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What's interesting to me is that customer development (at least the early stages) is a more commercial-friendly form of participatory design. I did a PhD in em

What's interesting to me is that customer development (at least the early stages) is a more commercial-friendly form of participatory design. I did a PhD in embedded computer systems design which described "realistic" methods for designing new products with small teams through intense engagement with your future users. This was in an academic setting though, and I'd been wondering how to "sell" the idea of participatory design in much the same way user-centred design had been to companies as an alternative to traditional design methods. Then I read Steve Blank's customer development strategies. Beaten to the punch. So I'm curious - is Steve aware of PD? What inspired CD? Anyway, to answer the OP - working as an external designer/developer for a small dental firm, I found that our approach, which was very similar to CD in a lot of ways, was very useful for learning what truly mattered to the customer. You are able to cut away the cruft from the design process very quickly. It's hard to tell what people want by watching them, it's hard to tell what they want by having them tell you, but it's easy when you collaborate with them in the design process. The hardest part is it takes up a lot of time, but when you're establishing a toe-hold in the market, that's ok, and it's a differentiator for your company. We made a lot of people very happy by fulfilling their needs really well.

petervandijck 16y ago
I always felt participatory design was never worked out or explained as well as customer development. They were definitely on to something, but the focus seemed wrong (have your customers help you design your product). Customer development's focus is straight on (have a hypothesis, test it with customers and pivot). Much stronger way of thinking about the process.
- fun2have 16y ago
  I agree with you. Participatory design is not the same as testing a Hypothesis, which is what CD is about. The easiest way of thinking about it is what Henry Ford said "If had listened to my customers I would have bread faster horses". What Ford did was look at the Activities of his customers (need to go from a to b faster), and their needs and then came up with a Hypothesis which was the car. He still researched the market, he still listened to his customers, but he did not use the customers solution, which is what Participatory design is about.
  - timcederman 16y ago
    Participatory design is not about having your customer design for you, which is a common misconception. If it was, then every PD project would end up like the Homer Simpson car. It is about engaging the user as an equal and not treating them as a abstract problem you are designing for. As I said, it's about including them in the design process in a way that you come up with a design that truly suits their needs.
- timcederman 16y ago
  The main problem is that a lot of people see PD as a philosophy rather than a method. I tried to suggest concrete methods you could use PD to build better products. The research is here - http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~tch/ http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~tch/

petervandijck 16y ago

I always felt participatory design was never worked out or explained as well as customer development. They were definitely on to something, but the focus seemed wrong (have your customers help you design your product). Customer development's focus is straight on (have a hypothesis, test it with customers and pivot). Much stronger way of thinking about the process.

fun2have 16y ago
I agree with you. Participatory design is not the same as testing a Hypothesis, which is what CD is about. The easiest way of thinking about it is what Henry Ford said "If had listened to my customers I would have bread faster horses". What Ford did was look at the Activities of his customers (need to go from a to b faster), and their needs and then came up with a Hypothesis which was the car. He still researched the market, he still listened to his customers, but he did not use the customers solution, which is what Participatory design is about.
- timcederman 16y ago
  Participatory design is not about having your customer design for you, which is a common misconception. If it was, then every PD project would end up like the Homer Simpson car. It is about engaging the user as an equal and not treating them as a abstract problem you are designing for. As I said, it's about including them in the design process in a way that you come up with a design that truly suits their needs.
timcederman 16y ago
The main problem is that a lot of people see PD as a philosophy rather than a method. I tried to suggest concrete methods you could use PD to build better products. The research is here - http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~tch/ http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~tch/