01 — Product & Business Design
We turn business concepts and vague ideas into products with real user value and a realistic path to delivery. We identify the assumptions that would hurt most if they were wrong, and test those first.
- Typical duration
- 2–4 months
- Indicative price
- From ¥800,000
On a new venture, the harder question is not what to build but why this, and which part is most likely to be wrong. Skip that and you build something you then have to rebuild.
Rather than aiming straight at a finished product, we isolate the commercial uncertainties and check them in small steps. Findings feed back into the requirements and the roadmap, and every decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it.
This tends to fit when
- You have a concept but no agreement on where to start
- You know roughly what you want, but it is not yet requirements
- Opinions differ internally and priorities keep moving
- You need feasibility and success conditions written down before an investment decision
Scope
- New business and new product design
- Problem definition and value proposition
- User research
- Customer journey
- Service blueprint
- Requirements and roadmap
- KPIs and validation plan
What you end up with
- A written problem definition and value proposition
- Customer journey and service blueprint
- Prioritised requirements and a roadmap
- KPIs and a validation plan — an explicit definition of success
- A record of the decisions, including the options we did not take
How we work
- STEP 01
Establish where you are
We review the business goal, the existing material, the internal assumptions and how you got here, then separate what is settled from what is not.
- STEP 02
Isolate the uncertainties
We list the assumptions that would cost the most if wrong and order the checks accordingly. We do not investigate everything — only what would change a decision.
- STEP 03
Research and validate
User interviews, analysis of existing data, prototype checks — whichever suits the question. Findings are recorded separately from our interpretation of them.
- STEP 04
Fix requirements and roadmap
We decide what is in, what is out and in what order, then define KPIs and a validation plan so the next phase can pick it up.
Duration and team
- Typical duration
- 2–4 months, depending on scope and how much validation is needed
- Team
- Led by one design director, with a researcher or design engineer joining as needed.
Indicative pricing
- DiscoveryAssumed size：1–1.5 months. Problem definition and a shortlist of what to validateFrom ¥800,000
- Product designAssumed size：2–4 months. Research through to requirements and roadmapFrom ¥1,500,000
- Ongoing supportAssumed size：Continuous. Monthly sounding board and validation designFrom ¥500,000 / month
※ These are indicative. The final figure follows a quote based on scope, team and duration.
※ Where you already have material or research, we take that out of scope.
Questions we get about this service
Yes. Come to us while what to build, and where to start, is still open.
Early on we work through the business goal, the users, the current situation, the constraints and any existing data, and agree together on the problem worth solving and in what order. Framing the requirements can itself be the project.
Yes. Rather than building the idea out at full scale, we work through the intended users, the problem it solves, the value it offers, whether it's feasible and how to test it.
Where useful, we create the concept, user flows and prototypes, and test the assumptions that matter before you commit to full development.
Yes. We cover shaping the concept, hypotheses about the target and the problem, the value proposition, user research, prototypes, MVP design and a validation plan.
Rather than building the finished thing up front, we identify the uncertainties that matter commercially and test them in small steps.
Yes. We take on upstream-only engagements: user research, competitive and market analysis, UX audits, problem definition, KPI design and roadmapping.
We quote individually, based on scope, duration, team, whether research or engineering is included, and the expertise required.
If your budget is already set, we propose a plan that concentrates it on the problem that matters most.