We serve and involve
— We serve quality increments early and often. Daily we collect insights on what we serve from whom it is served to. We involve anyone who can provide valuable insights and work with them continuously to improve the output. We avoid proxies between us, the value creator, and those whom we service (the value consumer).
We make better decisions when we involve those whom we wish to serve early and often. We continuously involve the client, users, and other (potential) benefactors.
Qualitative results
In the earlier two Athletic Standards, we established that everyone involved or impacted should get together and continuously align. This third standard puts the emphasis on the actual results and outcomes of such collaboration.
Great collaborations don’t necessarily result in valuable qualitative results. The more people that get involved, the more compromised the outcome could be. More is not better!
In any project or campaign assumptions are made. We have to make them so we can validate them. Too often though, these assumptions aren’t validated right until the very end when the budgets are spent and the timeframe is expired.
“Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups.”
Release early and often. Test our riskiest assumptions first. It’s all based on the notion that our ideas should be validated early. It requires discipline to choose what NOT to build.
The essential notion here is to make sure that assumptions are made by trained and qualified specialists — preferably a balanced mix between design, function, and experience: UX. In any case, avoid ‘HiPPOs’ (Highest Paid Person’s Opinions) dominating the creative process.
The team learns to eliminate proxies.
Athletic Development emphasizes quality, not quantity. It implies that the work should meet high standards.
So to sum it all up:
“We serve and involve”
Next up: “We take the time to make it right”.
