Understanding what people want and designing things that satisfy them is the most powerful way to achieve business goals.

A bright-eyed entrepreneur once came to me with an idea for a new app to help people accomplish their goals by saving more money. Saving enough money is a big problem in the US, so I took the meeting. That’s when it got weird.

Your customers will be able to tell you more than your competitors ever will. Obsess over your customers — past, current and future — not your competition, and the results will speak for themselves.

You’re going to loop back and forth between prototyping and testing, so what happens when it feels like you’re not getting any traction? This will probably happen. Don’t panic.