I want to discuss with you what problem we are solving. So let me share my screen and guide you through some stories and examples of solving people's problems and getting jobs done.
The first example I want to start with is something I recently heard from someone about why they bought a Tesla. They said it made it so easy, and it was the hippest and the greenest choice for them. When they buy another kind of car, they have to go to a dealership, start negotiations, and repeat the process at another dealership. The salespeople disappear into their offices with their boss to see how much of a discount they can offer, and the whole process is convoluted and annoying. However, when they bought a Tesla, they went online, picked their model, made a down payment, and then were informed of when they would receive their car. It was a much easier, much simpler process that they enjoyed very much.
I always say it's about the entire experience, not just about the individual product you're selling. In fact, I think we should rename product owners, product backlogs, and product roadmaps to experience owners, experience backlogs, and experience roadmaps because that's what we are actually offering. The Tesla experience is the simplest, greenest, and hippest choice—apparently from what I've heard. That's one example.
Another example comes from my own country. Some of you who are Dutch may have seen bicycles with blue wheels—one of the wheels is blue. This is a new thing called the "Swap Bike" or "Swapfiets" in Dutch. Let me tell you something about Dutch culture to explain why this is a successful product. There are more bicycles than people in this country. We have 17 million people and at least 20 million bicycles. The bicycle is almost like a human right for Dutch people—we can't live without it. But at the same time, they are not given to you; you have to buy them, and they can be expensive.
Part of Dutch culture is that many students and others with fewer means steal bikes. I think my bicycle has been stolen six times in my life. It's almost a rite of passage in the Netherlands to have your bike stolen at some point. And when that happens, some people just steal another one. That’s not a great part of Dutch culture, to be honest, but it highlights a problem—bicycles need to be available for everyone without the hassle of stolen or broken bikes.
What Swap Bike came up with is a subscription model. You get a bicycle with a blue wheel—it’s yours. Whenever it's stolen or breaks down, you get another one. Simple as that. The next day, they will bring you another bike, and you always have a functioning bicycle at your disposal. It's yours, so it's different from Uber bicycles, which are red. Uber bicycles are for short-term rentals, which is great for tourists but not for residents who need a bike every day for commuting. With Swap Bike, you don't want to rent a bicycle and go out to find one—you want it to be in your garage, ready for use. This is the perfect solution for Dutch people who want a reliable bicycle that’s theirs, and if it gets stolen, no problem—they get another one the next day.
These are examples of companies solving real problems and creating better experiences. Tesla and Swap Bike are great at understanding what problems need to be solved. Historically, in the agile community, we have admired Toyota for good reasons, but I think we need to move on and start learning from Tesla. The value of Tesla today is far bigger than the value of Toyota, even though Tesla produces far fewer cars. Apparently, investors value Tesla more because of its vision and fast growth.
What has Tesla done well? Very agile things. They release stuff that isn't perfect and then improve upon it. I'm sure you remember some Tesla batteries exploding or self-driving cars crashing. That’s part of Tesla’s culture—they just release things and then incrementally make them better. In the beginning, they do things that don’t even scale. Their early battery production was manually created, which didn’t scale at all, but they didn’t care. Their priority was getting fast feedback from customers. At first, they don't care if things don't scale; they prioritize value first and address quality and scalability later.
Tesla also incentivizes innovation over production. You just heard in the previous session—value over productivity. If you’re not innovating at Tesla, you’re fired. It’s okay to make mistakes, and it's okay for batteries to blow up, but if you're not making things better, you're out. That’s a very different kind of experience at Tesla, at Swap Bike, and at other innovative companies.
We’re not in the business of just producing stuff with bits or atoms—we’re in the business of creating happiness for people, generating endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. Happiness is about experience, not just stuff. So, how can we make our customers happy with the experiences we offer?
One thing I have done to understand this better is to combine lean startup and design thinking to create what I call the "Innovation Vortex." It’s an iterative model, similar to design thinking and lean startup, but I prefer this visual representation. I call it a vortex because innovation is non-linear, dynamic, and messy—it’s not a neat step-by-step process. It’s anarchy, based on my own experience.
The vortex consists of seven streams. The first is context framing—you can't empathize with seven billion people at once, so you must carve out your niche. One way to do this is using the Japanese concept of "Ikigai," which helps individuals and businesses find their purpose by answering four questions: What do you love doing? What does the world need? What can you be paid for? What are you good at? At the intersection of these answers, you find your purpose.
Next, we empathize with customers by understanding their experiences and pain points. For example, when someone walks outside and realizes their bike is stolen for the fifth time, that’s a moment of frustration we can solve. Companies like Swap Bike observed this and created a solution. Ethnographic research is crucial—going out, observing, and truly understanding people’s pain points.
Once we have insights, we synthesize them by defining key problems. Lean personas are a great tool for this. Creating an archetype, like "Marcus, 34 years old, trendy, and a coffee lover who commutes on a bike," helps product teams empathize and design better experiences.
From there, we hypothesize solutions using tools like the value proposition canvas. We identify pain points and create products that provide relief. Pain relief tends to be more powerful than gain creation—like how Swap Bike removes the pain of stolen bikes.
Finally, we test and systematize learning. Tesla does this well—they iterate endlessly. Innovation never stops. That’s the essence of the Innovation Vortex—a continuous, messy, but effective process for creating great customer experiences.
Thank you so much for listening. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you.