Before the first big build, put the idea next to reality.
Situational Awareness takes the picture from Step 01 and tests it against the world around it: people, processes, customers, competitors, the market and stakeholders.
A convincing idea can still start from an incomplete picture.
Research separates what you know from what you assume, and what the market already rewards from what it still asks for.
The goal isn't to replace your insight with analysis. It's to make it better informed.
Focused research and observation sprints. Their number depends on the uncertainty, and a minimum evidence set is agreed at the start. We look at four areas:
- People, acts and processesHow the work actually happens, with customers, users, teams and partners.
- Competitors and alternativesWhat people use today, why it works for them, and what the market still asks for.
- The marketIts structure, demand signals and trends. Existing research first, before commissioning anything new.
- StakeholdersCustomers, users, partners, investors, regulators and anyone whose behaviour can shape the business.
- A grounded view of the opportunityWhat holds, and what is still open.
- An updated picture of the businessShowing which assumptions held and which didn't.
- A build agendaFocused on what only action can answer.
Research should stop us from paying to learn what a conversation could have told us.
Read nextStep 3 of 4
Evolution Cycles. Build small. Test for real.
You know what holds and what is still open. Now the open questions are answered by action, in cycles of fifteen days.