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Phase 1ResearchSoftware & hardware development process

Imagine that one day your friend tells you, "I choose to go to the Moon in this decade (...)".
Crazy right?

We all have those amazing ideas. Ideas that keep us awake at night. Ideas that could be game-changers. But which idea can change something on the market? Which can actually gain users and help them?

You're invited to the next article in the series about our software and hardware development process. This time I will describe in detail what is important in Phase 1. Research.

If you haven't read the first article in the series yet, I recommend starting with it to grab the context of our rapid prototyping approach:
We choose to go to an MVP. 7 phases of the software and hardware development process inspired by NASA

All engines running. Fasten your seatbelts and liftoff!

nasa-n463SoeSiVY-unsplash

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Table of contents:

Have an idea?
Try to be its greatest critic and ask yourself a few questions

Before starting this challenging (yet rewarding!)  product development journey... criticize your own idea. As a team, we need to convince ourselves this is worth pursuing. Specify where the opportunity lies.

Answer these helpful questions:

  • What is the problem that I want to solve? Who else (other than "me") has this problem?
  • Are there any better ways to do this project? Has anyone tried it already? If so, what was the result?
  • What do others think about my idea? Even more importantly, what do people who have this problem think of my idea?
  • Can my solution be implemented? How?
  • Why do I want to build something?

The idea behind Untitled Kingdom's Phase 1. Research is to answer all of these questions the best we can. And try to "build the specs" from both the technical and business (customer requirements) sides.

We do that by scratching our heads, brainstorming, and exploring all the options. Sounds unnecessary?
In my experience, conducting this research responsibly saves you a lot of money and time in the long run. Think of it as preparation for software development - researching is cheaper than engineering.

What does the Phase 1. Research consist of?

Start with why and define the problem

This Phase 1 of the Untitled Kingdom process starts by defining the problem we want to solve.

  • What is driving us, and why do we want to help specific people?
  • Who will use it?
  • How and when people will use it?

Example: The beginning of the FemTech project. The founder had a health-related problem and couldn't find a solution on the market, so she created this solution to help other women with similar issues.
More than that, if you have a problem that you want to solve, you should know how many others you can help, i.e. how big your target group can be.

If you don't have this problem (you are not a representative of your target group), you need to find relevant people. Try to understand them. Be empathetic. This will help you deepen your knowledge about the problem your solution aims to solve. The key to success is the user-centric approach from the very beginning.

Ask them anything that comes to your mind.

  • Where does this problem come from?
  • Can it be divided into stages?
  • What do they find the most frustrating?

Perhaps someone in your test group will have an idea of how to solve it. Don't assume anything. Be doubtful. Try to make a couple of theses, and refute them. Rely on data, not opinions.

Invite experts to cooperate, look for data, and market research on this topic. Don’t speed up this phase unnecessarily because if you do not do it well, you can overlook a lot and lose. At the same time, in Untitled Kingdom, we remain faithful to iterations and frequent verifications of theses in the software or hardware prototyping process.

Check the competition. Perhaps such a product already exists on the market.

  • How does it help people?
  • How big is the interest?

If you can improve it, proceed. But only if solving the problem is at the heart of your idea. Looking at other solutions will help you consider how to develop your solution further.

Out of the shadows. How will the product work?

Now that you know that you can bring new value to the market, then you can find valuable customers for your product or service. This means that you need to deepen the topic of the product itself.

This is the most flexible phase of the whole process of product & software development. "Flexible" because it varies depending on the nature of the problem and the product. And with about infinite ways to develop your product, a lot of brainstorming will help you gather all the ideas and choose the right possibility.

Generate as many questions as possible. Try to find answers to all of them.

  • What is the biggest value of this solution?
  • What basic functions should it have? Which functions would be just nice-to-have?
  • How will we reach interested customers?

If we cannot answer any question, or in the meantime, we come to a conclusion that the idea is not worth further development, it's more than okay. You will save time and therefore money.
Now, you simply can devote energy to another idea.

Decision point. Plan what to test further

Perhaps the research will give us alternative options, and we can now make a pivot. That’s fine and it often happens in the product or hardware development process.

If the idea seems right and worth developing, we should still think about business constraints.

  • How are we going to earn and when?
  • How do we want to fund this idea?

At this stage, we already have to plan what we want to test further (whether it is hardware or software).

  • What further theses do we want to confirm or refute?
  • What will be the priorities?

Further down the line, we will split more into two distinct paths, as Tyler Mincey from Bolt likes to call them, it’s the “looks-like” path and the “works-like” path.

The “looks-like" path is based on:

  • discovering the right customer requirements (customer segments),
  • creating prototypes, wireframes and ‘fake it till you make it’ renders or models (we check if our presumptions are correct),
  • making sure all the presumptions and specifications are correct.

The "works like "path is based on:

  • finding out how the product engineering side looks like,
  • proving, and demonstrating functionalities and building specs.

Now we can proceed to the second stage of the process, Phase 2. Proof of Concept.

Wrap up

We start with an idea, but the execution is the most important thing. At least until we test, we won't know if the concept is worth anything.

As originators, we often succumb to the temptation to trust our idea and implement it too quickly. An engineer who prefers to build and test may have the same approach. However, it is not worth skipping the research phase, because it can answer many important questions for further development. It's also definitely cheaper than prototyping.

What to keep in mind during Phase 1. Research of software & hardware development process?

1. Define the problem:

  • What is driving us, why do we want to help specific people?
  • Who will use it?
  • How and when people will use it?
  • Where does this problem come from?
  • Can it be divided into stages?
  • How does it help people?
  • How big is the interest?
  • What is the biggest value of this solution?
  • What basic functions should it have, and what will be nice-to-have?
  • How will we reach interested customers?

2. How will the product work:

  • What is the biggest value of this solution?
  • What basic functions should it have, and what will be nice-to-have?
  • How will we reach interested customers?

3. Plan what to test further:

  • How are we going to earn and when?
  • How do we want to fund this idea?
  • What further theses do we want to confirm or refute?
  • What will be the priorities?

Thanks for reading so far and if you have any feedback or question, I will gladly answer them: bartek@untitledkingdom.com. 

This was the second article in the series of Untitled Kingdom’s software & hardware development process. Here you can find the first one:

1. We choose to go to an MVP. 7 phases of the software and hardware development process inspired by NASA

And the next ones:

2. Proof of concept
3. Prototyping
4. Feasibility study

Read more about our Untitled Lab.

By Bartek Hugo Trzciński

Head of Technology by day and software engineer by night. Recently solving more problems in business and mangement than in code - hard to tell which one is more fun. Local dev groups activist. Automotive enthusiast. Boosted Board shredding champ. The best companion to dance and to give you a ride.