Go from idea to validated solution, in the hands of customers.
Design, Test and Activate
The gap between ideas and value is strategic execution.
Delivering defensible returns from strategic initiatives like innovation, AI transformation, and growth projects is notoriously difficult. Leaders face ever more ambitious goals, but high-value ideas often stall before they yield results.
Opportunities aren’t clearly framed, so teams don’t get off to the right start
Critical assumptions go untested, leading to wasted time and budget
Resources are misaligned, too much too soon, or too little too late
Stakeholders lack the evidence needed to back bold moves
The result is that strategic priorities drift, organisational inertia slows momentum, confidence erodes, and strategic initiatives become a series of false starts.
We bridge that gap.
We provide a systematic and practical way to cut through the noise. We help organisations turn intent and ideas into validated, delivery-ready propositions, quickly and with purpose, using structured design, startup methods, lean experimentation, and real-world testing. We reduce risk, build evidence, and take you from opportunity to outcome.
01
Design
Clarify the opportunity, its value, and your commitment.
Discovery - Spot and frame opportunities through customer insight, behavioural research and data analysis.
Business Case - Set clear hypotheses, value drivers and success metrics to build an investable case.
Propositions - Shape viable products, processes, services or business models using lean innovation.
02
Test
Obtain evidence to decide where and how much to invest.
Hacks - Turn priority ideas into usable low-fi prototypes with immediate customer feedback in days, not months.
Experiments - Design pragmatic tests with defined success metrics to prove or disprove propositions.
Prototype-to-Pilot - Run live pilots with real users to capture behavioural data, validate demand and sharpen the proposition.
03
Activate
Launch with customer traction and stakeholder buy-in.
Pilot-to-Scale - Convert pilot insights into go-to-market and implementation.
Activation Readiness - Lock down operational, financial and technical feasibility, securing funding and approvals.
Open Innovation - Bring in external partners and suppliers to accelerate delivery or co-development.
Our client work
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“Studio Zao took us through a strategic and immersive venture building process. It was insightful to see how the teams’ propositions transformed through customer engagement and validation, with three propositions going forward into pilots and a number of entrepreneurial talents recognised in the business.”
Head of Incubation, Pentland Brands
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“Studio Zao have been an instrumental partner for us in SFP. They have been helping us innovate on our agile journey, taking us from a strategic framing of the opportunity to piloting in practice. They blend the ability to engage strategically to frame and communicate innovative change while also making it simple and pragmatic to put into practice, deliver value, and always a pleasure to work with.”
Agile Transformation Lead, PMI Smoke-Free Products