Final reflection on Design thinking. Agile method in traditional production.

Challenge & Selection

Learning launch looks like the most useful method for product development. Some approaches within  the method are used to get proper results. The concept of MVP (minimal viable product) migrates  from coding and Agile method to traditional concept design. Customer development with faster  hypothesis creation and testing saves a lot of time and energy and helps to get objective conclusions  on actual customer needs.

My friend owns a company, which produces OEM mosaics from ceramic tiles. His clients are big  companies who order different mosaic sets as a complimentary product to add some artistic and  trendy style to their regular tile assortment.

The trends are fragile – fashion dominates the sector. Payed demand shifted to larger tiles and more  “clear” look with less decoration.

As a result, the stuff became idle and production run below the optimal limit. This situation considered  as an opportunity to make an experiment to capitalize on production competences and relatively low  fixed costs. The issue was to test our group ability to invent a sellable product within market price  limit.

Application

I started with a chart to mention key attributes and pinpoint the difference in approaches and  expected results.

The chart was like that:

TRADITIONAL  AGILE

1  CORE  COMPETENCE

Now how to produce, aware of the  trends. Traditional sales channel –  retail shops and design studious

Learn what is on demand. Use digital  channels

2  Clients  Architects and designers  Private people with decoration skills.

3  Brand   No. OEM  Yes or Private label

4  Differentiation  Huge – fashion & style  No. “Good enough”

5  Pricing  Cost + Margin = Price  Price-Margin = target cost

6  Investment  Stock, samples, POS materials  Samples

7  MVP  Months  Weeks

8  Income model  Margin  Turnover

Then we considered risks. The biggest one was to cope with empty stock or insufficient production  capacity if demand is too high.

We spent one hour on modelling supply chain for a sudden (not expected in our conservative mood)  demand rise and concluded that we can cope with it easily – digital channels provide a penalty-free  sales proposition first and second – price can be changed in minutes.

We also consulted production manager for speed/quality issues to follow “good enough” principle and  managed to reduce processing costs for extra margin, keeping MVP concept in mind.

Design & Approach

First week we spent on product design – looked through the market to find lovely samples to imitate.  Then again went to the factory to organize production of 4 samples.

On the second week we went to a purchasing manager of a leading DIY company to make an trading  offer and collect some info on actual demand, customer preferences and subjective review of our  samples.

We also asked our friend who’s deep in selling accessories on The Famous Marketplace to place our  samples in his online store. It’s rather easy nowadays.

Insights

Some other methods are necessary in the process. Storytelling is a good one to persuade people or  just to widen their scope.

The results were like that:

1. We got positive feedback on our design  2. Unit economy survived  3. Demand was exactly in the limits we guessed.

The final decision after our two week trial was to continue production and to use our product testing  concept for customer development.

Luis Ramadan

Design thinking student

24 September 2021


Final reflection on Design thinking . Agile method in traditional production . Challenge & Selection Learning launch looks like the most useful method for product development . Some approaches within the method are used to get proper results . The concept of MVP ( minimal viable product ) migrates from coding and Agile method to traditional concept design . Customer development with faster hypothesis creation and testing saves a lot of time and energy and helps to get objective conclusions on actual customer needs . My friend owns a company , which produces OEM mosaics from ceramic tiles . His clients are big companies who order different mosaic sets as a complimentary product to add some artistic and trendy style to their regular tile assortment . The trends are fragile – fashion dominates the sector . Payed demand shifted to larger tiles and more “ clear ” look with less decoration . As a result , the stuff became idle and production run below the optimal limit . This situation considered as an opportunity to make an experiment to capitalize on production competences and relatively low fixed costs . The issue was to test our group ability to invent a sellable product within market price limit . Application I started with a chart to mention key attributes and pinpoint the difference in approaches and expected results . The chart was like that : TRADITIONAL AGILE 1 CORE COMPETENCE Now how to produce , aware of the trends . Traditional sales channel – retail shops and design studious Learn what is on demand . Use digital channels 2 Clients Architects and designers Private people with decoration skills . 3 Brand No . OEM Yes or Private label 4 Differentiation Huge – fashion & style No . “ Good enough ” 5 Pricing Cost + Margin = Price Price - Margin = target cost 6 Investment Stock , samples , POS materials Samples 7 MVP Months Weeks 8 Income model Margin Turnover Then we considered risks . The biggest one was to cope with empty stock or insufficient production capacity if demand is too high . We spent one hour on modelling supply chain for a sudden ( not expected in our conservative mood ) demand rise and concluded that we can cope with it easily – digital channels provide a penalty - free sales proposition first and second – price can be changed in minutes . We also consulted production manager for speed / quality issues to follow “ good enough ” principle and managed to reduce processing costs for extra margin , keeping MVP concept in mind . Design & Approach First week we spent on product design – looked through the market to find lovely samples to imitate . Then again went to the factory to organize production of 4 samples . On the second week we went to a purchasing manager of a leading DIY company to make an trading offer and collect some info on actual demand , customer preferences and subjective review of our samples . We also asked our friend who ’s deep in selling accessories on The Famous Marketplace to place our samples in his online store . It ’s rather easy nowadays . Insights Some other methods are necessary in the process . Storytelling is a good one to persuade people or just to widen their scope . The results were like that : 1 . We got positive feedback on our design 2 . Unit economy survived 3 . Demand was exactly in the limits we guessed . The final decision after our two week trial was to continue production and to use our product testing concept for customer development . Luis Ramadan Design thinking student 24 September 2021