Validating Startup Ideas with Design Thinking

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Beginnings are hard. Launching and scaling a startup is even harder. That overwhelming feeling when you face the unknown - the ideas buzzing in your head, the fear, the excitement…I know it well. That’s why I’m launching this space.

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“I know for a fact that the person reading this is a founder or co-founder who is also a developer '‘ Doreen Mushi, UI/UX Designer.

One thing I know about people with a developer’s background is that they love creating things. Unfortunately, this often comes at the expense of their users.

What usually happens is that they end up building software they think users need, while in reality, users need something entirely different. If they had taken the time to ask, the users would have gladly told them.

So, I’ll help you solve this by shedding light on key stages of design thinking that can help validate your ideas.

One last thing we should keep in mind is that a startup is like any other business. And for any business to thrive, it needs to understand its customers well. (You can’t afford to mess up here!) If not, failure is inevitable.

While I understand the unique challenges of running a startup in Tanzania, for the sake of this article, let’s refer to a startup simply as a business.

Coming up with an idea 

Let’s approach this from a business perspective: Imagine you want to start a business and are looking for a product to sell. What’s the first thing you do? Yep, you guessed it right.

You need to go out and find problems people are willing to pay to solve. And do you know the easiest way to do that? Yep, you guessed it right AGAIN—mingle with people!

People love complaining about things they lack or wish were better. Who knows? The next complaint you hear might be your breakthrough idea.

Where can you find groups of people sharing their pain points? The answer is social media—Facebook, Instagram, X, Quora, Threads, Reddit, and more. Over the last 5-10 years, most interactions have moved online, making these platforms a goldmine for startup ideas.

I’ve lost count of how many startup/business ideas I’ve seen on X, Instagram (especially in the comments under influencers like Millard Ayo), and Facebook groups.

Here are two examples of such ideas: 

• The first one is by a health influencer on X called Bonge La Afya; he touched on the need to have a software or rather a system to unify all health centres in terms of their data to avoid double charging on the consumer.

• The second and the last one is by a make-up artist on X called Queen Minah; she touched on then need to have a platform that can help people get houses at an affordable price (preferably eliminate the need of having agents ‘dalalis’)

Of course, there are different ways to generate ideas. Personally, I prefer this method because it reveals chronic problems that need solutions. Even when pitching to investors, it’s easier to convince them when the problem is obvious. Ultimately, choose what works for you and JUST DO IT.

 Know Your Consumer

There’s a clear difference between a customer and a consumer. A customer is someone who buys your product, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they use it. A consumer, on the other hand, is the person who actually uses it.

Once you’ve identified the problem you want to solve, the next step is to immerse yourself in understanding your consumer.

And when I say immerse, I mean really take your time to know them. Talk to them, visit their workplaces or homes, observe their daily routines, understand their hopes and struggles, identify their pain points, learn about their job and earnings, find out where they hang out, which social media platforms they prefer, and why. Also, know their age.

It may seem like a lot and a waste of time, but trust me, it’s not. In fact, big companies spend millions on this kind of research. So why should you skip it?

This research helps with branding, creating software that truly addresses consumer pain points, and making the product more relatable. And let me tell you, this is what drives people crazy. Imagine meeting someone who consistently gets everything right just the way you like it—who wouldn’t want that? It’s incredibly attractive.

Create a Prototype and Test It

Once you’ve gathered all that crazy amount of research, the next step is to create a prototype of your software that delivers value to your consumer. It doesn’t have to be complex; it just needs to address the problem in its most basic form. Then, test it. And continue iterating.

From a design thinking perspective, this stage is the lifeline of your product. You’ll continuously test ideas (identified from your research) and observe how users interact with them, then adjust accordingly.

As we wrap up, I want to introduce you to the Pareto Principle, which states that 20% of your resources generate 80% of your results. In your startup, make sure you identify the 20% of customers who generate 80% of your revenue and give them what they want. (In short, do whatever it takes to keep them engaged!) These users are the lifeline of your business.

Those are my two cents on this topic. Feel free to add more points and share your thoughts with me via email at [email protected].

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