Summary: What is your ideal solution and ideal value line? This part of your idea analysis is looking at whether you could improve current solutions to consumers’ problems.
Now with a strict focus on the jobs and outcomes that consumers want to fulfil, and with the ultimate solution in mind, ask if there are ideal solutions that you could develop that outperform the current solutions on offer? Also, what improvements in meeting the consumer value line could be made – if any?
These changes have to be realistically achievable at a cost that means they can deliver superior value given the price charged. For example, it’s no good developing a jet plan that is 200 mph quicker, if its operation costs twice as much – the net result will be less value. It’s no good trying to sell budget PC’s direct, if the product value line to do so will make them more expensive that those bought from a normal retailer – because that won’t meet the consumer value line better in any way.
What would you, the members of your business like to see as the solution based on what you know about consumers? How close is this to the ultimate solution, how much would it cost to make?
Contrary to popular belief developing great ideal solutions isn’t about lots of unfocused ideas, it’s about generating good ideas, based on a focused set of consumer value data.
The way to do it is focus on the underserved outcomes first, those with the highest opportunity scores and then think of the ideas to solve the problems. What you’re left with is a true reality – the solution better meets the jobs and outcomes because it does “x” with a value line of “x”. When I thought of delivering 2:1 standard essays, I didn’t have to do consumer research, because I knew people were buying essays and I knew the quality was bad. The 2:1 feature therefore identified a huge opportunity – people needed high quality essays and they were unsatisfied with what they were getting. The consumer value line was already apparent – buyers were using Google to look for essays and choose the best company, and essays were being delivered direct via email. There was no need for innovation there, bar being able to do these things better. (Although arguably consumers could still benefit from an essaysupermarket.com idea)
Great ideas are those that will increase satisfaction scores of important underserved opportunities by 20% or more. This may be one solution/feature, but is more commonly made up of many smaller features, or innovation at others areas of the value line.
Some tips -
- Stay focused on high opportunity scores!
- Focus on both the solution and the value line – but always from what’s best for the consumer
- Know what the ultimate solution is
- Know what the ultimate value line is
- Know what the consumer’s ideal solution is
- Know what the consumer’s ideal value line is
- Decide ideal solutions from within the business
- Can you make significant leaps in the way value creators are used and their costs to better meet the consumer value line?
- Be realistic – exactly why does your solution meet the jobs and outcomes better without raising detriments such as price out of proportion?
- Be clear about what features meet jobs and outcomes better, why and by how much
- Aim for a real breakthrough improvement if you can
- Constrain thinking to enhance creativity
- Eliminate bad ideas quickly – always make sure a lot of people will be given a lot of value in their underserved jobs and outcomes
- Optimise the best effort for cost, risk, effort and suitability. For example Bosh managed to serve underserved outcomes well, by focusing on ideas that required little extra effort or cost in terms of modifying current products, little technical risk and are hard to copy, but provide huge value.
- Consumer value lines are habits – they take time to alter these habits to utilise better ways of meeting them – especially the longer the habit has been in place, and the longer the buying cycle for the product. (e.g. how often it is replaced)
Common mistakes include
- Filtering out ideas if a company does not have the required value creators, when at times they could develop them
- Giving concepts for consumers to evaluate, many of whom are often unable to appreciate fully all features and may be unbiased. Consumers for example gave the microwave the thumbs down because they did not fully understand the implications for them
- Losing site of the actual job and outcomes to be achieved
- Thinking your solution provides better value when in reality if does not
- Adding so many features to a solution that it fails to deliver on the ultimate goals and outcomes
- Adding so much cost that the overall value is actually lower to the consumer
- Making a new value line that suits you, not the consumer
Employees not customers are often in the best position to objectively evaluate concepts by determining the degree to which the proposed offering satisfies all the possible jobs and outcomes against the outcomes and opportunity score data provided by consumers.
New products that only provide 3% more value than current ones often fail. Ones that provide 5 – 10% more often are successful and those that manage 20% of more deliver rapid increases in market share, revenue and profit.
Quite often good ideas for ideal solutions can come from looking at the compromises competing solutions force consumers to make… let’s take a look at these now.
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