So you need to do a little product discovery work. And you’ve heard about two processes that can help you: Lean Startup and Design Thinking. Which one is right for you? I cover both of these processes in depth in my new book, Agile Discovery & Delivery: A Survival Guide for New Software Engineers & Tech Entrepreneurs. However, I ultimately did not include the following section on how to choose which process is right for you: Lean Startup vs. Design Thinking. Sometimes it’s best to keep things simple. But I still think this information is valuable, so here’s the section I yanked on Lean Startup vs. Design Thinking.
Lean Startup
First of all, what is Lean Startup? Lean Startup is an iterative process for honing in on a successful product or business model, as outlined in Eric Ries’ book: The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. If you’ve ever heard anyone talk about Build, Measure, Learn, they’re talking about Lean Startup. In a nutshell, the process looks like this:
I highly encourage you to read Ries’ classic book, but you can also find more information here. Shout-out also to Ash Manyara’s Running Lean book, which is a very practical take on the process, building off of Lean Startup.
Design Thinking
Design Thinking is a very similar process that’s proven to be very popular, especially in the design community. We leaned on it often at Capital One Labs. IDEO, a product design company, came up with Design Thinking and has used it to redesign some of the products you use every day like the Braun/Oral B electric toothbrush and the Uber Eats app.
You can learn more about Design Thinking here or here.
On Design Thinking vs. Lean Start-up
There are a few differences between Design Thinking and Lean Startup that are worth mentioning. Both can stand on their own as viable discovery frameworks. Their differences may highlight which one is a better fit for any particular project.
Starting Point
Lean Startup begins with a founder vision. Someone has an idea (a hypothesis) that they feel is worth testing. Without that initial idea, Lean Startup won’t work very well.
Design Thinking starts with observation. You don’t have to have a vision for your product or feature. You begin by talking to customers, getting to know them, and finding out what problems they have. It helps to have an idea of who you’d like to build for, but you can begin the Design Thinking process even without that information. Just start talking to the types of people you care about or that you find interesting, follow the process, and the project will inevitably take on a life of its own.
Goal
For Lean Startup, the goal is to develop a business model. You run through the process in order to determine not only what customers want, but what they are willing to pay for. Enough customers need to pay enough money to sustain your business or product line over time.
For Design Thinking, the goal is to solve a problem for the customer. Money will follow if you solve an important enough problem for them.
In this way, Design Thinking might be a better choice for new feature development. In theory, your business model is already in place and you can continue to leverage it as you add to your product. Whereas Lean Startup might be a better choice if you are starting a brand new product without a clear path to financial success.
Who’s Your User?
In the Lean Startup realm, the “users” are your customers. They are the people with the money who will ultimately pay you for your product or service.
In Design Thinking, we think of “users” more as humans. Humans who have a problem worth solving.
Both
Both methodologies use prototyping and large amounts of customer feedback to reach their goals. While Lean Startup may focus more on the accounting/measurement side of things, and Design Thinking puts more stock on gaining customer empathy, both processes have basically the same steps. Beefing up your empathy or accounting in either one will lead to better results, so don’t be afraid to mix and match to some extent!
