Category Archives: Uncategorized

Continuous Improvement vs. Incremental Innovation

Are They the Same?

Continuous Improvement vs. Incremental Innovation

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

“Isn’t continuous improvement the same as incremental innovation? After all, both focus on doing what you do better, faster, or cheaper.”

Ooof, I have a love-hate relationship with questions like this one.

I hate them because, in the moment, they feel like a gut punch. The answer feels obvious to me – no, they are entirely different things – but I struggle to explain myself clearly and simply.

I love them because, once the frustration and embarrassment of being unable to offer a clear and simple answer passes, they become a clear sign that I don’t understand something well enough or that *gasp* my “obvious” answer may be wrong.

So, is Continuous Improvement the same as Incremental Innovation?

No. They’re different.

But the difference is subtle, so let’s use an analogy to tease it apart.

Imagine learning to ride a bike. When you first learn, success is staying upright, moving forward, and stopping before you crash into something. With time and practice, you get better. You move faster, stop more quickly, and move with greater precision and agility.

That’s continuous improvement. You’re using the same solution but using it better.

Now, imagine that you’ve mastered your neighborhood’s bike paths and streets and want to do more. You want to go faster, so add a motor to your bike. You want to ride through the neighboring forest, so you change to off-road tires. You want a smoother feel on your long rides, so you switch to a carbon fiber frame.

That’s incremental innovation. You changed an aspect of the solution so that it performs better.

It all comes down to the definition of innovation – something different (or new) that creates value.

Both continuous improvement and incremental innovation create value.

The former does it by improving what exists. The latter does it by changing (making different) what exists.

Got it. They are entirely different things.

Sort of.

Think of them as a Venn diagram – they’re different but similar.

There is evidence that a culture committed to quality and continuous improvement can lead to a culture of innovation because “Both approaches are focused in meeting customer needs, and since CI encourages small but constant changes in current products, processes and working methods its use can lead firms to become innovative by taking these small changes as an approach to innovation, more specifically, incremental innovation.”

Thanks, nerd. But does this matter where I work, which is in the real world?

Yes.

Continuous Improvement and Incremental Innovation are different things and, as a result, require different resource levels, timelines, and expectations for ROI.

You should expect everyone in your organization to engage in continuous innovation (CI) because (1) using CI helps the organizations change adoption and risk taking by evaluating and implementing solutions to current needs” and (2) the problem-solving tools used in CI uncover “opportunities for finding new ideas that could become incremental innovations.”

You should designate specific people and teams to work on incremental people because (1) what “better” looks like is less certain, (2) doing something different or new increases risk, and (3) more time and resources are required to learn your way to the more successful outcome.

What do you think?

How do you answer the question at the start of this post?

How do you demonstrate your answer?

Image Credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Innovativeness = Effectiveness

1 Reply

Innovativeness = Effectiveness

GUEST POST from Dennis Stauffer

What makes you effective? Is it your knowledge and experience? Is it your commitment? Is it perhaps luck sometimes? Simply put: Being effective is about making what you want to happen, happen. It’s about shaping the world around you to fit your hopes and dreams, and aspirations. About creating your desired future. That means something needs to change, or why bother, right? And when something needs to change, what you’re really doing is a form of innovation.

Your innovativeness and your effectiveness are closely intertwined. Becoming more innovative makes you more effective and therefore more successful. Both personal attributes are enhanced as you become more creative, imaginative, resourceful and observant. As you become more skilled at managing the inevitable changes we all confront, you’re better positioned to find—and lead—your way through them.

Innovation and effectiveness both demand that you’re able to somehow account for the realities you face, while at the same time shifting those realities. This world is a dynamic place, it’s always fluid and evolving. You need to align with those changes, even as you attempt to make changes.

Whether you’re launching a new product or venture, trying to advance your career, or maybe start—or repair—a personal relationship, your challenge is not to just go do what needs to be done. It’s to figure out what needs to be done, to get to where you want to be. In other words, effectiveness and innovativeness are complementary. To be effective, you need to be innovative, and the more innovative you are, the more effective you’re likely to be.

