Test and Measure - the Validation Stage

In your Validation Stage, your two main objectives are to improve your product, discover flow in your product's processes and to identify and solve any bugs.

There are two main roles in the validation process:

• The SME  (Subject Matter Expert)
• The SMI  (Subject Matter Idiot)

The SME's job it to critique the product - poke holes in it, look for weaknesses, point out things the designer never thought about, identify possible breakdowns or any problem that may be encountered in the real life of the SME's environment.

 The SMI's job is to ask the SME the questions everyone wants to ask but are too scared of looking stupid to ask.  This often stimulates the SME to create new perspectives and contexts regarding the product, that will improve the basic product.  A key responsibility of the SMI is to record the information gleaned from the SME.  The SMI may be an idiot in the SME's world, but has skills of recording and ordering.

The SMI's other job is to get the SME to explain their findings and feedback in a way that is easily understandable by most people.

The validation process is the test of fire for your new product.  Once through this process you have work to do.  Implementing improvements, creating new contexts and perspectives in your design process, and then rechecking everything against your product's purpose and objectives to ensure alignment.

When you rise up from having gone through the challenging Validation Process, it's time to Pilot your product in a real life situation to see how it goes.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...