One day, our team discovered a screen that had been left unattended for a year.
The unattended screen was an important screen in the signup flow.

The PO left a Slack message stating that the screen was not appealing and that it should be improved.

To find better wording

This Slack message made me think about finding better wording.

I came up with ideas for new wording, such as better service than remittance, benefits that can be received, and branding stories.
I came up with ideas for new wording.

I came up with many ideas, but I couldn't share them with the team.
Because I think my ideas didn't solve the problem I wanted to solve.

I was so worried that I couldn't help the team ㅠㅠ
While I was reflecting on myself, I suddenly thought of Elon Musk's First Principles Thinking.

First Principles Thinking

First Principles Thinking, which made my mind light up!
What is this thinking that Elon Musk is known to use frequently?

Elon Musk's First Principles Thinking

Let's learn through Elon Musk's interview video.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

I've pulled out only the First Principles Thinking part of the video for those of you who are short on time.

People said, "Battery packs are very expensive and will continue to be so. Because they have been like that in the past."

But that's a really stupid idea.
Because you can never create something new if you apply past reasoning to make something new.

People told me that$600 per 1kwhis worth it and it won't change much in the future.
But I thought this:

What are batteries made of? And what is the market price of those ingredients?
It's made up of cobalt, nickel, aluminum carbon, etc.
How much would it cost if you break down these components into raw materials and buy them on the London Metal Exchange?
Oh, soonly $80 per 1kwh it's not worth it?

This is how you think about battery prices.
Through this thinking, I was able to create the cheapest battery now.

I can vaguely understand First Principles Thinking through the interview.

When creating something new to solve a problem, let's ask questions from the bottom up.
The core of First Principles Thinking isthinking from the essence of the problem.

Breaking down the Doit service with First Principles Thinking

Now that we have a vague understanding of First Principles Thinking, let's practice.

The latest hotdelivery app Doit,
I broke down Doit's bundled delivery service with First Principles Thinking.

Delivery fees are so expensive these days. Is there any way to reduce delivery fees?

Q1. Why do I have to pay delivery fees?
A1. You have to pay the delivery driver.

Q2. Why does the delivery driver get paid?
A2. Because he delivers food from the restaurant to my house.

Q3. Then, if the restaurant and the destination are the same, is the delivery fee the same even if there is a lot of food?
A3. Hmm... Unless there is so much food that delivery is impossible, they won't charge more for delivery.
In fact, they sometimes give you a discount on delivery fees if you order a lot of food?

Then, if I order from the restaurant that my neighbor is ordering from, can't I just pay the delivery fee once?
Furthermore, if I order delivery with my neighbors who want to eat the same food, I can save on delivery fees.

There is a limit to reducing delivery fees themselves.
This is because delivery fees are directly related to the commission that must be paid to delivery drivers.

Doit solved the problem of saving delivery fees with bundled delivery.
It maintained the commission that the delivery driver received and did not unfairly burden the restaurant with delivery fees.

In order to come up with such innovative solutions, you need to keep asking questions about delivery fees.
Question the bottom line of the problem and ask questions.

And First Principles Thinking makes you question from the bottom up towards the problem you want to solve.
(Conclusion: First Principles Thinking is the best)

Now for the real thing

I wanted to try applying the First Principles Thinking I learned from Elon Musk to my actual work.
Let's go back to our team.

Thinking about the team's problems with First Principles Thinking

What was the problem our team wanted to solve?
It was to improve the unattended screen in the signup flow.

Let's try First Principles Thinking from here.

We need to improve the screen in the signup flow.

Q1. Why is this screen necessary? What are we trying to solve with this screen?
A1. The signup process is long and complicated. We wanted to increase the signup rate by first showing the value that the service can provide before starting the flow.

Q2. Ok. But did this screen really increase the signup conversion rate? Did you verify the metrics?
A2. Hmm... I don't remember well. We need to verify if the presence or absence of the screen affects the signup conversion rate.

Q3. The purpose of this screen is to introduce the services that customers find attractive before signing up?
A3. Yes.

Q4. What are the services that our customers find attractive?
A4. There is a service-by-service dashboard, and among themretentionis a service with a high rate.

I kept asking myself why I needed to improve this wording and why this screen was necessary.
After repeated questioning, I was able to reach the bottom of the problem.

And I built up the questions and answers from the bottom up again.
As I answered one by one and came up, I was able to have two conclusions.

Does the screen really increase the signup conversion rate? If it doesn't, let's get rid of it boldly.

Customers can find attractive services on the dashboard. Let's replace it with a sentence that introduces that service.

Sharing with the team

After that, I shared the content that I asked and answered myself with the team.
This is because it is easier for team members to understand my thoughts if the questions and answers are written together with the conclusion.

Fortunately, my writing resonated with the team. (Whew~)

In conclusion

Since all of the work done at the company is confidential, I will end this here.
There were 3 things I wanted to say through this long article.

1. First Principles Thinking is a way of thinking that builds up answers one by one from the bottom of the problem.
2. You can't create something new if you apply past reasoning.
3. Let's keep asking questions to the problem we want to solve. Until we think we've reached the bottom.

Consciously asking questions and doubting

Humans tend to trust facts or past experiences that they vaguely know as a habit.
Thanks to this tendency, we can live in the world comfortably.
Just like we don't think too much about why we need to eat or why we need to sleep and just act.

This tendency of ours comes out as a habit without our awareness.
Even though we need a fundamental reflection on the problem to solve the problems of the world innovatively.

Let's intentionally break the trust that comes out as a habit.
And let's consciously ask questions and doubt to the bottom. That's First Principles Thinking.