Myself and a fellow group of Product Managers did the IDEO HCD course in order to learn about IDEO's famous innovation techniques. We learnt a lot, and here I digest how it can be used in a product mgmt setting.

1. IDEO HCD
Innovation course
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2. Product Anon presentation
Speaker: Liz Blink, co-founder
Product Anonymous
Session topic: IDEO Acumen+
Introduction to Human
Centered Design course
Presented October 24th 2013 at
the Mail Exchange Hotel
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3. Why did I sign up to this?
Ever since learning about IDEO during an
innovation course i have aspired and admired
what they do
to get a chance to learn more about what is
behind this success and this process was too
great an opportunity to pass up
My company had just brought IDEO in as
consultants and created an Innovation group,
so I was keen to try my hand at it
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4. who did I rope in?
three fellow product managers and
one innovation expert
went for co-located to help with the
logistics of getting through the
workshops
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5. What does the course involve?
the course takes you through the
three stages of the design process
you have readings and workshops to
do
there are steps in there that get you
out of your comfort zone
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6. IDEO design process
Discover
Ideate
Prototype
Context
Learning
Research
Themes
Experience
Mapping
Make
protoypes
Get feedback
Insights
How might we
questions
Ideas
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7. Workshop 1
Icebreaker visual telephone: great way to learn how
drawings are really useful for communicating
Design a better commute was a good first go at the
process.
DISCOVER: use open questions, ask "why" after each of
5 answers
IDEATE: interpreting needs, Brainstorm ideas for
solution, reality check by sharing
PROTOTYPE: build a prototype for the best idea
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8. DISCOVER: Workshop 2
So the first steps are:
Collect your thoughts,
Review constraints/barriers
Review what you already know
Define what you don't know
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9. DISCOVER: Workshop 2
Research steps
Learn from people in the community
Learn from experts
Immerse in context
Seek inspiration in analogous settings
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10. Interview
questions

11. IDEATE: Workshop 3
Share what you learnt (This takes time)
Find themes
Define insights
How Might We questions
Generate Ideas via Brainstorming
Select ideas
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12. Sharing what we learnt and
reviewing the interview insights

13. Collating themes

14. The top themes
that stood out
for our group

15. How might we....

16. PROTOTYPE: Workshop
4
Experience mapping
Make a prototype (a model, a mock-up,
a diagram, a role-play, a story, an ad)
Get feedback
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17. User Experience map
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18. What did I learn?
think What if? more often
its a mindset, be collaborative, be optimistic, be
experimental
beginners mind is your friend
you learn by stepping out of your comfort zone
I can be a designer
get out there and ask questions, and keep asking
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19. Prod Mgmt
thoughts time:
how does this link back to Product
management?
ideate and prototype sections are
important ones for us.
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20. Ideate....
On ideate... (& even before) there was the whole thing
about making sure you noted down/verbalised your
assumptions.
I liked this as there's always so much we
assume & someone in the team might be assuming
something different.
Plus once they're written down,
you can test those assumptions.
I thought it might be good to try a How Might We session
as a way to come up with solutions/innovate.
Which
means you'd probably create the insight statements first.
Again, a great way to make sure the team is on the same
page or if it's not a team then at least you could use
those to walk around & start conversations with people
to test out what you've come up with when doing a solo
'how might i"
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21. Prototype....
There was the emphasis on prototyping the idea and
our questions - NOT the product. whereas most of us
always prototype the product
the concept that a prototype could be lots of things
besides a mockup... you could create an ad or draw a
diagram or tell a story. so opening up that there are
more ways than one to get feedback early, easily and
cheaply
it makes the idea of prototyping less far away and
possible to do without development, without designers
if need be.
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22. IDEO design process
Discover
Ideate
Prototype
Context
Learning
Research
Themes
Experience
Mapping
Make
protoypes
Get feedback
Insights
How might we
questions
Ideas
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