Langenscheidt

Langenscheidt – Product Discovery Sprint

Together with Langendscheidt, we have developed a new type of product in a Product Discovery Sprint. For five days, a team of 6 Langenscheidtlers and 3 ProduktMachers worked intensively on the expansion of the product family.

The result of the Product Discovery Sprint is a revolutionary product from the guidebook area, an exciting addition to the Langenscheidt family.

The way …

to a successful and innovative product is often a long road. The needs of potential users should be at the forefront of this development.

… is …

this is not the case, disappointment is often huge when the end product falls short of expectations and user interest remains small.

… the goal.

is to focus on the user’s needs and to develop a successful product by using creative work processes within the framework of a workshop

What is a Product Discovery?

The Product Discovery Sprint offers product managers a framework to deal intensively with their product, an idea or a problem. The focus is on the behavior and needs of potential customers. In the course of this creative process, several prototypes are developed and tested in discussions with customers. The result is a deep understanding for their users and a validated solution idea as a starting point for product development.

#1 Exploration: Identification of user and market requirements and validation of these in customer talks.

#2 Ideation: Identification of relevant topics and brainstorming, development of initial ideas for possible solutions

#3 Prototyping: Design of several solution ideas as paper prototypes, iterative development of the solutions based on customer feedback

#4 Validation: Market validation using several landing pages and Facebook ads

Product innovation in a workshop size:

Since our main focus is in the digital area, one challenge was to adapt the methodology of the Product Discovery Sprint with the Langenscheidt Print Publishing Company for the analogue world.

“

We were all very curious to see whether the methods would also work for print products!

“

Nicola Barry Sales management field service, Langenscheidt GmbH & Co. KG

We started with exploration, in which we discussed and prioritized topics.

We started with the Lean Canvas, in the first step of which we hypothetically compiled the different needs or possible problems of users. Topics with a potential were added by the team.

This procedure is applied in product development and represents a focused implementation from the idea to the finished product. Through the influence of early feedback from potential end customers, further convincing ideas could be developed.

The Lean Canvas helps turn innovative ideas into successful products.

The Product Discovery Sprint offers the opportunity for diverse discussions in iterative processes.

After a successful exploration phase, it is time to think about concrete ideas.

With many known or newly acquired insights into the needs of the users, we started the ideation, in which we initially considered different product ideas and prioritised them according to benefit.

“

The experience of being able to quickly develop creative solutions in the interdepartmental group was just great - and the one or other undiscovered talent came to light!

“

Robert Erber Leiter Product Management, Langenscheidt GmbH & Co. KG

Paper prototypes: Let's go to scissors, pencil and paper. True to the motto "Pencils before Pixels".

First we picked out two product ideas, which we prepared as paper prototypes and for which we again gathered user feedback. Above all, this gave the team members the chance to turn the most promising ideas into reality in the form of prototypes. The whole team was involved in this creative process.

One idea quickly met with a great amount of enthusiasm from the users, another had to be reconsidered in a further run.

High time for the prototypes: Validation

For us, validation meant: final phase but also a testing phase. How is the finished product accepted by the customers? We were already able to place the first idea in a landing page test to confirm the target group and, above all, the market potential.

“

And then our interview partners had our prototypes in their hands and were immediately enthusiastic - that was great!

“

Julia Zweigle Product Manager, Langenscheidt GmbH & Co. KG

Results

Development of a new product concept in the field of guides based on real user needs
Validation of the product idea and concept with potential users
Evaluation of the market potential using a landing page test

With 3 different versions with 52 cards each, there is something for everyone. Whether as a couple or with friends: Simply pick a card, let it inspire you to do something together and record your memories directly on it.

Now available - Langenscheidt Schatzbox

During the entire creative workshop, DieProduktMacher guided the Langenscheidt team in the implementation of the product idea. At the end of this intensive time, Langenscheidt was able to successfully implement the product launch in the same year.

It was great to see how the idea "We would like to create a guidebook" has become, after several iterations and a lot of customer feedback, the Schatzbox with many inspirations for couples. I was thrilled to see how motivated and focused the team was and how they got involved with the new methods!