Design Thinking
vs.
Lean Startup:
Friends or Foes?
Tathagat Varma
http://thoughtleadership.in

How do you solve “new” /
“unknown” problems?
http://ehstoday.com/site-files/ehstoday.com/files/imagecache/large_img/uploads/2014/12/problemsolution.gif

Design Squiggle
http://cargocollective.com/central/The-Design-Squiggle

Design Thinking
•Evolved from building “physical products”
•An approach for “problem finding”
•Great for “poorly bounded problems”
•High emphasis on “needfinding” of users
•Insights lead to “reframing” the problem
•Prototyping as a means to “learning”
•Test prototypes to “validate” hypotheses
•Iterate often expedite “feedback”

Design Thinking

Design
Thinking
Empathy Prototype TestDefine Ideate

Lean Startup
• Evolved from building “successful” IT startups
• It offers a “scientific approach” to entrepreneurship
• Startup is an “experiment”, focus on “learning”
• Starts with building early “MVPs”
• Test frequently using “Build Measure Learn Loops”
• Validate learning using “actionable metrics”
• Build a system of “innovation accounting” to demonstrate
“progress” in the form of “learning”
• Fine-tune the business model using “pivots”
• Establish “product market fit” before scaling the business

Lean
Startup
Founder’s
Vision Build
Measure
Learn Loops
Business
Model Build
MVPs
Validated
Learning
Innovating
Accounting
Pivot or
Persevere
Product
Market Fit
Scale Up

Similarities
•Focus on Customer (User) needs
innovation
•Expect uncertainties
•Start early and make stuff
•Build scrappy prototypes
•Validate from frequent iterations
•Learn and proceed

DESIGN THINKING LEAN STARTUP
VISION Solve a problem Build a business
PROBLEMS Wicked Problems Hi-tech products
MINDSET
Problem discovery /
needfinding
Founder’s Vision / product in-hand
APPROACH Qualitative, Intuitive Quantitative, Analytical
FOCUS Human-Centered, Users Engineering-Driven, Customers
HYPOTHESES Generate, Explore Validate, Experiment
INQUIRY Open-ended, Ethnography
Problem statement, Actionable
Metrics
LEARNING Reframing Pivot
THEME Empathy Speed

So…
Design Thinking Vs.
Lean Startup?
OR
Design Thinking +
Lean Startup!
(…and where does “agile” fit in?)

Recap
• It’s not about “OR”. It’s about “AND”.
• Design Thinking offers great guidance on
uncovering human needs and identifying
the right problem
• Lean Startup provides a framework for
systematically validating the (solution)
hypotheses in fast loops
• An integrated approach…

References
• Lean Innovation: Design Thinking Meets Lean Startup for the Enterprise, http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/
2016/04/07/lean-innovation-design-thinking-meets-lean-startup-for-the-enterprise/#59dd238245d4
• Design Thinking vs. Lean Startup, http://www.slideshare.net/bradplogsted/design-thinking-vs-lean-startup
• Lean Startup and Design Thinking: Getting the Best Out of Both, http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/lean-
startup-design-thinking-getting-best-out-both
• Integrating Lean Startup and Design Thinking, http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2014/04/15/integrating-lean-
startup-and-design-thinking/
• Design Thinking vs Lean Startup, http://medium.com/@davidjbland/design-thinking-vs-lean-startup-
eff0522fe669#.efbn6xrd7
• Agile vs Lean vs Design Thinking, http://www.jeffgothelf.com/blog/agile-vs-lean-vs-design-thinking/
• https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-similarities-and-differences-between-Lean-Startup-and-Design-Thinking
• When Lean Startup meets Design Thinking: Lessons for Social Entrepreneurs, http://www.virgin.com/virgin-unite/
entrepreneurship/when-lean-startup-meets-design-thinking-lessons-for-social-entrepreneurs
• Lean Startup, Design Thinking and Open Innovation for the Enterprise, https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.dmi.org/
resource/resmgr/pdf_files/Lean_Startup,_Design_Thinkin.pdf
• http://youtu.be/snxicC5cI9A
• Design Thinking vs. Lean Startupp: A Comparison of Two User-Driven Innovation Strategies, Roland Mueller and
Katja Thoring