The Design Thinking Playbook Page 7

  Of course, Priya’s primary goal should be to ask her questions in such a way that the elderly lady tells her something about herself and her exercise habits in everyday life. We have found it rather useful to create a question map in advance. Now you might justifiably ask, why not use a questionnaire like the colleagues from strategy consulting do? A questionnaire has a linear structure. We begin with the first question at the top and work our way down. In a conversation, though, we do not think and answer in a linear way but ad hoc. The map helps us visualize topical islands that provide orientation in the interview.

  On Priya’s theme map, one question is what motivates the elderly lady to do sports. In addition: What types of exercising inspire the lady? What does it take for her to be happy?

  Now it is important for Priya to listen carefully when the lady begins to talk about her life. During the conversation, Priya should write down important information. At the same time, making notes expresses a certain appreciation of the elderly lady—an indirect compliment that she enjoys for sure.

  Priya writes down the lady’s statements in her exact words, such as, “I like exercising in the morning because it stimulates me mentally.” If she only writes down keywords, Priya will have to make up the statements later on or invent context. Priya can then compare the statements provided by different respondents in the synthesis and recognize similarities as well as differences. She can also integrate the sentences perfectly into her persona, lending it an authentic voice this way.

  After each interview and each observation, we should ask ourselves some key questions:

  Where did the person reveal the biggest problems?

  What is the need behind the problem?

  What innovation would make everyday life easier for this person?

  This is also referred to as situation-inspired ideation. We outline the ideas and thoughts that emerge directly during the needfinding. Priya could also write down supplementary questions she comes up with over the course of time when she is in different situations (e.g., whether seniors living in the country exercise more often). This way, Priya enriches her question map and extends her question horizon.

  Whenever possible, open questions should be asked in a needfinding interview. This general list helps us to prepare the interview:

   Tracing behaviors

  “Why do you smile when you say that?”

  “How did it happen that . . .?” / “Who has taught you that?”

  “How do you know how it works?”

  “What works?” / “What doesn’t work?”

   Gaining clarity

  “What exactly do you mean by . . .?”

  “How would you describe it in your own words?”

  Exploring actively

  “You say this is difficult. What exactly was/is difficult about it?”

  “A difficult task. Why exactly is it difficult for you?”

   Asking about the sequence (day/week/period of life)

  “What is your first memory of . . .?”

  “What happened before/afterward?”

  “How did you do it before?”

  “When was the first/last time that you . . .?”

   Asking for examples

  “What was the last app you downloaded?”

  “With whom did you discuss it?”

   Exploring exceptions

  “When didn’t it work, then?”

  “Did you have problems with . . . before?”

   Understanding connections and relations

  “How do you communicate with . . .?”

  “From whom did you hear that?”

  “Who helped you with it?”

  “How did you hear of it?”

   Informing outsiders

  “If you had to explain it to an exchange student, what would you say?”

  “How would you explain this to your grandparents?”

  “How would you describe it to a small child?”

   Comparing processes

  “What is the difference between your home and that of your friend?”

  “What is the difference when you do this on the road instead of at home?”

   Imagining the future

  “How do you think you’ll do it in 2030?”

  (What if it were like that already today?)

   EXPERT TIP

  Involve lead users as innovators

  The observation and questioning of lead users (users or customers leading the trend) can help to identify future customer needs. In addition, lead users can be drawn upon as another source for understanding customer needs, and their experience can be integrated in the empathy mode of design thinking.

  The term “lead user” was coined by Eric von Hippel. According to the definition, lead users are users who have the needs and requirements earlier than the mass market and hope for a particularly high benefit and competitive edge from the possible satisfaction of the need or solution of the problem. Lead users have developed many major innovations themselves. These include the mountain bike, the hyperlink structure of the World Wide Web, and GEOX shoes. Lead users have a strong drive to solve a certain problem they have. This state drives them to innovations, which they often actually realize in the form of interim solutions or prototypes.

  We propose an easy to follow, three-step approach to involve lead users:

  Step 1: We identify needs and trends

  Scanning of secondary sources (future researchers, trend reports, trend scouting, etc.) for early trends, research directions, market experts and technology experts

  Preliminary determination of important early trends and future needs in early phases

  Step 2: We search for lead users and lead experts

  Search for lead users and lead experts in the target market

  Identify analogous markets by abstracting your own questions and topics and transferring them

  Step 3: We develop solution concepts

  As a last phase, rudimentary solution ideas identified thus far are finally developed into strong innovation concepts in a large workshop together with lead users, lead experts, internal marketing, and technicians.

