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Design Strategy

The school of thought that lets the customers' needs move to the top of the list

The nuts and bolts: Design Strategy is the intersection between business profitability and value for people. Design strategy helps businesses operate with a sustainable competitive advantage by identifying what they’re good at, but also how their offerings can benefit customers in ways other companies cannot match.

Coming smack dab at the intersection between design and business strategy is the process of design strategy. Design strategy emphasizes prototyping, collaboration and rapid iteration rather than waiting for answers to every possible question before designing a thing.

Design strategy requires empathy for the customer and the end user. It harnesses that empathy to discover opportunities— opportunities to make their interaction with the product, service or brand easier, more enjoyable and, ultimately, more profitable.

Think about it like this: On one side of the page you have a list of your business goals. On the other side of the page, you have a list of your user needs. How do you mesh the two together, ensuring that you’re serving your customers while ultimately taking steps toward achieving the goals you’ve set out for your business? Via the process of design strategy, which uncovers previously undiscovered opportunities to meet both needs.

Design strategy helps teams avoid analysis paralysis, a condition that occurs when one has so much information and so many things that need doing that they’re unable to begin doing anything.

Give Your Design Strategy a Leg Up

Helio gives your design strategy a leg up. You don’t have to wait until you’ve built something completely to start validating your strategy with an actual audience. Our test templates make it easy to get early validation. Check out our Validate Product Interest Template:

Validate Product Interest Test

Measure demand and gather gut reactions to your product from real consumers all before committing to an expensive launch.

Use this template for:

  • Shopping Insights
  • Strengthen existing design strategy through audience validation
  • Inform product design by looking at weaknesses in competition
Use Template