Design Discovers Valuable Problems
Not all problems are equal. The organization and personas you discover will all have different opinions of each problem. Designers examine the problem from all angles, pivoting to the most valuable. There are a number of diagnostic questions to ask at this point. We’ll discuss each in depth below.
- What is the value of solving this problem in light of the organization’s larger strategic initiatives? To the user?
- What is the context of the problem?
- What business problem will it solve?
- Is the problem clear? Will you know if you solve it?
- What level of involvement can you and/or your team realistically support?
Valuing the Problem
One of the first steps to take is to evaluate how important it is to solve the problem. Customers and the business do not always agree on what is valuable, making it difficult to know how to grade importance. If a problem has no value to the customer, they don’t need your product. Yet if solving the problem has little value to the organization, there’s no reason to build it. Chase problems that have a high value for customers and the organization.
Despite careful research, this still may go awry. Ultimately the organization’s appetite will determine whether to spend resources on solving a problem. Once, I discovered a specific feature critical for one of the personas. A big factor for the product was maintaining a high retention rate, so it seemed to make sense to include it. Unfortunately, the organization’s other priorities determined otherwise, and the capability was not constructed. This proved to be a huge mistake and thankfully, the product manager later saw additional feedback and changed priorities, though not until after code was written.
When this happens, make your point based on your research, but don’t waste time. Once the organization has set its collective mind, it’s difficult to move forward. Document the decision and track the opportunity costs associated with it. Jared Spool relates a story where a UX team asked to built a feature, but not given the time to research it. Though the feature worked well, the users didn’t adopt it. When the UX team was able to perform the research, they found the problem and fixed it. Rushing to launch cost the organization millions. As a design leader, be ready to make that case.
Evaluate the Context
Every product lives within a larger ecosystem. Whether it is other priorities within the company, competing products, or other products used alongside yours, they all affect how your end users will interact with your product. The Interaction Design Foundation defines context as “all the aspects that influence the use of your product—space, time, people, feelings, activities, concerns and everything in between” (Lesson 2.8 – Design Thinking, n.d.). Context is a part of Rosenfeld et. al.’s balanced approach to research. Context is about business goals, funding, politics, culture, technology, and Human Resources. Some sources or tools for this type of research includes background research, presentations and meetings, stakeholder interviews, technology assessment, and (I’d add) competitor research. This is a good place to begin research. This viewpoint gives you understanding and alignment to the organization. Judge the value of the proposed problem through these lenses:
- Company priorities – At some companies, the leaders may gather to set explicit priorities. This is a powerful tool for you to use as a design leader to ensure that your work sits in a stream previously determined to be valuable.
- Companion products – One reason it is important to incorporate in-person research is to see all the products (digital or physical) used in the flow of conducting the main task.
- Competitor products – It may help to investigate how competitor products are used to solve the problem today or anticipate how your product will fit in. “Your products will need to fit into a more general ecosystem of other products, and ideally your product is not only compatible with that ecosystem but adds significant value to it” (Cagan, 2020, loc. 1284). Also, look for the way that others solve the problems, even if not in the same domain. Remember that your “competitor is anyone the customer compares you with” (Connellan, 1997, p. 23).
Ecosystem Maps
The Design team tracks these discoveries, and others about the activities that surround them, in an ecosystem map. An ecosystem map is a tool to understand the product domain and visualize everything that influences the product or service experience including key activities, contexts, organizations, and people. It is distinct from an empathy map in that this shows a zoomed out view of the entire process, not the experience from one persona’s point of view. Once complete, the ecosystem allows the team to pinpoint weak areas for improvement or opportunities to capitalize on particular strengths. It works as a frame for scoping discussions and is a powerful tool to evaluate where to focus during the rest of the research phase.
Seeing the Business Problem
Products begin because someone saw an unmet need in the market. Commonly, this is a business executive who sees an opportunity and commissions the product. A Design pair may also uncover an opening to chase. As discussed earlier, Design leaders must look beyond given information to identify the true business problem. One place to start is the company’s financials. If publicly traded, the company’s income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow are available on the company investor pages or on websites like the WSJ or Finviz. Along with other documents like the annual report, letters to shareholders, or quarterly reports, this will give you valuable information on what is important to the company. Taken together, these will hint at priorities and whether or not the company is looking for top-line growth (more revenue) or bottom-line strength (often involving lowering costs). Make friends with someone at the company who can walk you through the company’s priorities. If you’re not sure who that is, look for the person who asks smart questions at an all-hands meeting or ask your manager or a mentor. Perspective is important here. Try to ask people from a couple departments to get a balanced view. Not only will it help you understand the financial picture, building these relationships is important too.
Clarity trumps persuasion.
Flint McGlaughlin
Sometimes the business goals are unclear. Recently I had dinner with a friend who described a design challenge at his company. His leader was pressuring him to “make it look like Apple.” My friend was confused by this as he had done his best to streamline the design. As we discussed the issue, we thought about how that could mean much more than the user interface. What if he meant he thought he should be able to control the main computer through his phone similar to Apple’s AirPlay? Or what if he just had a vague notion of “easy to use” that he associated with Apple? Thinking through multiple ways to see the problem kept him open to other viewpoints and get to the heart of what his leadership meant by “making it look like Apple.” Defining the problem well will not only get the team moving towards a singular north star, but also bolster your standing as a design leader. As a long-time marketer used to say, “Clarity trumps persuasion” (McGlaughlin, 2012).
Work on Valuable Problems
Design leaders take steps to value the problems given to them or that they discover. Doing this work aligns the design team to corporate goals, end-user goals, and personal goals. Neglecting this evaluation moves design towards irrelevance. To do this consider:
- How important is the problem to the business? To the customer?
- What is the context of the problem? What is the world it lives in? How does that environment suggest solutions or approaches to the problem?
- What options exist to solve the business problem?
- What options exist to solve the problem for those who frequently use it?
- What expectations does business leadership have and how does that compare to users’ expectations?
Answering these questions will prepare you and the project team to tackle the most important problems. Rather than fight for a seat at the table, fight to find valuable problems to solve.
References
Cagan, M. (2017). INSPIRED: How to create tech products customers love (Second edition). Wiley.
Connellan, T. K. (1997). Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven keys to Disney’s success. Bard Press.
Cooper, A., Reimann, R., Cronin, D., & Noessel, C. (2014). About face: The essentials of interaction design (Fourth edition). John Wiley and Sons.
McGlaughlin, F. (2012, June 6). Copywriting on Tight Deadlines. MarketingExperiments.com
Rosenfeld, L., Morville, P., & Arango, J. (2015). Information architecture: For the web and beyond (Fourth edition). O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Understanding the Time Matrix. (2016, August 22). [Blog]. PlannerTalk. https://blog.franklinplanner.com/understanding-the-time-matrix/
