Stop Validating & Start Co-Creating

Teresa Torres uses a product manager and designer dilemma to argue that teams waste time designing a whole near-term vision upfront, because their assumptions about being right are usually wrong. She contends that iterating on a core piece first, then building outward with learning from each cycle, is faster than redesigning everything repeatedly. She also critiques a validation mindset, where teams show finished designs to customers only for sign-off, and argues that feedback comes too late and gets dismissed due to escalation of commitment and confirmation bias. Her proposed alternative is co-creation: sharing rough, multiple options early so customers help shape the solution. This matters because it changes when and how product teams involve customers and reduces costly rework.

01Key takeaways

• Assume your near-term vision and MVP are partly wrong, and design in a way that expects revision.
• Ship and get the core piece right before investing heavily in the surrounding pieces.
• Let each learning cycle inform the next design, rather than redesigning the whole system repeatedly.
• Get customer feedback while work is still rough, since sketches are easier to change than finished designs.
• Show several options and ask for comparisons, which reduces commitment bias and invites honest critique.
• Treat customers as experts on their own needs while your team remains the expert on what technology can do.

02Key sections

The assumption behind the design dilemma

Pam's push to design the full near-term vision assumes the vision is mostly right, which is often false. If teams expect to be wrong, designing everything upfront wastes effort.

The value of iterating in sequence

Get the core piece (A) right first, then design how later pieces fit with it, letting each round of learning inform the next. Iterative rework is cheaper than redoing everything repeatedly.

Why validation mindsets fail

Showing finished designs late leaves no time for changes, and biases like escalation of commitment and confirmation bias cause teams to ignore disconfirming feedback.

Co-creation with customers

Customers know their own needs even if they cannot predict technology. Teams should involve them early and often using sketches and multiple options.

Practical shift to co-creation

Replace 'does this work?' with 'what do you think of these options?' on rough work. This yields earlier, more honest feedback and welcomes customer-suggested ideas.

03From the post

“Meet Sally and Pam. Sally is a product manager, Pam a user experience designer, and they are working on a new mobile app. They’ve conducted customer interviews, defined their MVP, and are now working through the initial designs. Even though their MVP will only include a fraction of their”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.