Audrey Donaldson On 5 Tips for Accelerating Product Ideation & Innovation

An Interview With Rachel Kline

STEAL: make a copy to learn how a master did it, hybridize two disparate concepts, evolve an approach, blend, mix, and transform.

In a world where the pace of change is faster than ever, the power of great ideas has never been more crucial. And yet, developing these ideas into impactful, market-ready products can be an immense challenge. The best products are not born overnight, they’re the result of dedicated ideation and innovation processes. These processes aren’t always easy, but they’re necessary and can be catalyzed with the right strategies and approaches. How do you foster a culture of creativity within a team? How can one rapidly translate ideas into prototypes and eventually finished products? How can roadblocks be anticipated and managed effectively to avoid unnecessary delays. In this series, we’re eager to explore insights, stories, and actionable tips from those at the forefront of ideation and innovation. As part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Audrey Donaldson.

Audrey Donaldson is a product designer passionate about innovation and technology who has produced toys, pitch decks, electronic learning kits, wayfinding systems, graffiti, and new business plans. Her clients include Pottery Barn Kids, IDEO, LeapFrog, Makershed.com, and Tesla. With a strong affinity for people and engineering, Audrey has demonstrated her expertise in projects ranging from educational robotics kits to software platforms.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before diving in, our readers would love to learn more about you. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’ve been curious about how things are made for as long as I can remember. That fascination led me to consulting in product development in the Bay area. Each client broadened my foundation for creation and opened new ways of discovering the way things work. At Leapfrog I became passionate about how people learn and the role that tech plays in education. Most recently, I served as the Head of Product at a software startup in the automotive industry.

What led you to this specific career path?

I always want to understand the “why?” behind someone’s actions. Once I understand their underlying drive, I can help them reach beyond their goals. I learned this approach by watching my entrepreneurial father and working with clients who had a desire to build, but didn’t know how to reach that destination. Curiosity and empathy allow me to delve deeply into each project and create something uniquely innovative while furthering the brand’s values and targets.

Can you share the most exciting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?

One of the most exhilarating moments in my career was recognizing an opportunity that perfectly aligned with end-users’ needs and business goals and brought a neat product to life. During a Pottery Barn Kids catalog photoshoot in a family’s living room, I noticed their framed children’s artwork on display. While I admired their commitment to celebrating their kids’ creativity, it struck me that professional framing was expensive, and children’s artwork accumulated rapidly. This insight led to the realization that there must be a more accessible and flexible way to frame and store kids’ art. I envisioned a solution: a wooden frame with a plexiglass “pocket” on the back, complete with keyholes for easy hanging in any orientation. Although my initial description left others puzzled, I had faith in the idea and had a sample created to demonstrate its functionality. This innovation eventually became a multi million dollar best seller for the catalog. It’s immensely rewarding to meet countless people who cherish this product. The frame allowed parents to display their children’s ongoing creative output on their living room walls in a polished way. I hope that act contributed to their children’s confidence and furthered their artistic expression.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Over the past few years, I’ve been building and leading Product Management teams for software startups. During this time, I’ve observed a recurring scenario in companies at the Seed and Series A funding stages. It’s a phase where the initial groundbreaking ideas have been brought to life, and the company has gained some traction in the market. Still, the simultaneous pursuit of numerous initiatives has typically led to a slowdown in engineering output. This often results in the challenging task of discerning the most promising ideas amidst the noise generated by internal teams and users, with founders frequently discussing the need for improved execution.

In response to this common challenge, I am producing a series of mini-webinars, which outline how to establish simple operational processes, how to align product investments to business goals, how to optimize your existing product, and then methods to identify the signal in the noise to find your next big idea (or prioritize a stack of existing ideas). There is no need to reinvent the wheel: in 30–90 days, you can put some operational structure around your R&D team to build momentum and start building your next great idea.

You’re a successful business leader. What are three traits about yourself that you feel helped fuel your success? Can you share a story or example for each?

