#013: Design Thinking in Pricing
Lesson from Your Washing Machine: What a simple glass door can teach you about customer value
Happy Saturday fellow price crafter!
Have you ever wondered:
"Why the front door of your washing machine is made of glass?
When Miele and Bosch introduced front-loading machines, they faced a challenge:
Consumers weren’t sure this new technology would clean clothes as well as top-loaders.
Their solution?
Add a glass door so people could watch the process and feel confident.
Whirlpool took this concept further with a Design Thinking approach.
They sent a bunch of engineers into customers’ homes to observe how they used their machines.
What they found was fascinating.
People loved watching the laundry spin. It wasn’t just functional; it was oddly therapeutic, as some customers embarrassingly admitted.
So, Whirlpool redesigned their machines to make the glass door a focal point, and customers loved it.
What Is Design Thinking?
Design Thinking is a problem-solving framework focused on deeply understanding user needs.
As pricing professionals, we often discuss the importance of understanding our customers, as this helps us estimate value creation.
But we rarely approach it with a beginner’s mindset, where all preconceived ideas are set aside.
Design Thinking framework pushes you to:
Observe and engage with customers to truly understand their pain points (as well as moments of delight).
Redesign solutions to address those pain points and enhance positive experiences.
Test and iterate until the solution fits seamlessly into the customer’s life.
My Design Thinking Experience
One of my favourite projects when I worked for Telstra in Sydney involved redesigning our post-paid mobile plans.
For three months, I had to get up at 5 a.m. every Monday to catch the first flight to Melbourne, where I would work with a cross-functional team.
By the end, I was ready to swear off business travel forever. But that project fundamentally changed my perspective on pricing.
We didn’t just sit in a boardroom and come up with ideas. Instead, we went into customers’ homes.
Once, I found myself in a basement that looked like a teenage gamer’s dream: posters everywhere, a high-tech gaming setup, and a musty smell (ok, maybe not this part).
But the customer wasn’t a teenager—he was a 40-year-old man living with his parents.
Another time, I was in a chaotic family kitchen, surrounded by two dogs and two rabbits the size of cats, fur flying everywhere. I’m allergic to animal hair, so taking notes while sneezing was challenging.
What Did We Learn?
These visits shattered many of our assumptions.
For example:
We believed parents preferred prepaid plans for kids. In reality, they wanted control over spending, like capped data usage, to help teach responsible phone habits without the need to constantly top-up credits.
We thought pushing for more mobile data meant focusing on tablets with cellular functions. Customers told us they rarely took their tablets out of the house—they mostly used Wi-Fi and would not consider buying a cellular version. (Mind you, this was over 10 years ago. The world has changed a lot since.)
This experience shifted how I view value—not from the perspective of a product creator but through the lens of the customer.
It’s not just about knowing WHAT is important but also about understanding WHY it is important and how the product fits into their lives.
Applying Design Thinking to Financial Models
Even in financial modelling, the principles of Design Thinking apply.
I often find analysts building sophisticated financial models and inserting lengthy spec tabs trying to explain everything.
The reality?
No one reads those.
Business users dive into the numbers, get confused, and call us for help.
So, we sat down with our stakeholders and got them to show us how they used our models.
We redesigned it with notes at critical points where users typically got stuck.
Small tweaks, huge impact.
The Online Community Example
Recently, I had a conversation with a LinkedIn connection, building a community for creators.
She focused on content, spending her time chasing big names to share their experiences with members of her community.
“I don’t think I would join your community,” I said bluntly.
She was surprised. “Why not?”
“For me, the value of a community isn’t in the content. It’s in the quality of your members. Knowledge is easy to find; connections are hard to build. Exactly why do people spend huge bucks on an MBA? A big part is just for the network."
Her eyes widened. “I never thought about it that way.”
I encouraged her to do customer research to see if others felt the same, but that conversation helped her rethink her strategy.
The Audiobook Example
I’ve been listening to audiobooks a lot this year, usually while doing groceries or walking.
(By the way, I’m curious - should I keep doing voiceovers for this newsletter? DM me and let me know.)
But some books don’t work in audio format.
When the material gets too technical, I lose track and miss key details. It’s frustrating, and that’s when I realised I should’ve bought the physical copy instead.
Lesson?
Even with the same product and customers, you would need to tweak the features/content presented depending on how it would get utilised.
Something to Ponder This Weekend
Once you’ve embraced Design Thinking, there’s no turning back.
(Marry a Designer: I once worked with a Design Thinking expert who planned his proposal a year in advance. He designed a special event leading up to the big moment each month. Imagine that level of detail!)
So next time you’re pricing a product or designing a service, ask yourself:
Have I truly stepped into my customer’s shoes?
The insights you uncover could change everything.
I hope this sparks some new ideas!
Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Claire
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Hi Claire - the article was spot on!
I am a big fan of the design thinking process. Very rarely do I see it operationalized in organizations. Testing and learning usually stops after one iteration. That said, I appreciate different examples you shared in the article to track down “value creation” from clients perspective. Great article and great reminder that innovation doesn’t have to be this huge thing but sometimes small tweaks, huge impact is the best to deliver value. Great article!