Finding product/market fit is the key to success for new ventures. But it’s often elusive, and understanding the needs and desires of your potential customers is harder than many of us expect. Christina Wodtke, of Wodtke Consulting, shares design techniques to help you glean meaningful insights about your target market.

1. Design Your Way
to
Product/Market
Fit
@cwodtke
www.eleganthack.com

2. Photo credit: SDASM Archives

3. Photo Credit: Nationaal Archief

4. Rachleff's Corollary of Startup Success via
pmarca.com
The only thing that
matters is getting to
product/market fit.

5. Could you get
to
product/market
fit in one
week?

6. IMG
COPENHAGEN

7. 16 week Lean
Launchpad
class in 1
week

8. THEY DID IT

9. A PLAN FOR
TUITION

10. What makes
designers
effective?

11. DISTRIBUTED
COGNITION
Photo: woodleywonderworks

12. DESIGNERS
THINK WITH…

13. HANDS

14. POST-ITS

15. WALLS

16. •Frees up memory
•Allows you to see
connections
•Share insights &
understanding

17. You can get
insights for
product/market fit
with 3 techniques

18. 1.
FRAGMENTING
AND FREELISTING

19. Why?
Make
information
modular in
order to
recombine

20. EXERCISE
• Get out your post its
• List everything you like
about travel
• 1 item per post-it

21. EXERCISE
• Get out your post its
• List everything you HATE
about travel
• 1 item per post-it

22. 2. CHUNKING
INTO AFFINITY GROUPS

23. How?
• Put idea with like ideas
• No rules, just seek
patterns
• remix

24. Play with possible models
Relationship
to other data
Credit: Steve Portigal

25. Play with possible models
Frequency
Credit: Steve Portigal

26. Play with possible models
Timeline
Credit: Steve Portigal

27. Play with possible models
The 2 x 2
Credit: Steve Portigal

28. Example: PAIN/GAIN matrix
• Get out the pain/gain matrix
• TOGETHER with a neighbor,
map post-its against the
matrix

29. PATTERNS?

30. OPPORTUNITIES
?

31. Why?
Discover
unexpected
insights in the
data
Photo credit Eirik Newth

32. 3. MAPPING
TO FRAMEWORKS

33. What is
a frame
work?
A scaffold for
thinking about
a problem

34. How?
• Select a framework
• Map post-its against it
• Do more
research/freelisting to fill in
blanks

35. Why
Frameworks
?
Discover
hidden
patterns
Photo credit Marc Phu

36. Why
Frameworks
?
Find missing
areas of inquiry
and fill them
in.
Photo credit Marc Phu

37. EMPATHY
MAP
Adrian Howard https://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianhoward/8710477211/in/photolist-9zsm7U-9zsoeo-9zsmo3-9zpnNe-aKVQVM-ob4zF5-5wrz1p-egHtpz-
9zpqGM-9zsooJ-9zspTN-9zpqa2-9zspL9-9zskPA-9zskZd-bJ5qVx-opHAHj-psEPoY-c3gTjN-ebVuVA-9H7uru-ebPQrT-egHuq4-77aN2N-brpNWc

39. MORE
FRAMEWORK
S FOR YOU

40. MENTAL
MODELS

41. User needs
go here
Offerings
goes here Opportunities!
Credit: Indi Young

42. Photo credit: Indi Young

43. PARTICIPATOR
Y ROADMAP
Learn more at eleganthack

46. You know
this one…

48. Freelist
your points
Chunk them
into themes
Map them to
a story arc!
Photo taken at Duarte Workshop

49. Your
meeting?

50. Get up!
Use the walls! Photo credit: Kevin Hoffman

51. Remember
1. Fragmenting +
2. Chunking +
3. Mapping

52. = INSIGHTS!

53. Learn More:
Classes Books
THE CREATIVE
FOUNDER
At Stanford CE. &
General
Assemb.ly
http://www.eleganthack.com/c
ategory/speaking/ for more
info

54. THANK YOU
@CWODTKE
WWW.ELEGANTHACK.COM