Here is a video version of this post:

The Innovator Mindset YouTube channel brings you weekly tips, tricks and insights into how to be more creative, innovative, resourceful imaginative and open–all the things that innovation requires, and that you need to be effective.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Other Experiences Exist Beyond Customer Experience

Leave a reply

Other Experiences Exist Beyond Customer Experience

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

CX is the abbreviation for customer experience. Somehow, someone decided X is a better abbreviation for experience than E is. Regardless, I’ve started seeing the X being used in other ways. For example, there is UX, or user experience, which is the experience the customer has with your products and services. Here are some others that you may have heard of:

EX is to employees as CX is to customers. The employee experience is an important experience to manage. What’s happening on the inside is felt by customers on the outside.
WX stands for web experience. What experience do your customers have with your website? The WX is a very important part of the UX.
DX stands for digital experience. This is what customers experience when they interact with your company online. This could be on a website, on the Internet or with a bot. We must manage the DX if we want our customers to have a good CX.

Shep Hyken CX Jargon Cartoon

These got my imagination going, and I decided to share a few others that I’ve come up with:

NX is for the nap experience. This is the comfortable place employees might enjoy a short nap during a stressful day.
YX is for the yawn experience. On a scale of one to 10, how likely are customers and employees to yawn during a meeting or presentation?
PX stands for the procrastination experience, in which we rate our frustration when people don’t get things done on time.
RX is currently recognized as the abbreviation for a prescription. It originates from the Latin word “recipe,” meaning “to take,” as in a prescription. But, I’m assigning RX to the restroom experience. When I was looking for office space, I always checked out the restroom to see how well it was maintained. I assumed if they took good care of the restrooms, they would take care of the building.

You get the idea. The X’s—or experiences—in our lives can be labeled. Here’s an assignment for you. What are the different experiences your customers and employees have? Label them. Create an acronym. Have fun with them. And they don’t have to be just two words. Like CXE, which stands for customer experience excuse, the reason someone failed to deliver a good CX.

Once you come up with these abbreviations, don’t use them with your customers unless there is an obvious reason to do so. Using company jargon, acronyms and abbreviations the customer might not understand can be frustrating for them. However, if there is a fun one that, once you explain, will make your customers smile, go ahead and share. You’ll get a smile and your customers will know that you are thinking of them and always looking for ways to improve their eXperience.

Image Credits: Shep Hyken, Pexels

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Do you ever admit you don’t know?

Leave a reply

Do you ever admit you don't know?

GUEST POST from Mike Shipulski

When you are asked a question and you don’t know the answer, what do you say? What does that say about you?

What happens to people in your organization who say “I don’t know.”? Are they lauded or laughed at? Are they promoted, overlooked, or demoted? How many people do you know that have said: “I don’t know.”? And what does that say about your company?

When you know someone doesn’t know, what do you do? Do you ask them a pointed question in public to make everyone aware that the person doesn’t know? Do you ask oblique questions to raise doubt about the person’s knowing? Do you ask them a question in private to help them know they don’t know? Do you engage in an informal discussion where you plant the seeds of knowing? And how do you feel about your actions?

When you say “I don’t know.” you make it safe for others to say it. So, do you say it? And how do you feel about that?

When you don’t know and you say otherwise, decision quality suffers and so does the company. Yet, some companies make it difficult for people to say “I don’t know.” Why is that? Do you know?

I think it’s unreasonable to expect people to know the answer to know the answers to all questions at all times. And when you say “I don’t know.” it doesn’t mean you’ll never know; it means you don’t know at this moment. And, yet, it’s difficult to say it. Why is that? Do you know?

Just because someone asks a question doesn’t mean the answer must be known right now. It’s often premature to know the answer, and progress is not hindered by the not knowing. Why not make progress and figure out the answer when it’s time for the answer to be known? And sometimes the answer is unknowable at the moment. And that says nothing about the person that doesn’t know the answer and everything about the moment.

It’s okay if you don’t know the answer. What’s not okay is saying you know when you don’t. And it’s not okay if your company makes it difficult for you to say you don’t know. Not only does that create a demoralized workforce, but it’s also bad for business.

Why do companies make it so difficult to say “I don’t know.”? You guessed it – I don’t know.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

3 Flavors of Product-Service Shift

Leave a reply

Which One is Yours?

3 Flavors of Product-Service Shift

GUEST POST from Geoffrey A. Moore

The most profound change in enterprise computing in this century to date has been the shift in value delivery modality from product to service and the corresponding rise is XaaS or Everything-as-a-Service. The current bull market leaders in the tech sector take this for granted, and the prior generation of incumbents are still scrambling to get themselves onto the new model. For consumers this is an all-upside proposition; for enterprises, it is a balancing act of open fluidity versus secure compliance. But everyone seems to know their place in the new order—or do they?

