Human-Centered Design Dies at Launch

Taking an idea from concept to business means moving through a series of gates. In the Silicon Valley model, the gates look something like this:

1. Develop an initial product concept and launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).


2. Iterate on MVP to reach product/market fit.


3. Scale up.


4. Cash-out.

Providing real human value isn't a benchmark for business success. Instead, success is defined by speed, scale, and growth. This is deeply rooted in our culture of technology. It's easy to become swept along without realizing how far we have strayed from our original direction.

1. Initial concept development/MVP This is the phase in which human-centered design exists. It is a discovery of a real problem people face in the real world, and we set out to solve it. For example, you may create an app to allow people to share rides. In order to launch your MVP, you design, test, and prototype it with potential customers.

2. Reach product/market fit In this phase, you solve product-based problems that you created. The users become an amorphous blob hidden behind our business metrics as we improve the MVP.

3. Scale up As a product gains traction, the question becomes, "How do we grow?". This introduces a new focus: maximizing key growth metrics. For example, in the case of a ride-sharing app, increasing the number of rides taken might be a task.

4. Cash out When you get hooked on growth hacking, negative externalities become a part of doing business, not some short-term fix. It's like a drug. Once you get hooked, there is no turning back. If you go public, you have to keep increasing investor value. Consultancies rarely build and scale things; in fact, they rarely leave the first gate.In g... See more

Designers are taught that their job is to represent the people who will use our products. We "empathize" with them and put their needs at the center of our decision-making process. As companies scale up, their priorities and incentives become less and less aligned with the people using their products. Bad things happen as we stop solving people pro... See more