oneux | designing experiences

empathy as key to successful integrative thinking

I have been reading the Opposable Mind by Roger Martin and have come across many similarities between the method of integrative thinking described in the book and the practice of qualitative research.

One of the key elements of successful design research is the practitioner's ability to understand  people's (be it users of a service, customers, etc.) motivations, needs, and attitudes. Throughout the research process the practitioner aims to understand people by observing and supplementing his understanding by asking the right questions. A good practitioner will empathise with his subjects without necessarily agreeing with what is observed or discussed.  The right approach and skill to separate ones own preconceived ideas and beliefs from the subjects' mental models is key to the success of any design research project. The practitioner will later use his experience, subject matter expertise, and understanding of client needs to design a service or product to meet those needs. 

This approach of understanding and empathising in order to design a user centric solution is similar to the method of assertive inquiry described by Martin in the book:

"When you use assertive inquiry to investigate someone else's mental model, you find saliences that wouldn't have occurred to you and causal relationships you didn't perceive. You may not want to adopt the mental model as your own, but even the least compelling model can provide clues to saliences or causal relationships that will generate a creative resolution. ... assertive enquiry involves a sincere search for another's views. ... It aims to learn about the salient data and causal maps baked in to another person's model, then use the insight gained to fashion a creative resolution." p.157

do customers want a relationship with brands?

In an HBR article, entitled  'Why your customers don't want to talk to you'  the authors argue that  customers prefer self service channels to face to face interaction with employees. They also raise the concern that this may be because customers 'never wanted the kind of relationship that companies have always hoped for, and that self service now allows customers the "out" they've been looking for all along.' Quite an interesting thought.

They also claim that channel hoping, customers' movement from channel to channel when interacting with a company, increases the likelihood of them being disloyal. That is an easy one to fix. Just design your service holistically. Look at all your touch-points as part of the same service, not as independent channels.

You never know maybe your customers do want to have a relationship with you, but at the moment that relationship is painful... for them.

starting with those that your designs affect

How the people at Continuum approached the design of a hospital room for Herman Miller: They began by interviewing and observing everyone in the hospital spectrum--patients, doctors, janitors, visitors, administrators--to discover inefficiencies and learn how infection spreads throughout a room. “A lot of times, especially as caregivers, they don’t often even know why they do certain things,” Beth Nickels, president of Herman Miller Healthcare, says. “And when you listen to their answers, you might be able to point out a better way to do things.” (From FastCompany)

innovate or.... how Moleskine are embracing the digital future

It is true that new technologies are causing us all to change or adapt our behaviour which in turn means that old and established industries are being disrupted. I have always loved my Moleskine diary but since I got an iPhone I am afraid I have not found a need for it. The iPhone's intuitive UI and integration with my Mac means I do no longer need to carry a paper version with me.

This may soon be true for notebooks, though at the moment  I am staying loyal to my Moleskine. So what does a company that specialises in old paper technologies do when the new mobile silicon competition comes along? In the case of Moleskine it embraces the disruption and tries to make themselves relevant in this new digital future. The new Kindle Cover is a great example of a company that has decided not to retreat into what they've always done and feel comfortable in and have taken the brave step to challenge themselves and their offering. So what a great idea to create a cover for your eBook that includes a paper notebook for those great ideas you might have.

Business Week Innovation Topics

Here is a list of innovation topics on Business Week on Wed 12 May 2010.

   

Well, as I mentioned in the past we have well and truly been discovered by the business world.

Design Thinking and the MBA

User-centred design (UCD) practitioners complain that the approach has never really been taken seriously by the business school establishment and business in general. UCD has at best been seen as a nice to have, a nod to creativity and ‘soft’ approaches to doing business that added a bit of excitement to an otherwise uneventful day at work.

UCD and ROI have always had an uncomfortable relationship.  Managers who have been used to backing every decision on hard numbers found it – and still find it - difficult to make decisions based on an approach that depends on qualitative research, observation, and intuition. Their decisions demand faith, and an ability to envision a different future, skills that management schools tend not to focus on.

Despair not, because we’ve been discovered! UCD in the form of Design Thinking is becoming part of the business school curriculum and yes; it is becoming the thing managers in the know start to explore. Recent articles in the Business Week, The New York Times, and podcasts from the Harvard Business School are treating Design Thinking as a legitimate approach to innovation.

Still in its infancy, even though the approach has been around for decades and introduced to the Rotman Business School in the 90s , Design Thinking attempts to combine analytical and intuitive thinking  in producing business systems for future innovation.

Though some may feel that the Management School establishment and the business world are hijacking the approach we have all been working on for quite some time, I’d like to see it as an opportunity to help them first understand the approach and also be part of its future direction. Getting business leaders to see a customer centred approach as a way to maintain their competitive advantage is definitely a great starting point

folding plug system

One more of those design archetypes that hasn't been updated since its first appearance following the second world war, the UK plug. A recent RCA graduate offered a refreshing point of view with his design for a folding plug system.

traffic lights: a different take on an old design

We get used to seeing things the way they are and forget that they either were not always like that or that they do not have to be the way they are in the first place. it just makes it easier to keep them the same, that is until we see what Serbian designer Damjan Stankovic' take on traffic lights.

The design featured in Core77  shows the red light surrounded by circular countdown display (shown below). The designer claims it will make drivers' lives less stressful as they do not have to keep their foot on the pedal and they could even turn the engine off.

I'd like to see this for pedestrians.

Donald Norman: responses to his essay

Here are some more posts that respond to Donald Norman's recent article on Design Research:

• Pasta & Vinegar

• Portigal Consulting

• neuroexperience

• putting people first