Last year, I got to go to this cool program at MIT called "Systematic Innovation of Products, Processes, and Services." They taught us all sorts of useful stuff, but one thing that stuck with me was this framework they talked about when it comes to making new products.

To make a product that people will actually want to use, it's gotta be three things: desirable, viable, and feasible.

1. People “desirable” - first, it's gotta be something people actually want. Like, if you're building something that nobody cares about, it ain't gonna sell. Frameworks and approaches like design thinking & empathetic design, books such as '“The Mom Test”, etc. help us figure out what people actually want. We'll talk more about that in future posts.

2. Business “viable” - second, it's gotta make sense for business; you can't just make something people want and hope that'll be enough. You gotta make sure you can make money off it, too. Christensen’s disruptive innovation & jobs to be done theories, platform thinking, Helmer’s 7 Powers framework, etc. are indispensable sources of ideas and guidelines to make sure your business captures the value it creates. Wikipedia is a great example of a company that made something really valuable but didn't make much money from it.

3. Technically “feasible” - and last, it's gotta be something you can actually build. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't make it, it's all for nothing..

   I went to this program because I was starting to think through my next venture and I wanted to learn some new ways of thinking, and I found this framework super helpful. It's a good way to remind yourself and your team of what's important when you're creating something new.

Advice to my younger self

When you're creating something new, it can be really easy to get caught up in all the cool tech stuff and forget about the other two important parts of the product: making sure it makes sense for your business and that people actually want it. That's where this framework comes in. Use it as a guide to make sure you're not just building something cool for the sake of it, but something that's going to change the world in the right way!