Experiment design

Experiment designers are indispensable within the innovation process: after all, they show investors and stakeholders that their time and money also pay off.

For example, by examining the business case for a new product.

What is experiment design?

Experiment design is about providing evidence. This can be done through various methods, such as lean and agile. However, that doesn't fully cover the scope. Experiment design is the art of learning. Does an idea also work in the real world? By systematically testing risks and assumptions, you make the next step towards your goal visible and achievable.

The right time for experiment design

You can use experiment design at any stage of a project. Whether you are exploring, generating ideas, validating, or scaling, for each stage, you formulate assumptions or hypotheses. By conducting experiments, you either verify them or prove them wrong.

The primary benefit is that you don't need to commit to significant investments straight away. With relatively little time and money, you gather as much information as possible to make the correct next move in the development process.

Heading in the wrong direction? Not a problem. You learn from the results and adapt your path. It's all about being adaptable and flexible.

Concrete goal

Before you start with experiment design, establish a clear goal with the team. Because if you don't know what you want to achieve, you also don't know if you're heading in the right direction. So, make the goal as specific as possible. For example: 100 customers must sign up and actively use the platform within one month. And define immediately what 'actively' means. Make it concrete, in other words.

Designing an experiment

Don't try to immediately launch the complete product with all the bells and whistles. Instead, look at the different components and determine which ones do and don't work. Keep it small. If you test your product with too many variables, the outcome becomes unclear.

Because which variable has actually led to success or failure? This is precisely the information you use to determine your next step. Therefore, make sure you keep these variables distinct and test them one by one.

Important tools for the experiment designer

The toolbox of an experiment designer is brimming with tools, too numerous to mention them all. One we'd like to highlight is the experiment card. With this canvas, you keep all the elements of an experiment in one place: your goal, the assumption, the requirements, the metrics, what you're going to build concretely, what you aim to learn specifically, how long it will take, and who you need. You determine this together with your team. Only once you all agree, you move forward.

Another indispensable tool for experiment design is the Business Impact Model. This helps you gain a clear understanding of what you do know – and what you don't. From a business perspective, it keeps the assumptions that are still open on the radar continuously. This way, you can determine precisely what you're going to test – for instance, if you want to scale a concept.

You don't get experiment design from a textbook.

The list of tools is endless: from a smoke test to a concierge, and from the wizard-of-oz to paper prototyping. It's not about all the tools that are available.

Ultimately, it's the experiment design mindset that matters. Ensure that your goal is clear, keep the experiments small, and use what is necessary to gather information.

Only then will you gain control over the questions, risks, and assumptions.