The majority of startups and projects fails. Ignoring the users is one of the top reasons for it. Which leads to offerings that do not serve an actual need or provide a bad user experience – at best. This talk sheds a light on human-centered design and methods to apply that mindset to solve real peoples' problems in meaningful ways.

1. GOOGLE LAUNCHPAD, VILNIUS
DECEMBER 13. 2019
@BENNOLOEWENBERG
HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN
FOR STARTUPS

2. Graphics: freepik (modified)
what is the relation of
medicine & soft drinks ?

3. Photo: ColaLife
piggybacking a delivery system
to reach remote patients

4. Graphics: freepik
what is the relation of
books & laundromats ?

5. Photo: Annabelle Timsit
turning boring waiting time
into engaging reading classes

6. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN

7. Design
Sprint
Graphic: Francesca Simonds (modified)

8. Photo: @BennoLoewenbergGraphic: Francesca Simonds (modified)
Mindset

9. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
turning trash into service

10. Photo: @BennoLoewenbergGraphic: Francesca Simonds (modified)
Mindset
Application

11. Photo: Ana Domp
Where is the
emergency room ?
(»Urgencias«)

12. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
Taking care of
crucial details
helps improving
the experience

13. USER PERSPECTIVE
Source: Seth Godin
1. What is this ?
2. Do I trust you ?
3. What are you offering me ?
and if it passed the ›moment of truth‹ positively:
4. How do I get it ?

14. Graphic: @BennoLoewenberg
OFFERING CONTEXTUSERSOLUTION UX
Value &
interactions
Context & Focus

15. Source: Sam Weller
Bloated feature sets
render things unusable

16. Source: CultOfMac
Refocus on basic needs
& actual usage context

17. »TO TEST IF YOUR PRODUCT IS NEEDED,
STUDY THE JOB THAT IT DOES«
Source: Des Traynor

18. VAGUE ASSUMPTIONS
“I’ve experienced this problem, so others must also”
“We’ve already got funding, so it must be a good idea”
“We’re almost ready to launch so it’s a bit late to go back
to research”
Source: Dyhana Scarano

19. POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
¿ What is the overall goal related to a certain problem
a person is trying to achieve ?
¿ Is that problem worth solving ?
¿ How do people solve this problem today ?
¿ How might we solve this problem for the user
and how much of the overall goal ?
Source: Tony Ulwick

20. Graphic Henrik Kniberg

21. Source: Laurence McCahill
just functional
(MVP misunderstood)
perceived as valuable,
therefore viable

22. »TO DESIGN SIMPLY
YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND DEEPLY«
Source: unknown

23. Photo: @BennoLoewenbergGraphic: Francesca Simonds (modified)
Mindset
Application
Process
Design Thinking
Design Sprint

