Jenny Westby THUMB

Jenny Westby

Insights & Strategy

Design Insights

Engineering

Human Factors Engineering

Developing a new product is a huge investment fraught with risk. (Fact: <a href="https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/clay-christensens-milkshake-marketing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">95% of new products fail.</a>) To stack the odds in your favor, put users at the center of the design process and conduct research early and often.
Why should new product development be research-driven?

Delve's experts in insights, strategy, design, and engineering can guide you through an end-to-end innovation process that delivers results.

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<ul><li>You’ll choose the right idea. In decades of partnering with clients to develop new products, we’ve rarely encountered a shortage of good ideas. The process of choosing one good idea and getting it through the organization is usually the hard part. Research will guide you through the difficult process of <a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/designing-good-decisions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">choosing the best idea to pursue.</a> </li></ul>
<ul><li>You’ll make good decisions faster, speeding up product development. Multiple times throughout a project, you will need to make important decisions. Whenever you can’t decide, development will be put on hold. Research will equip you with real data about your target market, so you can <a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/the-roi-of-research-and-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">make decisions faster and with confidence</a>. </li></ul>
In our white paper, we describe in detail just how research can inform and guide every phase of new product development, getting you to market faster with a product that meets real user needs and preferences—and will succeed in the marketplace.

Download: Reduce Project Risk: Incorporate Research Throughout New Product Development

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<h3>How does research inform and guide every phase of new product development?</h3>
The focus of your research will shift, but the insights at each stage will be invaluable for ensuring a successful product launch.

2024 04 19 User research in NPD poster preview

<h4><a href="https://cms.delve.com/assets/documents/Delve_How-Research-Guides-NPD_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Click here to view the full chart.</a></h4>

<h2>Research at Every Stage of New Product Development</h2>
At Delve, when we say that we put user needs at the center of the new product development process, we mean research is embedded throughout our NPD process—because research is what connects us to the voice of the customer.

Take a close look at the three main stages of new product development at Delve to understand how deeply research informs each one.

2024 04 19 User research in NPD INLINE1

To understand the critical importance of user research and strategy for businesses, it's helpful to look at real-world examples.

Don't Miss: The ROI of Research and Strategy

<h3>The Define Stage</h3>
Your goal at the define stage is to define a clear direction and plan for your new product’s development and launch. You want to understand the competitive landscape, trends, technologies, and user needs, all within the context of your business.
At this stage, research helps you answer questions like:
<ul><li>Who are the target users?</li><li>What are the use environments?</li><li>What are the unmet needs and pain points of our target users?</li><li>What are the user needs that should inform the design?</li><li>What are the current trends and preferences in the market?</li><li>What are the motivations and behaviors driving user decisions in this domain?</li><li>How do users interact with similar products or services currently available?</li></ul>
To find the answers, you might conduct research activities such as ethnographic studies, contextual inquiry, or mapping of any sort (journey mapping, ecosystem maps, etc.). You then synthesize the insights you gather, identifying opportunities, setting goals, prioritizing features, and outlining a roadmap for implementation. For products in highly regulated environments, you want to identify potential usability and safety concerns early in the development process. Research activities such as task analysis and use error risk analysis during the strategy stage will enable you to do so.

<h3>The Design Stage</h3>
Your goal at the design stage is to translate the insights you gathered during the previous stage into tangible design concepts and prototypes that address user needs and requirements. You want to develop innovative and user-centered solutions that meet both functional and aesthetic criteria and align with your brand.
Research at this stage answers questions like:
<ul><li>What are users' reactions and preferences regarding our proposed design concepts or prototypes?</li><li>Which features or aspects of the design are most important to users?</li></ul>
To find the answers, you might conduct research activities such as concept/formative testing. Concept testing will help you evaluate consumer interest, market demand, and potential barriers to adoption. Formative testing will help you assess usability and identify areas for improvement.
At the design stage, you typically test multiple design approaches at a very low-fidelity level—for example, gathering user reactions to concept sketches or storyboards. You may discover needs, pain points, and preferences you did not uncover during the define stage.
The insights you gain into user needs, preferences, and usability at this stage will allow you to iterate and eventually narrow your focus to a single, optimal design approach, before you invest more resources in developing high-fidelity versions of the product or experience.

