Abstract
The business model layer of the design thinking for strategy approach focuses on designing how the firm wants to create value for its customers, and subsequently, its stakeholders. Its first step, observing, aims at identifying insights that may be of value during designing. The focus during observing is put on laying the groundwork for subsequently generating innovative ideas onto which the firm’s target business model and strategy can be based. To do so, the target population is observed in its natural environment, looking for analogies, associations, and contradictions. Observing proceeds in four steps, that is, passively observing the target population, conducting ethnographic interviews with informants, cross-checking insights gained by running focus groups, and performing secondary research to get a holistic perspective. The goal of observing is identifying real challenges to be addressed rather than focusing on symptoms, as perceived by the target populations. A sound observing process is introduced, supported by diverse tools and frameworks.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.—Albert Einstein
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Notes
- 1.
A lead user is a customer of an offering whose value to a broader audience is still unknown. Lead users are typically early adopters helping define the value of an offering from the customer perspective, before there actually exists a marketplace for it.
- 2.
When a meeting is held under the Chatham House Rule, informants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other informant, may be revealed. The rules originated in 1927 from the headquarters of the UK Royal Institute of International Affairs, the Chatham House.
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Diderich, C. (2020). Gaining Insights by Observing Target Customers in Their Natural Environment. In: Design Thinking for Strategy. Management for Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25875-7_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25875-7_8
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