Digital products and services are remaking industries, business models and jobs. At the center of all this activity are two closely connected disciplines: design and engineering. Long considered fundamentally separate entities, engineering and design have long led project plans and new ideas toward product development in their own streams; each approach with its many advocates.
It’s time to shift to an evolved, technology-empowered design mindset. As technology informs design, and good design arms technology to become most effective by engaging with users, the two now sit at the top of the product development pyramid to co-create success.
What does it mean to the engineering processes then? The new mindset requires that you:
- Instead of relying on customers to tell you what they want, you anticipate new needs by scrutinizing every step of their journey (and having the data you need to do that).
- Instead of letting design be an afterthought to technology, or retrofitting technology to design’s vision, elevate both to mutually bring out the best product possible.
- Instead of building a fully formed product over months or years, build a minimum-viable product (MVP) in weeks and continually refine it.
In these blogposts you can learn more about engineering your digital strategy for business success and how to connect design and engineering. Also download this white paper, where we offer five guidelines for delivering outcome-oriented products, illustrated with real-world examples.