24. UNDERSTAND IDEATEDEFINE PROTOTYPE VALIDATE
Graphic: @BennoLoewenberg
Design Thinking/Sprint:
Structured Method

25. Source: Design Singapore Council – Design for Ageing Gracefully

26. OBSERVE, IDEATE & TEST
Photo: @BennoLoewenberg (prototyping an elevator cabin)

27. OBSERVE, IDEATE & TEST
Photo: @BennoLoewenberg

28. Gain Creators
Describe how your products and services create customer
gains.
How do they create benefits your customer expects, desires
or would be surprised by, including functional utility, social
gains, positive emotions, and cost savings?
Do they…
Create savings that make your customer happy?
(e.g. in terms of time, money and effort, …)
Produce outcomes your customer expects or
that go beyond their expectations?
(e.g. better quality level, more of something, less of
something, …)
Pain Relievers
Copy or outperform current solutions that delight
your customer?
(e.g. regarding specific features, performance, quality, …)
Make your customer’s job or life easier?
(e.g. flatter learning curve, usability, accessibility, more
services, lower cost of ownership, …)
Create positive social consequences that your
customer desires?
(e.g. makes them look good, produces an increase in power,
status, …)
Do something customers are looking for?
(e.g. good design, guarantees, specific or more features, …)
Fulfill something customers are dreaming about?
(e.g. help big achievements, produce big reliefs, …)
Produce positive outcomes matching your
customers success and failure criteria?
(e.g. better performance, lower cost, …)
Help make adoption easier?
(e.g. lower cost, less investments, lower risk, better quality,
performance, design, …)
Rank each gain your products and services create according to
its relevance to your customer. Is it substantial or insignificant?
For each gain indicate how often it occurs.
Describe how your products and services alleviate customer
pains. How do they eliminate or reduce negative emotions,
undesired costs and situations, and risks your customer
experiences or could experience before, during, and after
getting the job done?
Do they…
Produce savings?
(e.g. in terms of time, money, or efforts, …)
Make your customers feel better?
(e.g. kills frustrations, annoyances, things that give them
a headache, …)
Fix underperforming solutions?
(e.g. new features, better performance, better quality, …)
Put an end to difficulties and challenges your
customers encounter?
(e.g. make things easier, helping them get done, eliminate
resistance, …)
Wipe out negative social consequences your
customers encounter or fear?
(e.g. loss of face, power, trust, or status, …)
Eliminate risks your customers fear?
(e.g. financial, social, technical risks, or what could go
awfully wrong, …)
Help your customers better sleep at night?
(e.g. by helping with big issues, diminishing concerns, or
eliminating worries, …)
Limit or eradicate common mistakes customers
make?
(e.g. usage mistakes, …)
Get rid of barriers that are keeping your customer
from adopting solutions?
(e.g. lower or no upfront investment costs, flatter learning
curve, less resistance to change, …)
Rank each pain your products and services kill according
to their intensity for your customer. Is it very intense or
very light?
For each pain indicate how often it occurs. Risks your
customer experiences or could experience before, during,
and after getting the job done?
Products & Services
List all the products and services your value proposition is
built around.
Which products and services do you offer that help your
customer get either a functional, social, or emotional job
done, or help him/her satisfy basic needs?
Which ancillary products and services help your customer
perform the roles of:
Buyer
(e.g. products and services that help customers compare
offers, decide, buy, take delivery of a product or service, …)
Co-creator
(e.g. products and services that help customers co-design
solutions, otherwise contribute value to the solution, …)
Transferrer
(e.g. products and services that help customers dispose of
a product, transfer it to others, or resell, …)
Products and services may either by tangible (e.g. manufac-
tured goods, face-to-face customer service), digital/virtual
(e.g. downloads, online recommendations), intangible (e.g.
copyrights, quality assurance), or financial (e.g. investment
funds, financing services).
Rank all products and services according to their
importance to your customer.
Are they crucial or trivial to your customer?
Gains
Describe the benefits your customer expects, desires or would
be surprised by. This includes functional utility, social gains,
positive emotions, and cost savings.
Which savings would make your customer happy?
(e.g. in terms of time, money and effort, …)
What outcomes does your customer expect and what
would go beyond his/her expectations?
(e.g. quality level, more of something, less of something, …)
How do current solutions delight your customer?
(e.g. specific features, performance, quality, …)
Pains
Customer Job(s)
Describe negative emotions, undesired costs and situations,
and risks that your customer experiences or could experience
before, during, and after getting the job done.
What does your customer find too costly?
(e.g. takes a lot of time, costs too much money, requires
substantial efforts, …)
What makes your customer feel bad?
(e.g. frustrations, annoyances, things that give them a
headache, …)
How are current solutions underperforming
for your customer?
(e.g. lack of features, performance, malfunctioning, …)
What are the main difficulties and challenges
your customer encounters?
(e.g. understanding how things work, difficulties getting
things done, resistance, …)
What negative social consequences does your
customer encounter or fear?
(e.g. loss of face, power, trust, or status, …)
What risks does your customer fear?
(e.g. financial, social, technical risks, or what could go awfully
wrong, …)
What’s keeping your customer awake at night?
(e.g. big issues, concerns, worries, …)
What common mistakes does your customer make?
(e.g. usage mistakes, …)
What barriers are keeping your customer from
adopting solutions?
(e.g. upfront investment costs, learning curve, resistance
to change, …)
Rank each pain according to the intensity it represents for
your customer.
Is it very intense or is it very light.?
For each pain indicate how often it occurs.
Describe what a specific customer segment is trying to get
done. It could be the tasks they are trying to perform and
complete, the problems they are trying to solve, or the needs
they are trying to satisfy.
What functional jobs are you helping your customer
get done? (e.g. perform or complete a specific task, solve a
specific problem, …)
What social jobs are you helping your customer get
done? (e.g. trying to look good, gain power or status, …)
What emotional jobs are you helping your customer
get done? (e.g. esthetics, feel good, security, …)
What basic needs are you helping your customer
satisfy? (e.g. communication, sex, …)
Besides trying to get a core job done, your customer performs
ancillary jobs in different roles. Describe the jobs your
customer is trying to get done as:
Buyer (e.g. trying to look good, gain power or status, …)
Co-creator (e.g. esthetics, feel good, security, …)
Transferrer (e.g. products and services that help customers
dispose of a product, transfer it to others, or resell, …)
Rank each job according to its significance to your
customer. Is it crucial or is it trivial? For each job
indicate how often it occurs.
Outline in which specific context a job
is done, because that may impose
constraints or limitations.
(e.g. while driving,
outside, …)
What would make your customer’s job or life easier?
(e.g. flatter learning curve, more services, lower cost of
ownership, …)
What positive social consequences does your
customer desire?
(e.g. makes them look good, increase in power, status, …)
What are customers looking for?
(e.g. good design, guarantees, specific or more features, …)
What do customers dream about?
(e.g. big achievements, big reliefs, …)
How does your customer measure success and
failure?
(e.g. performance, cost, …)
What would increase the likelihood of adopting a
solution?
(e.g. lower cost, less investments, lower risk, better quality,
performance, design, …)
Rank each gain according to its relevance to your customer.
Is it substantial or is it insignificant? For each gain indicate
how often it occurs.
strategyzer.com
The Value Proposition Canvas
Value Proposition Customer Segment
The makers of Business Model Generation and Strategyzer
Copyright Business Model Foundry AG
Produced by: www.stattys.com
Source: Stategyzer – Value Proposition Canvas

