Design Compass® setting

Team ahead 2, customer behind 2

The team is two steps ahead of the stage: the answer was chosen before any research. Reopen those calls as assumptions. The work looks two steps behind what customers have reached: it fixes friction only, with no view of what they would value.

The five questions for this setting

  1. 1. Plan

    When planning, what have we decided about what customers value?

    Distance from home: Team +2, Customer +3

    Read "decided" as "decided to act on": the team's call about what to do, not a choice made for anyone else.

  2. 2. Research

    With research, what have we agreed about what customers desire?

    Distance from home: Team +2, Customer +3

  3. 3. Design

    When designing, what have we tracked about what customers overlook?

    Distance from home: Team +2, Customer -2

  4. 4. Test

    When testing, what have we assumed about what customers avoid?

    Distance from home: Team -3, Customer -2

    Methods that help you find out

  5. 5. Embed

    When embedding, what have we learned about what customers accept?

    Distance from home: Team -3, Customer -2

See where you really stand

Answer a question for each stage and we'll suggest methods that turn guesses into evidence.

Create free account

All 25 Design Compass® settings