Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability in Design Thinking

How often do we create products that no one wants, can’t be built, or will ultimately fail in the market? Research indicates that 70% to 80% of new products fail within their first few years. This staggering figure is often attributed to various factors such as inadequate market research, misjudging consumer needs, and failing to differentiate from competitors. Worry not! We have created this blog exclusively for all professional designers who are seeking to upgrade their productivity and efficiency levels in their work. Here, we’ll dive into exploring the “Design Thinking: Desirability, Feasibility and Viability” in-depth to provide you a clearer picture pertaining to this key subject.

What are Desirability, Viability, and Feasibility in Design?

Understanding Desirability, Viability, and Feasibility is essential in the design process. These three elements help ensure that products not only meet user needs but also thrive in the market and can be realistically developed. Let's break them down:

1) Desirability: Desirability is about understanding what users truly want. It focuses on creating emotionally engaging products through user research and feedback, ensuring the design aligns with user expectations.

2) Viability: Viability determines if a product can succeed in the market. It involves analysing business goals, market trends, and profitability to ensure the product can sustain itself financially.

3) Feasibility: Feasibility assesses the technical and logistical aspects of a design. It evaluates whether the product can be built with existing resources, technology, and skills, often requiring collaboration with engineers and developers.

Viability in Design Thinking

In Design Thinking, viability refers to evaluating whether a solution is financially sustainable and aligned with business goals. It involves considering economic factors like cost, revenue potential, and market demand to ensure the idea can generate value in the long term.Design Thinking Books often emphasize the importance of ensuring viability, which helps balance creativity with strategic objectives, ensuring that the proposed solution is feasible and capable of driving growth and profitability for the organization.

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Feasibility in Design Thinking

In Design Thinking, Feasibility Study refers to assessing whether an idea can be practically implemented given current resources, technologies, and constraints. It involves evaluating technical capabilities, budget limitations, and time frames to determine whether a proposed solution is achievable.

Considering feasibility ensures that the design solutions are not only innovative but also realistic. It aligns creative ideas with operational capacities, ensuring they can be developed and scaled effectively within the organisation’s ecosystem. Balancing feasibility with desirability and viability is key to successful design thinking.

Benefits of the DVF Framework

The DVF framework stands for Desirability, Viability, and Feasibility. It is a useful tool for designing products or services that satisfy customer needs and achieve success.

This framework helps teams focus on the best ideas, create a minimum viable product (MVP) that meets user expectations, and ensure the product or service is technically possible. Here is the list of benefits of the DVF framework:

1) Desirability ensures that a product aligns with what customers truly need and want. User research helps determine how well the idea meets their goals and addresses their problems.

2) Feasibility identifies potential technical or logistical issues that may hinder product development. Collaborating with technical experts helps uncover and solve complex problems, ensuring successful execution.

3) Viability assesses market demand and competition. Analysing desirability with supporting evidence provides insights into demand and how the product compares to others.

4) The framework helps prioritise the best product ideas, making it easier to sift through numerous options generated during brainstorming sessions.

5) The DVF framework saves time and resources by filtering out ideas that are unlikely to succeed, helping teams stay grounded despite their enthusiasm for certain concepts.

6) It also supports a systematic approach to product development, keeping teams organised amid various factors and ideas to ensure smoother progress.

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