As the product-service shift unfolds, it can manifest itself at three very different levels of value delivery, each of which has its own priorities. When you are looking to help your organization navigate the transition, it would be good to get clear as to which path you are on:

1. Infrastructure Model Transformation

This is the easiest to absorb, the impact for the most part contained on the vendor side within Finance and Legal and on the customer side within the IT organization itself. Basically, all you are doing is changing the contract from a license to a service level agreement, and staging a series of leasing payments out of op ex instead a one-time purchase out of cap ex. For clarity sake, think of this as a move to subscription, not yet to For most people in the organization, it is a non-event.

2. Operating Model Transformation

This move has the most impact on incumbent vendors and their installed base. As Todd Hewlin and J B Wood described in Consumption Economics, the shift is based on a change from the customer to the vendor as the one who must absorb goal attainment risk. In a product model, once the customer has bought and paid for it, the customer owns virtually all the risk. That can readily lead to a lot of drive-by selling, the sort of thing that built out empires of shelfware in the late 1990s. In a service model, by contrast, the vendor can never stop owning the success of the offering, not if they want to protect against their installed base churning out from underneath them. This is the true product-service shift, and even now it is sufficiently novel that both customers and vendors are still sorting out the implications for what staffing and expertise is needed on both sides of this relationship.

3. Business Model Transformation

This is the most impactful for venture-backed start-ups and the incumbent franchises they are looking to disrupt. Typically the former are re-architecting an established but aging value chain by substituting digital services for physical-world interactions. The biggest disruptions we have seen thus far are in retail, print media, financial services, transportation, hospitality, and communications, with lots more to come. They all represent daggers pointed at the heart of established enterprises because even when the latter can find ways to re-engineer their own offers to match the new paradigm, it is still painfully hard to bring the rest of their ecosystems up to speed to deliver the whole product. And to a lesser extent, the same goes for their customer bases. That is why disruption usually starts with targeting customers who have been disenfranchised by the old solution. It is only over time that the Innovator’s Dilemma bill comes to for the established vendors, but when it does, it hits with a wallop.

For most companies, the path you want to double-click on is the Operating Model Transformation, and in the next post, I want to dig in a lot deeper there.

That’s what I think. What do you think?

Image Credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.3

Building an Adaptable Organization with Change Resilience

Leave a reply

Building an Adaptable Organization with Change Resilience

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations must cultivate the ability to adapt swiftly to change while remaining resilient. This adaptability is not just about surviving change but thriving through it. Leadership strategies and cultural transformation play crucial roles in shaping an adaptable organization. This article explores practical approaches and showcases case studies of organizations that have successfully integrated change resilience into their DNA.

Leadership Strategies: Guiding Through Change

Effective leadership is the cornerstone of any successful change management strategy. Leaders must not only drive change but also inspire their teams to embrace it. A key strategy involves developing change resilience among leaders themselves. This involves training them to manage uncertainty and equip their teams with the tools to navigate challenges.

A more in-depth exploration of how to develop these skills can be found in my article on Building Resilience in Change Leaders.

Case Study 1: Tech Innovators, Inc.

Tech Innovators, Inc. is a prime example of how leadership strategies can foster an adaptable organization. Facing the threat of obsolescence in a competitive market, the company embarked on a comprehensive leadership development program. This program focused on agility, equipping leaders with the skills to manage change proactively.

The result? A cultural shift that permeated the organization, enabling teams to innovate rapidly and respond to market shifts with unparalleled agility. Leadership became a collective endeavor, tapping into diverse insights to drive strategic decisions. By championing resilience at every level, Tech Innovators, Inc. fortified itself against future disruptions.

Cultural Transformation: Embedding Resilience

Beyond leadership, cultural transformation is critical in building an adaptable organization. A resilient culture is characterized by open communication, psychological safety, and a shared vision of change as an opportunity.

Embedding resilience into the company culture starts by nurturing it among employees. Encouraging employees to view change as a gateway to growth instills a sense of empowerment. For more insights on nurturing resilience in employees, consider reading Nurturing Resilience in Employees During Periods of Change.

Case Study 2: Global Retail Giant

The journey of a global retail giant illustrates the transformative impact of reshaping organizational culture. Confronted with an unpredictable market and a rapidly evolving consumer landscape, this retail giant prioritized building a culture of resilience.

By investing in continuous learning and fostering a collaborative environment, the company empowered its employees to spearhead innovation. Regular feedback loops and transparent communication bridged the gap between leadership and staff, creating a unified front poised to adapt seamlessly.

The outcome was a rejuvenated workforce, capable not only of managing change but leveraging it strategically to gain a competitive edge. The organization’s adaptive culture became a magnet for top talent, further reinforcing its market position.

