Product Behavior

We like to talk about “the brief” as those instructions we get from a client that tell us what we’re designing: its value to the consumer, what features it needs to be successful, whatever regulatory constraints we’ll be working under, etc. But the reality is we rarely, if ever, get anything so neatly packaged, and more often than not, we don’t really get any real direction at all beyond a generic description of the product.

“The Story of the Product,” a simple tool I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, can be easily altered to help understand and support the issues around a product’s Archetype. Recall the Star, the Hero, and the Genius – your product can be one but can’t be all of them. So use Stories customized [...]

“The Story of the Product” is a simple tool I use to get a feel for how well my clients know what their product or service is supposed to be. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank that describes key aspects. I bring something like this to project kick-off meetings, or even sales meetings, and try to fill it in as we discuss the project.

I’ve been on a quest for the simplest model that describes design and what it’s for. I mean, the model that I can scribble up on the board, and everyone gets it. Over the years, my models have gotten smaller, with fewer parts and less to explain. Here’s my current model of the world.

Products, like brands, must have a handle for the consumer to grab. This product is the _____ product. If you can’t fill in that blank with a word or two, you’ll have a hard time getting anyone’s attention. Sometimes, clients will tell me their product will be, basically, everything to everyone. But claiming such broad [...]