The book, The Sports Gene by David Epstein got me interested in the area of sports diagnostics. I spoke with a couple of Sports Meds about it and realized primarily on scans. I then met a few coaches - swimming, athletics, powerlifting, lawn tennis, etc. They depended only on motor skills and training. I understood that the dietitians focused on things like the carb: protein ratio and BMI. The athletes were dependent on the support and decisions of their parents, coaches, schools, etc. They had very little to say in this matter.
As I got these inputs, I spoke with Geneticists, Pathologists, experts in Molecular biology. I read research papers from these areas. The basket of tests kept on changing. Finally, we created several panels to meet the specific requirements of athletes in different phases. It was an iterative, painful, and time-consuming process. With new insights, it became evident that it was essential to find partners to offer a holistic solution. Over the next few months, we partnered with a Dietitian, a Physiotherapist, a Sports Psychologist, a Gymkhana, and a Geneticist.
In software parlance, it was the equivalent of changing one line of code at a time. It is not the most efficient process, but with few iterations, you have a much better solution. We could not offer a solution to every problem faced by individual stakeholders. However, they were happy to be part of the solution. We had changed something directly based on their inputs. So, instead of becoming adversarial, they became our advocates.
Metrics: Go out and speak with various stakeholders in your business. Re-design the products/services based on the inputs from these people. Give them feedback. Over time, you shall have a much better solution that meets the specific needs of your target customer segment.
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