  In the framework of co-creation, it is useful to involve the lead users heavily in the development and prototype process.

  Lilly has read the book Crossing the Chasm (Geoffrey Moore). When selecting lead users and adapting the solution to the needs of the lead users, she is aware that there is probably a gap between the needs of the lead users, early adopters, and the early majority. This is why she always attempts to recognize the needs of “normal” customers in her workshops. With regard to the ultimate solution, it is then important not to forget the needs of the early majority.

  Peter has been on projects that focused far too much on the needs of lead users—in the end, a product emerged that was given the sobriquet of “white elephant.” Such projects have high risk and low likelihood of implementation and are hard to stop. Unfortunately, in some cases, there are only a few customers for a solution that was deemed quite interesting by many lead users.

   EXPERT TIP

  How to dig deeper

  For us to be able to take a peek behind the scenes of our users, we must be able to build up a deep-rooted empathy with them. Various methods and tools that go beyond pure observation can help to achieve this. At this point, it is important to emphasize again that we can recognize the real needs of our users only when we go to work with the right attitude. We summarize:

   EXPERT TIP

  The 6 WH questions

  As we have seen, the WH questions help in the divergent phase to gain a basic overview and in-depth insights. WH questions help to get better information, thus comprehend the problem or situation better.

  Especially in the first few design thinking phases, the WH questions are of vital importance.

  They help us make concrete observations in a specific situation and thus discover more emotions and motives. In addition, the WH questions help analyze and scrutini
ze information already gathered.

  What

  Who

  Why

  Where

  When

  How

  What is the problem?

  Who is

  involved?

  Why is the problem important?

  Where does the problem occur?

  When did the problem begin?

  How could this problem be an opportunity?

  What would we like to know?

  Who is affected

  by the

  situation?

  Why does it occur?

  Where was it already resolved before?

  When do people want to see results?

  How could it be solved?

  What are the assumptions that are scrutinized?

  Who decides?

  Why was it not yet solved?

  Where did similar situations exist?

  When can the project be started?

  What has already been tried to resolve the problem?

  Create a set of WH questions.

  Make a list of possible sub-questions.

  Try to answer all WH questions.

  If a WH question does not make sense in the context of the problem, skip it.

  If the WH questions were used with the user in the context of a problem interview, try to dig deeper by probing and repeating questions.

  Try to find more than one answer to every question. Conflicting answers can be of particular interest and should be amplified more deeply together with the user.

  Evaluate the answers only at the end and filter the statements according to their relevance to the solution.

   HOW MIGHT WE...

  reflect on our own behavior and assumptions?

  The task now is to reflect on what we have heard and seen as well as our own behavior. This transition helps to improve the process continuously.

  The reflection proceeds along three steps:

  First step: Reflect upon the user and the need. What have we learned in relation to the project?

  We ask ourselves these project-related questions:

  How do people think and act in everyday life?

  What is done differently than we imagined?

  What surprises us (“Eureka!” moments)?

  Is there a need that is worth being solved?

  Second step: Is our solution the right one?

  In a second step, we check whether our solution feels right. Is it really true that we don’t have to change anything for our idea to work in everyday life? What would we change so that our innovation is used in everyday life?

  Priya, for example, quickly realizes that her view of the solution has expanded by asking questions and reflecting upon things.

  Now Priya’s arguments are no longer based on her assumptions but on the things she has heard and seen, as well as on knowledge she has collected. She has a solid idea of how it really feels to be at an advanced age and wishing for a healthy life.

  After having expanded the perspective on a topic, we can now go back to ideation. We iterate our original solution based on interactions with the potential users. An iteration means to improve something in an existing idea or to build a completely new prototype.

  Third step: Were our approach and the kind of questions right?

  In a final step, we check whether our approach was right. Did the way we posed our questions come across well? Was our documentation of any use later? This way, we see what was good, where we should improve things, and what we still should try out.

  KEY LEARNINGS

  Recognizing user needs

  Find the persona in real life and interview them.

  Forget all initial assumptions on ideas for a product or service and focus on the user behavior.

  Observe and listen carefully in conversation with a potential user.

  Document the observations exactly so you will be able to correct assumptions made.

