The 12-Step Framework

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62 of 87 Figure 12

5 Stages in The Design Thinking Process

Note. Reprinted from “5 Stages in The Design Thinking Process”, by Dam & Siang, (2020).

Retrieved from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process

Design Thinking limitations

The Design Thinking process as illustrate above broadly operates under the assumptions, that the organizations applying the thinking has the capabilities both financially and timely to spend significant time on testing and redefining through an iterative process of ideation and prototyping. The 12-Step Framework is meant to be applied for startups, or other organizations who has to maintain a focus on execution due to time, financial or similar limitations. The framework also attempts to create a more holistic view of the operational processes of the company within tech startups, as it aims to get a diagnostic of the processes from sales to launch of the product. The 12-Step Framework is divided into three stages which are illustrated as the continuous three coloured outer-rings, namely to (1) Understand, to (2) Explore, and to (3) Materialize. The first stage, to Understand, is closely referenced to the 5 stages in the design thinking process, as illustrated in Figure 13.

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The 12-Step Framework

Source: Own creation

Here firstly sales is in focus, but the same terminology is used as to empathise and define the product together with the customer, but to ideate is replaced with to design. From here, we move to step 5, develop, which is the bridge between the first stage of Understanding the customer, and the second stage, Explore. This is where the model creates a more in-depth view of the different processes, in order to have the focus on execution and moving forward towards a final product. Explore consists of preparation to testing, testing, and

64 of 87 reviewing the test. From the first test of the product, there is user contact. In the 12-Step Framework there are three points of user contact, namely step 7, 11 and 12, test, soft launch, and launch respectively. In this framework it is not only testing that reveals new insight towards bettering the solutions, but all user contact. It is important to reflect upon what kind of users are in contact of the product, and be aware to evaluate and seek the insight of the different users. Within testing, it is internal testers of MyLoyal and the customers, but no end-users has seen the product yet. This leads back to the earlier reflection upon where this framework fits, as to companies with limited resources. During testing, it can be argued that a more substantial amount of testing with different end-users can enable the product to reveal valuable insight prior to launching the app or product. But in the case of startups and of MyLoyal, sometimes this is not an option due to the time and financial limitations and costs associated with end-user testing. Therefore the process pushes towards the launch, while being aware that every point of user contact is a step of reflection towards new potential insight.

There are also limitations related to The 12-Step Framework, as it is rigid model, that will not fit all companies, and the frameworks optimization towards new customers. The focus is also highly operational, so the purpose is not to see the cultural dynamics that are occurring within the different steps, but the framework can be supplemented with different analysis in order to fill this gap, which also has been the attempt in this thesis, with the thorough combined internal analysis, supplementing each of the models and frameworks limitations with each other’s strengths. Alternatively to applying the 12-Step Framework would be the classical Design Thinking framework, while remaining aware of the

limitations. In the following sub-sections the 12-Step Framework will be applied upon MyLoyal, based on my knowledge of the company as the person responsible for the daily operations of the company.

6.4.2.1 Contact

The first step in the framework is about answering, how do we get in contact with the customer? For MyLoyal it is a simple process of cold canvas sales and networking. The clear goal is to book a meeting with the potential costumer.

65 of 87 6.4.2.2 Empathise

Once the company has managed to get in contact with the customer, it is crucial to create a connection when the product is presented to the customer, so there can be a

collaborative process towards empathising the challenging that needs to be solved. This has been challenging for everyone during the pandemic, as physical meetings has not been possible to the same extend as previously, and it can be a challenge to create the same social bonds with people, when you don’t have the chance to meet physically. On the other hand it also saves a tremendous amount of commuting time, as it is possible to showcase the product and services virtually, and to figure out if there is a good match. For MyLoyal there are generally two scenarios of empathising the challenge.

Firstly, when the product is presented to the customer, it happens in some cases, that there is a seemingly perfect match with what MyLoyal offers and what the customer is seeking. Here there are not put a lot of emphasis on the challenge, as the challenge is seemingly solved with the existing product.

Secondly and more likely is during the showcasing of the product, the client starts

dreaming and feels inspired to create something new based on our dialogue. This is where it is important to figure out how to empathise the challenge, so as to solve it in the best way. MyLoyal aims to solve this through constructive dialogues with the costumer, which leads us to the next step.

6.4.2.3. Define

It is crucial as a company to decide what can and can’t be done. This distinction and limitation is what often differentiates companies and MyLoyal is no exemption. This is also where MyLoyal clearly distinct themselves from the IT consultancy competitors. A

consultancy house will solve and accept most ideas, while an ecosystem app company will prioritize ideas and features that benefit the ecosystem, and will decline tasks that are outside the ecosystem. This is a decision that should be taken at the strategic level, but with understanding of customer needs and what is meant by the ecosystem. What it means to do it with an understanding of customer needs is, that everything that is deemed not to be made at present should be noted in a CRM system or similar, in order to create a

66 of 87 library of client wishes, a Wishlist. It is based on the Wishlist possible to compare within the ecosystem to see if there are bridging wishes between several clients, where features and ideas can be deemed beneficial to the ecosystem.

