gears up for the next phase of product development, it prompted a proposal of collaboration. Historically, development at this juncture relied heavily on assumptions from business customers or the intuition of the business team, with the development team subsequently brainstorming features in response. The revamped goal for this stage is now centered around "How can we comprehend the authentic needs of end users and conceive innovative features we haven't considered before?"

In our pursuit of creating a product that resonates with end users, the integration of the user research process into the development journey becomes imperative. We aim to address the following challenges:

Divergent Objectives: Customer businesses or operations may have objectives extending beyond "what users need". This misalignment can result in low user adoption or a subpar user experience post-product development.

Reliance on Business Opinions: The team heavily relies on business "opinions" for ideation, overlooking the actual user context and perspective. This often leads to the inclusion of features during development that lack meaningful relevance to users.

Absence of User Context: The lack of user context contributes to a dearth of development details, fostering communication ambiguity and impeding the development schedule.

Output

In response to these challenges, we not only bring our collaborators through the methodology and tools but also share the burdens of the user research process. This ensures that our clients gain user insights in the most efficient manner.

Establishing a three-round diverge-converge process that combines assumption clarification, user research, and feature validation within our internal development workflow

The three main usage scenarios and pain points (including Personas and Customer Journey Maps)

Two new features tested with users (including prototypes and the full testing process)

A comprehensive project wrap-up report that integrates project experience and learning for internal proposals and educational training

How do we support our clients?

Formulating Assumptions about User Contexts｜

Internal R&D departments often face the challenge of being distant from end-users, relying on imagination in product development. To bridge this gap, we guide clients through an internal diverge-converge process to clarify existing assumptions about the target audience. This initial step transforms imagination into learning and enhances the team's understanding of user contexts through iterative cycles between assumptions and validation results.

Rapidly Validating Assumptions through User Research｜

Enterprise clients frequently present broad usage scenarios based on scale or business value. In a recent case, Unit C assumed that the 'commuting' scenario had the highest user count and business opportunity. However, user validation revealed that existing solutions met primary objectives in this scenario, leading to a weaker demand for attractive product features. Our approach identifies user needs and insights, steering development in the right direction.

Breaking Free from the Trap of Simultaneous Ideation and Evaluation｜

Past constraints on time and resources pushed Unit C into simultaneous ideation and evaluation, compromising efficiency and the quality of solution. Our solution ideation workshops guide them on "how to ideate", constructing a suitable ideation framework. By employing Point of View (POV) and How Might We (HMW) statement, we explore project problem entry points, fostering diverse and effective solutions.

Systematically Testing and Validating｜

In contrast to past approaches focused on user preferences, our complete user research process allows systematic feature validation. We analyze details of contextual needs, identify core and secondary features, assess key factors creating value, and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of existing alternatives. This comprehensive testing enhances the team's understanding, ensuring efficient and targeted development.