Grandmas, User Experience and the Innovation mythology
I’ll soon turn 30. And it’s awesome. I worked my ass hard to get here and I love every second of my life and everything I've done until now. If I were to turn back time, I don’t think I would do things any differently.
I was born in the ’80s, in an ex-Soviet block country and I am one of the lucky bastards that, when I will be old, I’ll be able to tell my grand kids that I was born before the modern www internet. Mind-fuck.
I was born when I had other ways of having fun. Like playing outside. Or watching the sky and do some plane sighting. And reading stuff on paper. Remember that dead industry? The print? Yeah. First time I found out about orgasm was from a printed magazine.
But also, I was in touch with the technology from an early age. I had my first Nintendo at 10, my first PC at 13 and my first mobile phone at 14. Yeah. I first had a PC and after that I got a mobile phone.
I was there when VHS was replaced by the DVD, the compact cassette replaced with the first gen iPod. I remember the time when I had to switch off the internet, so my mom could make a landline call (Oh. I remember those times when it took like 30 minutes just to download a boob picture), now I can certainly say one thing.
After a decade of working in client service and strategy departments in organizational development and digital focused companies, everything I’ve been through, got me to the moment when I had to explain to my grandma what I do for a living. Try beating that. Explain a 70 years old what Chief Innovation Officer in an User Experience Design agency means.
So, I started very cocky: “You know, I am trying to find new, better, faster and more efficient & effective ways for people to interact with the digital products of my clients.”
“OH! So you make internet?”
Damn. That’ll be harder than I thought. After spending 10 more minutes trying to explain, starting from “you know, the attention span in online is 10–30 seconds, and we have to find better ways to make people engaged” to “in the today’s business environment, we get a lot of information about our clients and there is a lot of data in there and we have to draw the best conclusions out of them and make the most out of it”, I realized that I won’t be able to explain the abstract concepts without real life examples.
So, I took out the door knob and reversed it. If you wanted to unlock the door you should have lifted it up. And this is how I explained to her the User Experience.
After that I’ve remembered about the urban myth about the space pen, you probably already know:
“ During the space race of the 1960s, NASA spent millions developing a fancy “space pen” that could be used in zero gravity … but the Soviets just used a pencil.”
It seemed a good idea to try to make her understand what does innovation mean for me. So I gave her a pencil, a fountain pen and a sheet of paper and asked her to try to write on the paper holding the paper above her head.
And I think that is the moment I got as close as possible to make her understand what I do.
When she wrote with the pencil, but not with the fountain pen, and then she looked at me, I saw how easy it can be to make people understand the innovation.
After user experience design and innovation got a lot of kinks here in Romania, I spent a lot of time and effort trying to explain innovative thinking and human centered design, how to approach them, how to think them strategically, but mostly how they are a part of the modern business routine. And how, if done correctly, they can help companies build and maintain the competitive advantage.
First of all, on a more serious tone, i’ll create some context. This is how I define innovation: do things differently, better. Find new ways of doing your business with bigger results and lower efforts. It doesn’t have to be a life changing new Facebook, Google or Apple. You have to understand that there is a natural tension between efficiency and effectiveness and finding new solutions to fit your organisational needs or your customers’ needs is mandatory. And most important, it doesn’t necessarily have to be techy.
And I get asked a lot about innovation in the Meetups and conferences I talk at or in the meetings I have with clients or prospects. And everybody has some misconceptions about it. Let’s talk a little bit about some of them. Shall we?
Myth #1: Innovation = invention
Or in other words, innovation means to create a new ultra technological advanced device that does deep fried potatoes while 3D printing some stuff. Mmm… Nope.
One is the things I often hear is “Our segment is very stiff and there are not plenty opportunities to disrupt”. Sure. What if Travis Kalanick said the same thing about the Taxi industry?
Invention is a solution to a problem. That doesn’t mean it’s innovative.
Innovation is finding a better solution that fits the new market or customer needs.
That’s why, I always recommend to focus on finding that custom made solution, not to focus on how you can change things dramatically. Because people can’t handle very well radical changes.
Taking action means being courageous, but not stupid and arrogant.
Myth #2: My business size doesn’t fit innovative thinking
This one is particularly funny, because I hear it from small companies but I also hear it from big companies with more than 500 employees. They all think that they can’t do it. If they are a large organisation, they’ll say that they have a lot of inertia and the changes are made very hard, and innovation is for the small, tech companies that can ideate, implement and iterate quickly. When talking with smaller tech companies they say that you have to be big, with a lot of financial and human resources. We have to have a strong product.
Just to put it straight: innovation is not exclusive to technology companies. Any type of business can benefit from it. This is what keeps companies relevant to the modern age. Small companies can do innovation, mostly because they are generally more flexible, so implementing change is easier. Also, large companies can go innovative because most of the time they have a lot of experience and resources.
The solution is to try. Give it a little try. Don’t go big. Test your assumptions, see the market response and validate if you are sailing in the right direction. Don’t invest a shit load of time and money, but at least try. And try to help your employees think innovative.
We, at Grapefruit, work with a big client that understood that there is a big need for innovation and it starts from the inside. It starts with the mindset of the employees. That’s why they created an in-house internal hub, where small interdisciplinary teams gather and try to find digital solutions for their needs. And that is a big step towards changing the business. A traditional business with little to none place to innovate.
Myth #3: Innovation is all about the ideas. If the idea is good, the market will want it.
Or in other words, innovation just happens and it’s all about the business DNA. Nope. Sorry to tell you this, but innovation is not about ideas. It is often said that innovation is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration. The truth is that most of the businesses that create value have processes and systems put in place to identify the best solution to their customer’s problems, based on a lot of data gathering, research, insights and trial and error.
I believe that we all have to be evidence fueled. Everything starts with a very good market, target and product understanding. I think that the best way to tackle a new idea is to fail fast. Launch — learn — iterate.
First step is to make some assumptions. Start with a hunch and try to identify an opportunity.
Second is to define what success means for your test. Set up realistic and measurable KPIs. If you don’t know what do you want to measure, more likely you will play it in the dark.
Finally, run a lot of lightweight test. Keep experimenting, keep searching and always challenge the status quo. Always challenge yourself and your assumptions.
Myth #4: To innovate is very expensive
Contrary to urban mythology, innovation does not have to be extremely pricey and time-consuming. It can create a huge return for your company if it’s done correct, made as an integrated, coherent process, with a consistent research and strong market understanding, a clear road map, realistic objectives and a good argumentation. And maybe this sounds like a lot, but I can guarantee you that as complicated as it might sound, it can be really effective. You just have to scale it to your business.
If you want to make small changes, make it fast, iterative and as much as de-risked as possible. If you want it big, then go big, or go home. You decide. But remember, sometimes companies are like my grandma. If she understood what innovation is and how user experience design helps people on a day to day routine, than so can businesses. Regardless the size, revenue, industry, know-how and other impediments.
The difference is that she embraced this experiment with an open mind and eager to learn something new.
I am Chief Innovation Officer at Grapefruit • Strategy freak•Tech startup junkie • Coffee and whiskey lover
Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter and let’s start a conversation.
