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CASE STUDY
Making Ambiguous Ideas Tangible
A design-led process for turning ambiguous product ideas into shared understanding.
The Challenge
- Executives were excited by high-level product ideas, but the true customer experience was still too ambiguous to evaluate.
- Teams lacked a fast way to make those ideas tangible enough to understand, compare, and discuss together.
- Without clarity, roadmap decisions risked funding weak ideas and crowding out stronger ones.
The Approach
A lightweight, three-week design sprint that gave ambiguous ideas enough experience fidelity to assess opportunity before deeper investment.
- Fast, repeatable, inexpensive process
- Shared basis for group evaluation
- Sprints ended with a “Go/Stop” decision
The Three-Week Sprint
Timeline
Paired Designers w/ Stakeholder Advisors
Ending with Executive Review & Discussion
My Role
- Created the lightweight, design-led process and secured GM sponsorship for adoption.
- Led the first Idea Dashes, facilitating executive workshops and hands-on concept exploration.
- Scaled the model across Sales, Service, and Commerce product groups after validating the approach.
The Outcome
50% faster
Transition from PRD to product development.
40% increase
In new features meeting or exceeding goals.
Example from First Idea Dash
Idea Dash sketch
Shipped Feature: Pipeline Inspector
Closing
Idea Dash made early product ideas visible enough for leaders to decide, teams to align, and product development to begin with greater confidence.
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