<h3>The Develop Stage </h3>
If research at the define stage of new product development is about really uncovering what you want to create, and research at the design stage is about testing out concepts and identifying the ideal design approach for your project, research at the develop stage is about understanding the requirements of developing a fully formed product or experience.
Certain products—for example, medical devices or vehicles—are subject to strict regulatory requirements regarding usability. These products require human factors research through every stage of development, from strategy to engineering, to ensure that they perform as expected and are safe to operate. During the develop stage, you would conduct risk-related usability testing (including validation/summative studies) with functional prototypes&nbsp;to gather data on potential use errors and to evaluate any design changes necessitated during development. The goal of this research is to validate the product’s usability, safety, and user satisfaction against predefined criteria. The output of human factors research at this stage (final usability and safety reports; HFE/UE report or other documentation per relevant standards and regulations) will be <a href="https://www.delve.com/services/engineering/human-factors-engineering" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">essential for your FDA submission</a>. Learn about <a href="https://www.delve.com/services/engineering/human-factors-engineering" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human factors research and engineering</a> at Delve.

At Delve, we integrate human factors throughout the design process. This creates devices that are lower risk, cost less to develop, and are ultimately more human-centered.

Services Page: Human Factors Engineering

<h2>What Type of Research Do You Need for Your Project? </h2>
Delve’s <a href="https://www.delve.com/services/strategy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Insights and Strategy (I/S) Team</a> is often asked to plan and facilitate two main areas of research. Based on what our client already knows about the product or experience (or depending on where the client is in the design thinking cycle) our I/S team customizes the research to the project’s needs. 
To determine the type of research your project needs, answer three questions: 
<ul><li>Is there a defined user/customer group? </li><li>Has the product market been validated? </li><li>Is your company or product team aligned on the opportunity for the product/portfolio? </li></ul>
If the answer is “no” to these questions, then the type of research needed falls under Opportunity Exploration. 
If the answer is “yes” to these questions, the type of research you need lines up under our Product Definition category.

2024 04 19 User research in NPD INLINE2

<h3>Opportunity Exploration</h3>
Opportunity exploration occurs during the define stage of new product development. Its goal is to identify, prioritize, and build alignment around potential product opportunities. Research at this stage helps to fully understand the potential of a business, uncover untapped potential of where to innovate in the market, and set a vision for future products and experiences. Outputs of this type of research might include defining a company’s opportunity areas, user needs or jobs to be done, user personas, and business and value propositions. Our work for <a href="https://www.delve.com/work/product-roadmap" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fiskars</a> is a good example of opportunity exploration.

2024 04 19 User research in NPD INLINE3

<h3>Fiskars Case Study: Developing A Product Roadmap for the Future</h3>
Fiskars is a 350+ year old company with an extensive portfolio of garden and yard care tools to help people care for and enjoy their outdoor spaces. They asked Delve to develop a multi-year product roadmap grounded in an understanding of user needs, both established and emerging, that would resonate with both consumers and retailers.
To create the roadmap for Fiskars, we: 
<ul><li>Synthesized a vast body of past research and the existing portfolio of products. </li><li>Conducted additional research to identify unmet user needs </li><li>Developed a trendscape that considered emergent consumer expectations and the influential forces of technology, urbanization, demographic changes in the population, globalization, and changing climate conditions </li><li>Explored a range of platforms and concepts through interdisciplinary brainstorms, additional research, prototyping-to-learn, and workshops to capture feedback from the client team. </li></ul>
We delivered to Fiskars a multi-year roadmap for development, user needs, concept sketches, prototypes, and design criteria. The first new Fiskars platform to launch to consumers was the food gardening platform. Products that have reached the marketplace include a hand seed mower, harvesting knife, folding produce knife, and extendable fruit picker. Read more about our work for <a href="https://www.delve.com/work/product-roadmap" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fiskars.</a>

Widen asked us to imagine ”what’s next” for their business model—and identify opportunities that were feasible within 3-5 years.

Case Study: Widen -  Imagining What's Next to Drive Business Expansion

<h3>Product Definition</h3>
Product definition typically lands around the design stage of new product development. Its goal is to ensure the development of a successful and marketable product that meets the needs and expectations of its target audience. Research at this stage helps provide clarity and direction to the product development process by establishing a clear understanding of what the product will be, who it is for, and how it will create value for customers. Outputs of this type of research might include experience briefs, any type of user flow mapping (e.g., journey mapping, work/task flows, ecosystem maps), updated functional requirements, and design/development plans. Our work for <a href="https://www.delve.com/work/tiki-fire-pit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lamplight</a> is a good example of Product Definition.