  Walk in the user’s footsteps; accompany him for a day in his daily life.

  Identify extreme users as well; for example, there are seniors who do strenuous sports even at a very old age.

  Review your experience with other users iteratively and never stop being curious about their real needs.

  Plan and prepare the needfinding interview diligently. Create a question map for an open interview.

  Ask many WH questions and pay attention to contradictions in the answers. Use the 6 WH question method.

  Pay attention to the end; it might still yield important insights.

  Use lead users to recognize future needs at an earlier stage—selection of the right lead users is crucial here.

  Take a look behind the scenes; dig deeper and combine various methods, such as participatory observation and extreme user or expert discussions.

  1.5 How to build empathy with the user

  In the needfinding revolving around the theme of “health for seniors,” Priya has realized how important it is to develop empathy for a target group. Empathy is the ability and willingness to recognize and understand the thoughts, emotions, motives, and personality traits of another person. By definition, design thinking is an empathetic, optimistic, and creative way of working to shape the future. When we look at any number of offers for seniors on the market, we can see that frequently neither empathy for seniors nor an optimistic basic attitude exists. Retirees do not want to be referred to as “generation 65+,” “best agers,” or as a target group in the “silver markets.” Neither do they want to book a trip for seniors on the Internet or be invited to “exercises for seniors.” Retirees are not interested in illnesses. They want to stay healthy and mobile. In most cases, they feel up to fifteen years younger than they actually are. If you don’t want to make the same mistakes and in the end deliver a brilliant performance with a major flop on the market, empathy with the users is elementary.

  How can we build empathy with the potential user (by way of the example of “seniors”)?

  Priya already has an idea for it. She has developed a prototype smartphone for seniors. It has a simple interface to a blood pressure measurement device. The prototype, named the “ImedHeinz,” is a little clunky, due to the large keys and an analog interface to the blood pressure measurement device. The enclosure for the smartphone is reminiscent of the smart pocket calculators from the 1980s.

  Priya wants to test the prototype in an environment of seniors and pays a visit to the “Shady Pine Tree” retirement home. In the dining room, she meets Anna: 70 years old, fit mentally, using a wheelchair due to a stroke, which has prompted her to move from her townhouse to the retirement home. Priya confronts Anna with the prototype of her ImedHeinz smartphone. Anna’s response is a horrified look. To excite a little enthusiasm in Anna, Priya shows her, quite euphorically, how quickly the data from the blood pressure measuring device can be transmitted to the Heinz. Anna does not show any enthusiasm whatsoever.

  This brings Priya down to earth somewhat; she leans back in her chair, and her gaze wanders to the other seniors in the dining room. Richard, sitting at the back of the room, is playing chess on his tablet; Elizabeth is exchanging WhatsApp messages with her grandson in New York City on an iPhone. Anna takes Priya’s hand and says she is a great iPhone fan, too, and that she is looking forward to her new, gilded iPhone that would match her jewelry so well.

  Priya has learned a lot this afternoon. The basic prerequisite for empathetic needfinding is the immediate proximity to the customers (seniors) as well as the readiness to engage with your interlocutor and to try to experience the world through another person’s eyes. It takes courage and strength to step back from known standards and views of the world—but without it, needfinding and the empathy with a potential user it requires can hardly take place.

   HOW MIGHT WE...

  experience, understand, and feel

  Misunderstandings are often based on everyday problems. Depending on many aspects such as family background, lifestyle, values, and context, people think and act
in the most varied ways. Perceiving these nuances from the start gives us insights into the lives of our users that constitute the cornerstones of successful innovations.

  How can we better understand the language of the customer?

  We listen actively and ask about words that can be understood in different ways. For example, what do we mean when we speak of “resources”? The word might refer to time, material, or even people. We can only know what our interlocutor means if we have him explain it to us.

  If we observe some conspicuous theatrics, the time has come to dig deeper. If our interlocutor talks about an “incredibly exciting” situation, for instance, but rolls his eyes at the same time—what does it mean? We should always ask, “We could see how you rolled your eyes. What did you mean?” From our experience, we know that a better understanding of the customer’s language and personality also results in a better understanding of his need.

  Instead of endlessly speculating on users’ everyday situations, it is far more instructive for us to experience them ourselves. This way, critical facts crystallize that can serve as starting points for innovations. But be careful: We experience only a fraction of them.

  How can we experience the world of the customer?