Curiosity: One of the cornerstones of my leadership philosophy is fostering an environment that cultivates curiosity. Trust, comfort, and safety are essential to create a space for curiosity to thrive. It’s a critical element for generating innovative ideas and gaining valuable insights. When people feel secure and empowered to explore, it leads to breakthroughs that can significantly enhance our organization.

I ask questions and actively listen to the answers. To actively listen means to repeat back what you heard, in your own words, and ask if you got it right and if there is anything else. It is a vulnerable space, a not-knowing, non-expert, perpetual state of learning, a beginner’s mind space. However, by being this open, it allows each member of the team to express their point of view and leads to unexpected lightning-in-a-bottle moments. Modeling this practice enhances collaboration, promotes a culture of communication and mutual respect, promotes inclusivity, harnesses collective wisdom, and facilitates innovation and practical solutions to complex challenges.

Empathy: Empathy forms the bedrock of my approach to understanding customers and their needs. It involves maintaining an open-minded perspective and deeply connecting with our customers, delving into their daily lives, values, goals, and the context in which they operate. By embodying empathy, we can comprehend their pain points and uncover opportunities to enhance their overall experience. This profound understanding enables us to allocate our resources judiciously, focusing on the areas that truly matter to our customers while aligning with our business objectives.

During my onboarding experience at a startup operating in the moving industry, I had a valuable opportunity to ride along with the head of Customer Success as she introduced new customers to our services. One memorable instance from that experience involved observing one of our movers conducting a customer meeting while driving a moving van, using his phone precariously balanced on his knee. This situation shed light on the unique challenges small business owners face in this industry who juggle multiple responsibilities simultaneously, from moving boxes to driving trucks and handling sales calls.

This experience underscored a fundamental insight applicable to our startup and many in the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry. Often, there’s an inclination to build every feature that customers request and offer extensive configurability options. However, by empathizing with the customer’s perspective and witnessing their struggles in real time, I realized that, in this context, simplicity and efficiency were paramount. Small business owners required a straightforward mobile solution that allowed them to perform four crucial tasks on the go: taking sales calls, noting details, booking jobs, accepting payments, and viewing their schedules for the next day.

I recognized this immediate need and understood the importance of providing a user-friendly, out-of-the-box experience with well-defined defaults. While flexibility and customization are valuable, the priority for these users was ensuring that our application seamlessly supported their core operations from day one. This lesson reinforced the significance of aligning product development with our target users’ specific needs, ultimately guiding our approach to building a more effective and user-centric solution.

A Bias to Action: Speed often trumps certainty in fast-paced, innovative environments. Embracing a bias to action means acting swiftly, even when certainty is elusive. Overthinking can hinder progress, so embracing change and being willing to take calculated risks is crucial. I describe this approach as asking for forgiveness, not permission. By adopting this mindset, we encourage a culture of innovation and adaptability, which is vital for staying competitive and driving positive change within the organization.

Example: During my very first job interview at a used bookstore, the owner presented me with a box of books to pack. His philosophy was clear: he could assess my willingness to take initiative and learn by packing the box. If I had hesitated, seeking extensive guidance before attempting the task, it signaled that managing me would require additional training, effort, and oversight.

This experience left an indelible mark on me and emphasized the importance of learning by doing. Accumulating experience through hands-on engagement provides valuable lessons, particularly through moments of failure. Failures offer a distinct advantage, pinpointing precisely what went wrong, and enabling meaningful growth and improvement. Success can often have multifaceted origins, but the insights gleaned from failure are unambiguous and catalyze continuous advancement.

In essence, this lesson has shaped my hiring philosophy and my belief in the power of learning through action. I seek individuals willing to jump in, tackle challenges, embrace failure as an opportunity for growth, and ultimately contribute to our collective success through their resilience and adaptability.