2024 04 19 User research in NPD INLINE Tiki

<h3>Lamplight Case Study: Refining Design Concepts for a Disruptive Product Entry into a New Market </h3>
Lamplight, a leading provider of lighting products, saw an opportunity for its TIKI brand to be a disruptor and expand into a new market with a high-quality, innovative product: a better outdoor firepit. They asked Delve to help them design a superior fire pit experience, from packaging through storage. To inform the development of the TIKI firepit, we: 
<ul><li>Conducted a workshop to explore what a TIKI-branded portable fire pit might mean to the target consumer and what a direct-to-consumer experience might entail. </li><li>Brainstormed the consumer experience timeline from purchase through setup for tailgating and camping. </li><li>Generated potential strategies and design concepts. We further refined the concepts and framed how TIKI could enter this market space. </li><li>Shared sketches and foam-core models with a focus group to validate the concept’s desirability. </li><li>Tested prototypes’ out-of-box experience with consumers to identify users’ expectations and pain points. Insights from this testing led to further design refinements to the firepit and accessories. </li></ul>
Lamplight’s TIKI Brand Fire Pit delivers to consumers the pleasures of sitting around an outdoor fire, without the fuss. It is easy to assemble, relatively cool to the touch, can use either pellet packets or wooden logs, and can be used safely on both decks and lawns. Read more about our work for <a href="https://www.delve.com/work/tiki-fire-pit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lamplight</a>.

Medical Devices Held by Healthcare Professional - Delve Medical Product Development

<h3>Human factors expertise embedded throughout the product development process, from start to FDA approval</h3>

Products like medical devices and motor vehicles are highly regulated for good reason. The stakes are higher, not just in terms of R&D investment but more importantly, for user safety.

Utilizing this role to its fullest could minimize project risk and speed your product to market.

Don't Miss: A Chronically Underutilized Role in New Medical Device Development

If it’s unclear to nurses how to mitigate a high priority alarm, it could cause harm to a patient. If a motorcycle’s touchscreen display is confusing, the rider could have an accident.
For products in highly regulated environments, we adapt our multidisciplinary development process to the standards of the project’s needs and integrate human factors expertise into the development team from start to finish. This approach minimizes project risk. It gives clients confidence that they will be able to demonstrate to the FDA that their final product is safe and effective, avoiding costly delays. Learn more about <a href="https://www.delve.com/services/engineering/human-factors-engineering" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human factors research and engineering services at Delve</a>.

<h2>A Final Word About the Business Value of Research </h2>
If research is so important for the creation of successful, user-centered products, why is it sometimes such a tough sell? I understand why clients sometimes question the return on investment (ROI) of research. Traditional ROI calculations do not fully capture the value research provides, so its value can be <a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/the-roi-of-research-and-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">notoriously difficult to measure</a>. Compared to other outputs of the product development process (for example, high-fidelity prototypes), the value of research can seem “fluffy” or intangible. 
One of the main ways that research adds value to new product development is by providing clarity into important unknowns. But precisely because we are exploring the unknown, it’s almost impossible to predict in advance how much we will learn or assign an exact value to it.

Get to know Jenny Westby, design researcher at Delve.

Don't Miss: Meet a Delvian: Jenny Westby

But just because the business value of research is tough to measure doesn’t mean it isn’t real or demonstrable. To dig deeper into the specific ways research delivers value in our client work, read our article, “<a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/the-roi-of-research-and-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The ROI of Research and Strategy.</a> Personally, I have worked on projects where the research validated our client’s hypothesis, giving them the peace of mind to continue investing in a new product or service. I’ve been on other projects where the research delivered unexpected insights that led to significant project reframes. Both outcomes are beneficial, but it can be hard to assign a price tag to these learnings.

Is it possible to skip the “strategy” stage of new product development and still manage to launch a successful product? Theoretically, sure. 
But whenever you make product decisions based on best guesses or gut feel instead of real data, you’re taking an enormous risk. Product innovation is risky and expensive under the best circumstances. Integrating research into new product development—and conducting it properly—is crucial to delivering what users want, minimizing risk and costs, and generally making better decisions throughout the development process.

Read more from Jenny: 
<ul><li><a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/what-taylor-swift-can-teach-product-designers-about-experiential-brand-language" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What Taylor Swift Can Teach Product Designers About Experiential Brand Language</a></li><li><a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/a-guide-to-action-oriented-design-thinking" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Guide to Action-Oriented Design Thinking</a></li></ul>
Learn more about Jenny and her favorite design research projects:
<ul><li><a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/employee-spotlight-jenny-westby" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meet a Delvian: Jenny Westby</a></li></ul>

Framing the problem is a critical first step to designing a research plan. Our Design Research team will collaborate with you to define the problem and craft a plan that will deliver.

Services Page: Design Research (What's Your core problem to solve?)

Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.delve.com/services/strategy/design-insights" target="_blank">Delve Product Design Insights & Market Research Services</a>.

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Research enables you to make good decisions throughout new product development, speeding up product development and creating a product that resonates with users. Here’s what research-driven NPD looks like.

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Slash Project Risk: Incorporate Research Throughout New Product Development

Slash Project Risk: Incorporate Research Throughout New Product Development

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