Good business ideas often stall when customer interest is not matched by business value, organisational capability and clear ownership. Making an idea work means connecting all three.
The workshop went well. Customers liked the concept. The presentation landed. Six months later, very little has changed.
In her 2017 conversation on This is HCD, Tarra van Amerongen explored why promising ideas struggle to become something customers actually use. A compelling concept needs a clear connection to business value, the organisation’s capabilities and the people responsible for taking it forward.
As Tarra put it, “we’re not on day zero.” Businesses already have projects underway, budgets allocated and commitments to deliver. A new idea has to find its place in that reality. Listen to the original This is HCD conversation.
What this means for a growing business
Consider a payments company exploring a new service for investment platforms. For this hypothetical business, an attractive market and a convincing prototype would only answer part of the question. Who handles customer onboarding? Does the existing support team understand settlement exceptions? Can the pricing cover the extra service work?
Those questions could change the proposition before a development team writes any code. They could also reveal that a narrow pilot with one customer segment is more useful than a broad launch.
Three questions before adding to your roadmap
What customer and commercial outcome are we trying to achieve?
Who will own it, and what capacity can they actually commit?
What is the smallest useful step that would give us evidence to continue?
At Stravus, we bring business, product and design perspectives together to help leaders work through these decisions. If you’re considering a new product, market or stage of growth, start by examining what your business will need to make it work.
Explore how we help growing businesses or talk to Stravus about your next step.