Important information if you don’t have client’s or employees yet.

Ideation Stage

*Adaptation of the ideation techniques if you are starting with your business or looking for a product to start.

Note that the best technique for users without client’s or employees is the* Internal Team Brainstorming. However all of the techniques can be adapted by substituting “clients” or “employees” by users of participants.

**

  1. Focus Groups: you can implement this technique not with customers but with family members, colleagues, social media followers, etc.
  2. Customer Visit: you can adapt this technique and ask for a visit to a particular user or company. Even if can be seen as a long shot, a lot of companies are open to share experiences with people that show interest within their work. Look for companies that are starting or have a building public philosophy. You can adapt this technique to an interview rather a visit.
  3. Lead User Analysis: You can implement this techniques as it is because usually lead users are not always clients.
  4. Client Workshop: Adapt the client workshop to a user workshop. You can organize this with your colleagues or even asking to a specific community that may be interested in entrepreneurship and innovation.
  5. Customer Advisory Board: This technique is specific for clients. You can substitute this technique by creating an advisory board composed by people you admire and are willing to help you with the discovering of your idea. To get people interested in participating you can offer early access to your creations (or just ask nicely ☺️)
  6. Internal Team Brainstorming: Implement this option by your own, within the database template you will find specific techniques for you to generate ideas, for instance 5 Why’s or Reverse Brainstorming. You can also create a brainstorming session with your friends and family. Substitute employees by participants.
  7. Employee Submissions: This technique is specific for employees. You can substitute this technique by the creation of a survey that helps you recollect ideas from followers or even your friends and family. Inspired in the Employee Submissions template to create your own survey.

Screening and Research Stage

The implementation of these stages remain the same if you have employees and customers or you are just starting.

Where to find participants?