IDENTIFY

Let's think of the first steps in developing a product or service the same as if you were planting a garden. What have you decided to grow? Can it be consumed? Who will consume it?  Will you plant a little or a lot? When will you harvest? 

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In product development, it is very easy to get an idea that feels good and run with it, designing and coding before you have a full perspective of the most important parts.

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Start by aligning people around a specific goal and results by capturing the what, who and why. Use your cross-functional teams here to brainstorm what you want to learn more about the problem as you move to the next step.

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In my experience, in particular working with remote team members, using a collaboration tool like Mural works really well to allow everyone to come to the table with their unique perspective. I like the principles of Lean UX and how we can get together to share where we see vulnerabilities or gaps in what we know and then move to validating our assumptions and obtaining knowledge.