Comments on: Does every startup need a Steve Jobs?

By: Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Prototyping — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:45:15 +0000

Fantastic article!

Best regards from Germany

By: Riina Einberg

Riina Einberg — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:03:19 +0000

business models – human centered design point explained by Andrew Chen

By: Riina Einberg

Riina Einberg — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:03:19 +0000

business models – human centered design point explained by Andrew Chen

By: relevantentrepreneur

relevantentrepreneur — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:13:51 +0000

I think innovators like Steve Jobs starts with the end in mind.

Profitable Company <— Happy customers or users <— Launch Product <—Design Product <— What people want. (something they'll find desirable.. can't resist)

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:34:20 +0000

Wayne, nice comment! Thoughtful.

Re: #1, I agree with you that the different frameworks are often hybrids of each other. For example, 37Signals's philosophy stresses design (Clean/Simple), but they also talk just as much about technology (Rails). And traditionally IDEO has been about design, of course, but have also had a strong technology focus (for example their founder having a MechE background).

Re: #2, I actually disagree with this observing IDEO second-hand via my girlfriend of many years I think a lot of the breakthroughs depend on how constrained you want your product research to be. For example, Palm came out with their PDA after doing design research and realizing their chief competitor was paper, not a computer. That enabled them to crack the new PDA market right away. However, had they constrained their research to, “how do we make a better experience than the Apple Newton” then it would have turned more incremental.

By: WayneMulligan

WayneMulligan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:56:35 +0000

Overall, I love this post -- I'm a huge IDEO fan! However, I take issue with a couple of statements:

1. In the "Business Focused" section, your write: "The big “religions” in this perspective are frameworks like Built to Last, Crossing the Chasm, Customer Development...". I'd argue that Customer Development doesn't fit this mold entirely. They might not use human centered design principles to model their offering, but they most certainly rely on a lot of design thinking (without using the same terminology) because the ultimate condition all phases of that process must meet is based on feedback from (potential) end users.

2. While the typical Design Research & Development process that IDEO advocates is PERFECT for redesigning existing experiences (as you made clear by your example of improving the hospital experience) it fails miserably when trying to define new and innovative experiences. I'd recommend everybody here check out this article from Donald Norman (co-founder for the Nielsen Norman Group): http://jnd.org/dn.mss/technology_first_needs_la...

By: wendudu

wendudu — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:21:32 +0000

For a startup, Bill Gates is better than Jobs.

By: Pine Chest of Drawers

Pine Chest of Drawers — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:54:12 +0000

Design is very important but not so easy to do it

By: Wayne Sutton

Wayne Sutton — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:46:51 +0000

Interesting post. I enjoyed it and thought it was helpful for others looking to empower leadership for companies and startups. .. I want to be like Steve Jobs too.

By: ELDUQUELI

ELDUQUELI — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:45:09 +0000

Nice post! Really can relate as my wife is the designer and president of a small fashion company (nelliepartow.com). I feel that having a great design background has aided in her success within the industry. That said her business background has also become an asset. So having an amazingly designed product appeal to the masses but also knowing how to maintain cost and pricing! Does this make sense? Sorry for rambling.... it sounded better in my head! lol!

By: Roy Rodenstein

Roy Rodenstein — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:12:46 +0000

Hey Steve, nice post as usual. Just one example I think fits well in your Feasibility category as a religion is “doing stuff in the Cloud”

By: Ariel Di Stefano

Ariel Di Stefano — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:24:21 +0000

There are more examples of companies from other industries that have committed them self to re-think about “desirability” of their products (BMW, LG, etc)

By: Kartik Iyengar

Kartik Iyengar — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:05:37 +0000

Yes. Every startup needs and upstart like Steve Jobs. Period.

By: Gregor

Gregor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:32:07 +0000

Great post! Yet, what type of start-up are you referring to? How do you design a great product ... starting-up, i.e., 2 guys in a garage, with no money? Check out Apple's first product:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_I_Compu...

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:37:50 +0000

Chris,
my hypothesis is that you can get much of the benefit by deciding to make design a priority and recruit a strong design team that has real say within the team. Of course it's even better to have the CEO and the rest of the team really understand design. But before even getting to that, how many companies even let their design process drive versus their business or engineering goals?

In most startups, design is typically just a supporting function that sits alongside product, and most product managers that control the roadmaps come from engineering or business backgrounds. How many MFAs are there as product managers versus MBAs?