Now that it is clear what can’t be done at present, then the dialogue goes towards what is possible, and the customer and MyLoyal agrees upon the feature list.

6.4.2.4. Design

MyLoyal’s product designers now creates a design mockup for the clients approval.

When the mockup is done, it is shared for feedback with the client. It is crucial to keep the feedback process as centralized on as few platforms as possible. MyLoyal uses Invision to upload and share the design with the client. On this platform it is possible to provide

comments and feedback. Once the design has been confirmed the development of the app begins.

6.4.2.5. Develop

The final design is uploaded to Zeplin for hand-off to developers who build native apps based on the design, in Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android.

6.4.2.6. Prepare Test

This is an important step, as it is the bridge towards the actual testing. In MyLoyal’s case the iOS app is pushed to TestFlight which is Apples test environment for apps, and the android app is shared through a ShareLink to the test version of the app. This creates an easy testing experience for non-technically experienced testers.

6.4.2.7. Test

The now developed app is handed back to the Product Designers or other QA specialist that might be available in the company for review. Purpose is to find and fix potential errors, such as a feature being copied from a previous customer, and therefor when shared in the next step with the new customer, the previous customer name and brand is visible to the new one. This is an error that has occurred several times for MyLoyal and can be somewhat embarrassing, but the clients usually takes it quite nicely, as they are aware that the MyLoyal solution is a white label product.

67 of 87 6.4.2.8. Review

Following the approval of QA and Product Designer testing of the app, and potential minor fixes made based on this test, the app is now shared in the same way with the customer for review. MyLoyal usually only invites in this phase 1-10 testers, in an attempt to keep it low cost and focused. There are some costs connected to inviting to tests in the form of time that needs to be allocated, since inviting users to TestFlight is not very seamless, and with a major amount of testers, who often never has tried giving a review on software, many duplicate comments will occur. This process is currently done through Invision, and was previously done on email, which resulted in hundreds of emails during client review.

The client compares the TestFlight design with the design available inside Invision, where they can comment on only changes of text, type and direct errors that might have been skipped during the testing in step 7. Sometimes the customer wants new features at this stage, which cost extra and takes time. MyLoyal currently pushes new ideas and wishes to the Wishlist for potential future development in order to get faster towards launching the app, and to prevent hitting a loop of perfection where the client continuously wants to iterate on the app and therefor takes significantly longer time to launch. This perfection loop goes back to the initial five steps in Design Thinking, where the focus becomes on iteration and testing, and not on actually launching the product. This potential fallacy can be diminished by clearly defining the amount of iterations during customer review, and by following all 12-Steps in the framework.

6.4.2.9. Update

Once the feedback has been collected inside Invision, the Product Designers discuss the feedback that has been given and based on this presents the final list of tasks that must be solved for the developers.

6.4.2.10. Implement

The development team implements the fixes based on the list created in the previous step.

This step is the final before preparing for soft launch. It is noted, that sometimes the clients aren’t as easy to dance with, and especially the restaurant segment can have a difficult time with keeping up with the agreed deadlines. In order for startups to create success you

68 of 87 first have to build a loyal customer base that becomes your ambassadors, and that is done by sometimes going above and beyond. The next step is to make a scalable and more rigid system, that efficiently brings new clients through the flow. This is a reflection a

startup must make, to understand where they are, and how far they are willing to presently go for the new customers. Currently MyLoyal often ends up having one more customer review, before pushing to launch test. That being said, as MyLoyal is moving towards scaling, this new and more rigid structure has been implemented, where MyLoyal decides to decline the clients wishes to iterate more in this step, again in order to increase the accuracy of planning and therefor also the possibility to scale. Now the development based on the client review is done, and we are ready to soft launch.

6.4.2.11. Soft launch

Soft launch is at its core a test launch. This is where the app is pushed live to the App Store & Google Play Store and is available for all users to download. But the client does no marketing and promotion of the app, and therefor very few people will realise that the app is visible. The soft launch serves two purposes. One is to test on live equipment and production servers to see if there should be anything MyLoyal might have missed before opening to the public. The second is with bigger customers who have many employees who needs to use the app on a daily basis, this gives time for the employees to become familiar with the app prior to having to present and navigate the app with actual customers.

The experience from MyLoyal has shown, that if you launch too quickly without a proper shadow test, some of the employees can have a push-back from using the new

technology, as they don’t feel equipped to handling the app and therefor in cases refuses to use the new technology. This can all be solved with a well-executed soft launch.

6.4.2.12. Launch

It is now the final stage, where the app officially launches, and all marketing from the customer is activated. At this stage MyLoyal is ready from the technological side and the goal is for the customers and employees to all feel comfortable and excited about using the new app.

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