29. Customer Exploration Map
Who is our customer / user / stakeholder ? What are his likes and dislikes ?
Jobs to be done & challenges
Functional / social / emotional / supporting needs in a specific situation
e.g. I need fast transport / good reputation / security / help to…
Existing solutions THIS WOULD BE GAME CHANGING!
What we don’t know
Be specific: for a person - age, origin, job, interests
for a company - size, industry, purpose
Quotes, that could be typical for this person
by Business Model Toolbox - www.bmtoolbox.net Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Assumptions, black spots
Why / when is something a challenge / a good experience….?
Any kind of solution that could help to fulfill the needs Empathize with your customer / user / stakeholder
What would be the perfect solution, situation or experience?
Related to the general character of the person / stakeholder
Source: Business Model Toolbox – Customer Exploration Map

30. Die Kundenreise
Persona, Musterpersönlichkeit Dienstleistungsbezeichnung
ManipulierbareInformationenGlaubwürdigeInformationen
Dienstleistungsanbieter Designer / Datum
Pre-Service Period
Vor der Dienstleistung
Service Period
Während der Dienstleistung
Post-Service Period
Nach der Dienstleistung
WERBUNG / ÖFFENTLICHKEITSARBEIT
Wie lautet das/die Nutzenversprechen des Anbieters und
auf welche Art und Weise wird es kommuniziert?
SOCIAL MEDIA
Welche relevanten Informationen können Personen vor der
Erstellung der Dienstleitung(en) in Social Media Kanälen finden?
MUNDPROPAGANDA
Was sagen Bekannte, Freunde und die Familie über den Anbieter
und seine Dienstleistung(en)?
GESAMMELTE ERFAHRUNGEN
Welche Erfahrungen haben Personen bereits mit gleichen bzw.
ähnlichen Dienstleistungen oder Anbietern gemacht?
KUNDENERWARTUNGEN
Was sind die möglichen Erwartungen and die Dienstleistung
und den Anbieter?
KUNDENERLEBNISSE
Welche individuellen Erlebnisse haben die Kunden während der Erstellung der Dienstleistung bei den einzelnen
Schritten der Dienstleistungserstellung und mit dem Anbieter selbst?
KUNDENZUFRIEDENHEIT/-UNZUFRIEDENHEIT
Wie bewerten die Kunden die Dienstleistung und den Anbieter
anhand dem Vergleich von Kundenerwartung zu erlebter
Dienstleistungsrealität?
MUNDPROPAGANDA
Was sagen Kunden ihren Bekannten, Freunden und der Familie
über den Anbieter und seine Dienstleistung(en)?
SOCIAL MEDIA
Was kommunizieren Kunden über den Anbieter und seine
Dienstleistung(en) über Social Media Kanäle?
KUNDENBEZIEHUNGSMANAGEMENT
Wie betreut der Anbieter seine Kunden nach der Erstellung
der Dienstleistung(en)?
DIENSTLEISTUNGSPROZESS
Auf welche Berührungspunkte treffen die Kunden im Erstellungsprozess der Dienstleistung(en)?
Gibt es dabei spezielle Augenblicke oder Vorfälle welche als besonders gut oder besonders schlecht erlebt werden?
Concept and design: Marc Stickdorn & Jakob Schneider — inspired by the Business Model Canvas — www.thisisservicedesignthinking.com
Übersetzung: Mario Sepp — This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creativce Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Source: This is Service Design Thinking – Customer Journey Canvas

31. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
NO GUESSWORK !

32. THE USER PERSPECTIVE COUNTS
“Talk to your users –
build and test for actual users and for real context of use”
( friends and family are not your users )
@BennoLoewenberg

33. Source: Huggies

34. DON’T LOVE THE SOLUTION
“Success is not delivering a feature;
success is learning how to solve the customers problem”
“Don’t [try to] find customers for your product,
find a product for your customers.”
Sources: Mark Cook & Seth Godin

35. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
Negligible detail ?

36. DETAILS MAKE OR BREAK IT
“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
“Good design makes a product understandable
and is thorough down to the last detail”
Source: Charles Eames & Dieter Rams

37. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
slippery when wet (or soapy)

38. EDGE CASES ARE THE NORM
“Real users often struggle with ‘simple’ details;
your solution must cover those scenarios
or it will fail for them most of the time”
@BennoLoewenberg

39. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
Design primes
user expectations
on how things work

40. »TAKE CARE OF THE UNINTENDED
SIDE EFFECTS OF YOUR DESIGN«
@BennoLoewenberg

41. Photo: @BennoLoewenberg
Useful details
at the right spot
are valuable service

42. »KNOW YOUR USERS TO BE ABLE
TO DELIVER ACTUAL VALUE«
@BennoLoewenberg

43. @BENNOLOEWENBERG
LINKEDIN / TWITTER