Finding a creative voice in a world of “digital transformation”

The dilemma of a designer in a changing corporate environment

By Hunadi

My experience navigating the corporate environment for the past 4 years has been full of many lessons — and many questions marks. I have been fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to be exposed to the digital transformation era within corporate South Africa, and it has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride full of unexpected learning and discoveries. Just like any normal transition in life, be it personal, professional or economic (yes, I am referring to the fact that South Africa is in a technical recession — insert WhatsApp Shrugged hands emoticon), this period can be difficult and painful especially if we do not have a complete understanding of what “it” means for us. Corporate South Africa is no different when it comes to facing these transition/transformation challenges.

What is digital transformation?

Before I get into the details of what my observations and experience have been regarding digital transformation and customer centricity, I think I must provide definitions of what is meant by digital transformation.

According to Wikipedia,“digital transformation is not necessarily about digital technology, but about the fact that technology, which is digital, allows people to solve their traditional problems. And they prefer this digital solution to the old solution”. I honestly did not make this up…

Global research and advisory company Gartner claims that “digital business transformation is the process of exploiting digital technologies and supporting capabilities to create a robust new digital business model.”

Taking this a step further, Plasma, a leading US-based business intelligence and IoT platform provider, defines digital transformation as “an organisation’s shift from outdated approaches and technology into forward-thinking processes, methods and business models. The goal of digital transformation is to optimize business actions across all operations and departments so that processes become more agile, connected, data-centric and friendly to change. Through this digital transformation, organizations accelerate internal innovation and employee experience, resulting in better product/service offerings for the consumer.”

Personally, of the many definitions I’ve read from various consulting houses and general reading, I like Plasma’s definition the most. They hit the nail on the head by pointing out the fact that digital transformation would essentially accelerate internal innovation and employee experience. Employee experience is the key word in that definition, and I believe this is the biggest pain point for companies who are not digitally transforming as fast as they would like to. I’ve noticed that in the corporate world, companies put so much effort into acquiring the most talented and resourceful people, spending tons of money trying to take the company strategy to the next level, and procuring the most up-to-date technology. And yet for some odd reason, they put minimal effort and investment into their company culture and employee experience.

Employee experience needs to come first

Poor employee experience is actually the source of many issues within an organisation. I’ve observed people with amazing skillsets being recruited for projects, which is meant to propel the company forward and challenge the way of thinking on these projects. YET — the people who are required to sign off on the product that is being introduced seem to have a totally different mindset: in most instances their role is of a technical/analytical nature and this could make it tricky for the individual to relate to some of the design suggestions as they view solutions from a different perspective. More than anything else, I’ve been struggling to wrap my mind around this.

“The corporate world has created a culture of working that is about pleasing the manager and not solving actual customer problems.”

For example, a company might hire a UX designer or CX strategist to assist in designing and creating a product. But that person then faces a dilemma in that they can only really design or provide a solution that fits into a box the product owner has already created around what the final product should look like. The reality is that if the designer/strategist suggests an idea outside of that box, the chances are slim that they will get any sign-off on their work, because the product owner has the last word. They now find that now as a designer or strategist, their job is no longer to design for the actual end-user but to design to please the project manager or whoever has the authority to give the green light on that work.

Corporate culture can damage customer experience

What is the point of employing people to perform a certain role when we set multiple standards, red tape and guidelines which essentially end up limiting their ability to be creative and innovative? I believe that from a leadership point of view, big changes needs to occur within many companies, because it is the management structures that are restrictive and do not enable employees to be confident enough to challenge the status quo.

I fully understand the important role of managers, but if we are trying to engage within the digital sphere, I think it is inappropriate for managers or product owners to have the final say and sign-off on a product intended for a particular outside target market. It is due to this very practice that employees end up being boxed in and unable to reveal the full extent of their skills and talents. The corporate world has created a culture of working that is about pleasing the manager and not solving actual customer problems. I find myself hearing comments such as, “you have to do what management wants because at the end of the day they are the ones paying your salary”. Insert WhatsApp shocked emoticon.

“The corporate world has created a culture of working that is about pleasing the manager and not solving actual customer problems.”

As long as we find ourselves in a space where power and control takes priority over creativity and design, we will be stuck in the mindset of doing things the same old way. I find it odd that the individuals that are selected to sign off on a product or make decisions about what the product must look like are not even part of the pool of potential clients for that specific product. Part of the job of an analyst or designer or a customer experience strategist requires having an understanding of what the targeted client wants. This is done through conducting research, creating personas, prototyping to potential clients, and so on. Yet for all the effort that is put in to ensure that we give the customers exactly what they want, someone powerful at the top may decide against the recommendations provided by the strategist/designer on the basis that they know what their customers want (Lol, these people really have some telepathic superhero powers that they can assume what their customers want without even having a single interaction with them- how sway?)

Balancing creative freedom with business constraints

I understand that structures and rules and all that other boring red-tape might be necessary — but honestly, if you do not give a designer the freedom to explore all possible solutions when it comes to solving a problem, how else do we ensure customer satisfaction? If the individuals who give the final go ahead/sign-off on a solution want to dictate and interrogate every single aspect of how they should design, are we really being innovative and pursuing creativity?

One of the key foundations of being a designer is being able to relate and understand the customer’s need. The moment the individuals who are required to sign off on a product (most likely someone who does not ever have to interact with the targeted customer in their role) set restrictions towards designers are we not denying ourselves the chance and opportunity to see a solution to the identified problem from multiple dimensions and perspectives? Are we also not denying our customers an opportunity to be represented and voice their opinion on a product that is intended for them? When a designer suggests a solution, it is not necessarily always about themselves and their art but they are generally mostly concerned about what would the product mean to the customer and what is the experience that the customer is ideally looking for.

Whose job is it anyway?

The cherry on top is when the final product that has been signed off does not perform well with customers. Then suddenly the designer/strategist is questioned about why they didn’t design according to what the customers wanted? Suddenly they are accused of neglecting to keep the customer in mind when the final product does not perform so well. This type of reaction always confuses me because I am not too sure whether my purpose on the project is to test whether I am capable of doing my job or whether I am capable of following instructions? What is my actual job description?