How to Tame a Tiger (UX methods Pt. 1)
“Vision without action is a daydream, Action without vision is a nightmare” ~Japanese Proverb
BECOME VALUE DRIVEN
I’ve never tamed a tiger before but I would imagine that the best way is to start when the tiger is very young. The more years you feed it and care for it the more the tiger associates your presence with a value for itself (care and feeding). The moment the tiger decides that your value for its benefit is gone, it’s probably not a good idea to go in the cage. The nature of product is very similar. Products that at one time stood tall and strong die due to the simple fact that the customer (tiger) fails to see the value of the product.
It is my core belief that if one works for value there will be no time on that path that is a waste. The opposing view might dictate that all is a waste without value. If a company provides value for its employees, its employees then create a product that provides value to its customers, and at the end the customers provide value to the company through revenue or recommendations. When all this happens, a value driven brand is created. It’s the circle of product life, and it’s a thing of beauty to experience products coming to life in this way. But how do we get there? The following is a list of reminders that I use to ensure I keep myself honest about my own personal values. These are in a particular order but by no means does this mean that it has to be this way. I have found that others have expressed my points in ways that I can’t, so I will include links to articles and books that have helped me when possible. The challenge in getting there is that it requires a strategy and execution.
DO THE DOUBLE DIAMOND
The Double Diamond is referred to as Divergent/Convergent process. It is a process that allows a problem to be explored strategically and then broken into manageable and measurable chunks for execution (here is a great explanation). The one thing I would highlight is to ensure that leadership understands what this means and how it will be reflected in the day to day operations. An organizational commitment should be made to ensure proper time is given to understand “Why” and “How” we will solve a problem, otherwise, sprints and iterations choke the life of a product for lack of vision (the common mistake is to try to fit the strategy inside an Agile process).
If we were building a bike, the first diamond would ask, why are we building this bike? And how does it solve a particular problem? At times it could sound like fluffy conversations which could lead to responses like, “It’s just a bike, let’s just figure it out as we go”. Then the sprint conversations become maddening when the team doesn’t know what materials or size the tires should be and in the rush, teams are guessing without really understanding the who, why, or how, which results in a Frankenstein bike that no one can really ride.
Design Thinking to the Rescue
A popular method used throughout the double diamond process is known as Design Thinking. It has become a bit of a buzz word lately but unfortunately it seems that like “Agile”, it’s easier said than done. Design Thinking has been around other industries in some form or another. I believe a design company called IDEO is credited for bringing light to it in the tech industry (I could be wrong). Design thinking itself is in my opinion not that hard — it’s the commitment to maintain the practice throughout the process that is difficult. What I really like about the methodology is that it provides a framework that is repeatable regardless of the problem. It is a creative way of defining a problem and understanding a solution through analysis, then breaking those down into a series of testable hypotheses. Again, here lies another challenge of design thinking. It’s meant to be tested. That’s a part many fail to adopt.
FIRST DIAMOND
Unless you’re a charity
I cannot stress how important it is for a design team to understand the business model of a company. This is the tip of the first diamond and it’s usually the trigger for a product push. In large companies, this information is usually trickled down from the Product team. The important thing is for designers to not just be satisfied with knowing requirements. Understanding the business side helps the designs reflect a truly “viable” product. I am a firm believer that the more design teams start incorporating visibility into a full solution, the easier it will be for Design to earn a seat at the round table.
For startups and mid sized companies I have used a popular exercise called a Business Model Canvas created by Strategyzer. Value Proposition and Customer Segments are the areas that affect design the most.
Value Proposition
This is where the rubber meets the road. The value proposition is why you build and why they’ll use. Get it right and your customers will love you. Get it wrong and all hell breaks loose. The value proposition is to design as a target is for a sniper. I recently read an excellent article in which Dharmesh Shah (Founder and CTO at HubSpot) highlights how customers become sales people for a company when value and a great user experience is delivered, or as Shah calls it, “delight”. Nothing sells better than word of mouth. A good example of this is the Business Model Canvas mentioned above. It provides so much value that many others and I are evangelists for it. We’ve become its salesmen. Speaking of which, one of the other tools I use to understand the value of a product is a Value Proposition Canvas, also by Strategyzer. I highly recommend the book, which you can find on their site. Have I drunk the Kool-Aid? Yes! And I’ve spiked it too. That’s the great thing about it. You can mix it with anything else that helps you answer questions because at the end of the day, it’s the questions that are the hard part.
The canvas is a simple yet powerful concept. Identify the Pains, Gains, and Jobs (tasks) of a Customer Segment then align them with the Gain Creators, Pain Relievers, and Products/Services that creates a “Fit” or value. What the canvas does not intend to do is dive deep into emotion. Although emotion is the driver for the areas in the Customer Profile, it is not intended to be defined here. Which is why I like to add other models and journeys in the process.
Mental Models
Mental models are powerful because they explain the relationships a group of people have with an environment and how they interact based on that relationship. They are not always grounded in reality. Perception, expectations, and emotions all play a deep role. The psychology is fascinating. Building on mental models allows a product to be personalized and perceived according to expectations. If done right, we exceed expectations and delight the customer! All because we took the time to understand their mental frame of mind.
WALK IN THEIR SHOES
Empathy is the hardest part of design
The Journey
Before you start firing solutions, take time to walk in the shoes of your customers. A designer is usually itching to create solutions at this point but stay the course and it will pay off. Empathy is the hardest part of design, anyone can create wireframes or comps with some sort of solution but no design is complete without considering the full end-to-end journey a customer takes. I even like to take it one step further and create stakeholder maps that show the touchpoints a customer has with the company. A customer does not know or care about who runs support vs sales, mobile or marketing. The map should drive the point that to a customer, the experience starts from the moment they hear about your company or product.
Service Design
The customer journey should even cover the areas outside of Service, Period. One method to extract the journey is known as Service Design. A Service Design Journey Canvas is an exercise used to map out the service layers. It is what the Business Model Canvas is to the Value Proposition. In other words, before you dive into the journey a customer experiences in the actual service layer, it is helpful to take a step back and understand the full journey for the pre-service, service, and post-service stages. Think about a time where you have been frustrated because the marketing or message that led you to a product created a disjointed experience and then further disappointed you with the support provided. Big cable TV companies are notorious for this and are now quickly reaping what they have sown with a cord cutting frenzy.
Customer Journey
The journey IS the experience, and that experience is best told in a story. Find the storyteller in your company and take advantage of that talent. A story is powerful because it allows all participants to connect the dots, regardless of role. Stories should convey the full customer journey including areas outside of the product. Communicate the journey to a broad audience for early verification that everyone is on the same page. If not, this is the time to speak up. This is a good sign that important issues are being bubbled up. Once you can agree on what a customer journey looks like, you can proceed to actually write the book. Too many organizations are too eager to first write the book, then define what the story is about later. If you do this, it shouldn’t surprise you if you end up with a horror novel.
This is the first part of a two part series. In the meantime, I appreciate everyone’s opinion. I would love to hear your thoughts!
