Strategic Discovery

Assessing Potential, Reducing the Risk

Using data to make confident decisions.

How do you know which ideas are worth investing in? Or, more broadly, how do you come up with a solution to a problem that you are encountering? The answer lies in Strategic Discovery. The process has been proven many times over in the creation of new ventures, extensions to existing product lines, and everything in between. At Root3 Labs, we offer Strategic Discovery services to help our clients evaluate opportunities and assess the potential of their ideas. We begin by taking a close look at the current market landscape and understanding the needs of your target consumers. We generate a comprehensive list of potential solutions and narrow it down to the most promising ones. We then work with you to develop a clear definition of what success looks like for your new product. With this information, we use our experience and expertise to identify potential risks or hurdles that may need to be addressed. We begin engineering work only once we have a comprehensive understanding of the opportunity and the potential path to success. By taking this strategic approach, we can help our clients make confident decisions about which ideas are worth pursuing.

Root3 Labs can execute this process as a turnkey research project or come alongside a client to enhance an internal effort and everything in between. As always, we work to understand how to tailor each step to a client’s needs.

Assessing Potential, Reducing the Risk<br />
Pairing experience and expertise to make confident decisions

Finding the right opportunities

Strategic Focus

We work with clients to document and refine goals, agree on the scope of discovery work, and define organizational values used to measure and compare opportunities. Making these things explicit is suitable for strategy and communication both internally and for us.

Need Finding

An open-eyed, open-ended look at the domain – best accomplished through a mix of observation, ethnographic research, interviews, and desktop research – to produce a list of unmet needs. We bring in a fresh perspective to get past the assumptions and norms that evolve in any company or industry.

Need Definition

We accurately assess customer needs by translating them into well-organized statements. This is done primarily through a “brief” that gives us all the relevant information about the problem at hand, including market size, existing solutions, key factors for stakeholders, and necessary solution criteria. A more profound comprehension of this space refines our understanding of customers’ needs and shows hints for potential innovation; it also becomes a resource for anyone joining the project later on.

Ideation & Evaluation

Our broad range of experience gives us an edge in providing solutions for our clients. We use a creative approach to ensure ideas align with the company’s goals and are tailored specifically to the client’s needs. Having plenty of potential solutions allows us to find the best one, which means we can provide exceptional results and exceed expectations.

Strategic Discovery Webinar

In August 2020, we hosted a web Panel event on the Product Development Process. In this video, Todd Murphy describes the process of how to identify the problems and solutions worth pursuing when building a product-based business. This is part of a series of videos, so be sure to check out the whole playlist.

Build a Business – Product Development Panel

Todd Murphy is a senior mechanical engineer and innovation strategist with deep experience in robotics, healthcare, and the integration of sensors, hardware, and software. After completing Stanford’s BioDesign Fellowship, he co-founded Tueo Health and led product operations and design of a unique textile strap to attach a biometric sensor to users’ mattresses. He is named on five patents and has co-authored peer-reviewed publications in the fields of haptics, surgical skill assessment, and asthma management.