As the economic conditions are getting tougher, consumers are paying more, but have less to spend – which means that value is becoming more important than ever before.
From a business perspective, whether it is a website, an app or a business process redesign, extracting maximum value from all decisions is the aim of the game.
Striking a balance between cost and value is critical in decision-making. Consumers and businesses alike can benefit from having a toolkit that can help them question, assess and decide on which options deliver the best value.
Businesses can no longer differentiate purely on price. Making a product or service too cheap compromises quality, and it is not long before it starts becoming worthless to both the company producing it and the person buying it.
Oscar Wilde once defined a cynic as someone who knows “the price of everything and the value of nothing”, and this definition holds true today still.
Given that any purchase or decision is made in response to a challenge that needs to be addressed, by considering the needs of customers, stakeholders and end-users against the business goals of the organisation, opportunities can be identified for creating value through change.
Clearly defining the problem or challenge that needs to be solved is the most important step.
Once the problem has been articulated, it then becomes possible to determine what it means to the individual or the business to solve that problem, create that product, or tweak that operating procedure. This is the value (measurable as ROI), and the cost then is the money and effort that it takes to solve the problem.
However, there is an additional cost that is often overlooked in determining value – the cost of not solving the problem, where money or revenue is lost, for example, as a result of continuing to do business in an unoptimised manner.
Solutions that look good and meet functional requirements, while driving business results such as increased revenue, enhanced customer engagement, or competitive market differentiation, are the goal.
Prototyping and testing of solutions are the next steps to validating and refining design solutions, after which the final design solution can be turned into a tangible product or service through implementation, thereby meeting the needs of end-users and stakeholders, and delivering value to the business.
By considering the user perspective and business goals throughout the process, the goal is to ensure that the final solution meets the needs of all stakeholders and delivers value to the business.
) Tyrann Burger is the managing director of BIGBrave.
“Businesses can no longer differentiate purely on price. Making a product or service too cheap compromises quality . . . ”
– Tyrann Burger