It has been said that our mistakes can sometimes be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I led the development of an educational teapot toy designed to teach children about colors and manners. The teapot and accompanying cups and cake pieces were designed to be adorable, and kids could even pour from the teapot, accompanied by a delightful gurgling sound. To add a touch of humor and engagement to the toy, I introduced a small, random burp sound followed by an “Oh! Excuse me!” during the pouring interaction. Playtesting revealed that once children experienced this unexpected quirk, they became utterly captivated by the teapot, attempting to replicate the burp sound. It was an unconventional and humorous feature that made the toy truly stand out. However, when I was out sick, my Swiss-German boss, who was more traditional in her approach, took over the final review. She removed the burp! This experience taught me two valuable lessons. First, it highlighted the importance of considering the perspective of the person most likely to be offended and working to gain their acceptance of a creative concept. Second, it underscored the tendency for individuals to dilute quirkiness out of fear, even though it’s often what gives a product its warmth and approachability.

Do you have any mentors or experiences that have particularly influenced your approach to product ideation and innovation?

IDEO’s been practicing human-centered design since the 1970’s and took up the phrase “design thinking” to describe the elements of the practice they found most learnable and teachable — empathy, optimism, iteration, creative confidence, experimentation, and an embrace of ambiguity and failure.

Don Norman is best known for his books, especially “The Design of Everyday Things.” Through his work, I realized that the flaw wasn’t that I didn’t know how to open the door or use the software; it was that the design was working against my comprehension. He came up with the term “user-experience design.” His work and teachings inspired me to focus on each user’s experiences closely, which informs my approach to product design.

In your experience, what is the anatomy of a strong product idea?

Desirability (users) + Viability (business profit) + Feasibility (technically implementable).

What approach does your team use for coming up with new ideas for products and features?

We use Marty Cagan’s product-led motion, outlined in his book, “Inspired.” We also use IDEO’s human-centered approach, focusing on empathy, discovery, and experimentation.

What is the story behind the most successful product or feature idea your team has ever had — what was the need, how did the idea come about, and what was the outcome?

The Art Gallery Frame for Pottery Barn Kids was one of the most successful products I’ve been involved with, and that story is answered in question #2 🙂

How does your product team manage new product and feature ideas?

Objectives are more stable than feature ideas, so we organize ourselves around user objectives and align ourselves with business goals. Then, we discuss feasibility and effort in collaboration with the engineering team and calculate ROI. We take the data to internal stakeholders for input and then build prototypes as a way of asking our users questions. Users will play with the ideas and try to utilize them, then we build from there. Quick prototypes are great probes of user interests, desires, needs, and capabilities.

What, in your view, is the biggest challenge with respect to innovation?

Bias in founders or the leadership team who are subject matter experts with a high need for control. They believe they have the definitive approach that will lead to success. However, this unwavering conviction can hinder innovation, as it may prevent them from considering alternatives or more transformative solutions that better serve their customers.

Based on your experience, what are your “5 Tips for Accelerating Product Ideation & Innovation”?

1. IMPROVISATION: the practice of saying “yes” to a suggestion and then building on that initial idea with “and….” In improvisation, you have the most abrupt cross-cuts and transitions from one idea to another, the most unexpected combination of elements, a sudden introduction to a torrent of thoughts where everything is fizzling in a state of bewildering activity, where partnerships are made and loosened in an instant, and routine is upended. Practice being open to and working with novelty.
2. BE CURIOUS: Sparking remote associations requires openness to experience. Insight occurs over time when a collection of observations and experiences are restructured, and like in a kaleidoscope, new patterns emerge. Gather input by paying attention to everything you’re curious about.
3. WASTE TIME: actively create space for delayed incubation “time-wasting” activities to allow for mind-wandering and idea incubation. Practice “immediate incubation,” where the task is set aside immediately after it is introduced and returned to after a distraction period. Deploying both delayed and immediate incubation processes is critical to making the most of the way our brains work.
4. CONSTRAINTS: are a lever for creativity. Use constraints (alignment with business goals, technical feasibility, user need) as prompts and inspiration.
5. STEAL: make a copy to learn how a master did it, hybridize two disparate concepts, evolve an approach, blend, mix, and transform.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

I would absolutely love to buy Don Norman breakfast (why? please see question #6)

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspirational, and we wish you only continued success!