In this episode, Mel Abraham talk about how to create an elegant solution for your customers and your market. An elegant solution is the simplest way to get the greatest impact. It should be something that can withstand time and get the attention of the marketplace. It's the "Aha!" solution.
An elegant solution will serve your market at three levels:
Level 1: Dealing with the known and spoken problems.
These are the things that are commonly known and talked about. Even though everyone is talking about it, we need to come up with a solution.
Level 2: Dealing with the known and unspoken problems.
These are the things that are not commonly talked about. It takes work, research and understanding to get to the bottom of this.
Level 3: Dealing with the unknown and unspoken problems.
These are the things that aren't even thought about. People aren't simply aware of these problems but they are coming at them.
Concept of IDEA Loops
IDEA loops are used to constantly refine products and services. There are several questions you need to ask along the way.
Investigate: It's about questioning, studying and understanding.
Questions:
- What are you trying to do and why?
- What are the facts and issues that surround not only the solution but also the problem?
- What is the problem and its cause which is seen after the investigation?
Design: It is about creation and design of the solution, product and service to answer the three levels of problems.
Questions:
- What does the perfect solution looks like?
- What ideas exist for achieving it?
- What is the best solution that you see right now?
Execute: Going out and delivering from the context of getting feedback and testing.
Questions:
- What would you expect to happen?
- How are you going to test the solution?
- What is the response?