Conclusion

In an era defined by volatility, building an adaptable organization requires a dual focus on leadership strategies and cultural transformation. As demonstrated by the experiences of Tech Innovators, Inc. and the global retail giant, resilience can be developed at both individual and organizational levels, positioning companies to thrive amidst change.

The path to becoming an adaptable organization is not without challenges. However, with the right strategies and cultural backbone, organizations can transform adversity into opportunity—emerging stronger and more resilient in the face of an uncertain future.

Extra Extra: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Quantum Computing is the Next Frontier in Innovation

Leave a reply

Quantum Computing is the Next Frontier in Innovation

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

As we stand at the crossroads of technological evolution, quantum computing emerges as a groundbreaking force poised to redefine the landscape of innovation. Unlike traditional computers that use bits as the smallest unit of data, quantum computers utilize qubits, which have the ability to exist in multiple states at once, leading to computational capabilities that are exponentially faster and more powerful. This revolutionary technology holds the potential to transform industries, solve complex problems, and open up new avenues for creativity and progress.

The Promise of Quantum Computing

Quantum computing represents a paradigm shift, offering immense power for problem-solving in fields such as materials science, cryptography, and artificial intelligence. Because of their ability to perform complex calculations at unprecedented speeds, quantum computers can analyze and process enormous amounts of data, providing solutions that were previously unimaginable.

Case Study 1: Pharmaceutical Innovation

Pharmaceutical companies are at the forefront of leveraging quantum computing to accelerate drug discovery. One groundbreaking example is the collaboration between the tech giant IBM and the pharmaceutical leader GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This partnership aims to use quantum computing to simulate molecular interactions at an atomic level, dramatically speeding up the discovery of new compounds. By accurately predicting how molecules interact, GSK hopes to streamline the development of new drugs, reducing the time and cost involved in bringing lifesaving treatments to market.

With quantum computing, researchers are now able to run simulations that capture the complexities of molecular dynamics, leading to a better understanding of drug efficacy and safety. As a result, this case study underscores the transformative potential of quantum computing in the pharmaceutical industry, promising to revolutionize how new therapies are developed and personalized for patients.

Case Study 2: Revolutionizing Transportation with Quantum Optimization

The transportation sector stands to gain immensely from quantum computing, particularly in the realm of optimization. Volkswagen, in collaboration with D-Wave, a pioneer in quantum computing systems, explored the use of quantum algorithms to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in urban environments. The pilot project targeted reducing wait times and optimizing routes for city buses in Lisbon during the Web Summit.

By leveraging quantum computing to process and analyze real-time traffic data, the project demonstrated its potential to minimize traffic jams and enhance the overall efficiency of transportation networks. This case study illustrates how quantum computing can be an engine of innovation, offering solutions that create value not only for businesses but also for cities and their inhabitants by reducing travel time, cutting emissions, and improving the quality of urban life.

The Road Ahead

While quantum computing is still in its nascent stages, the potential it holds for catalyzing innovation across industries is undeniable. As we invest in research, development, and collaboration, it’s vital for organizations to envision how they can harness the power of quantum computing to address unique challenges and seize new opportunities. As we step into this new frontier, interdisciplinary partnerships and a keen focus on human-centered design will be essential to unlocking the full potential of quantum technologies.

In conclusion, quantum computing is not just the next frontier in innovation; it is a catalyst for the radical transformation of the technological landscape. By continuing to explore and invest in this extraordinary field, we open doors to limitless possibilities that promise to reshape our world for the better.

SPECIAL BONUS: The very best change planners use a visual, collaborative approach to create their deliverables. A methodology and tools like those in Change Planning Toolkit™ can empower anyone to become great change planners themselves.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Design Thinking Workshops – A Step-by-Step Guide

Leave a reply

Design Thinking Workshops - A Step-by-Step Guide

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In today’s fast-paced world, the need for innovative solutions has never been more apparent. Design Thinking has emerged as a powerful philosophy to guide teams toward creative solutions. This step-by-step guide unveils how to conduct effective Design Thinking workshops that harness collaborative creativity.

Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Design Thinking Workshop

Step 1: Empathize

Begin by understanding the users you’re designing for. Use observation, interaction, and immerse yourself in their experiences to glean insights.

Step 2: Define

Clearly articulate the problem you’re aiming to solve. This stage helps in narrowing the focus and addressing the right challenge.

Step 3: Ideate

Brainstorm a plethora of ideas without judgment. Encourage wild thinking and shelve feasibility questions. Capture as many ideas as possible.

Step 4: Prototype

Create inexpensive, scaled-down versions of the product or features to investigate what works and what doesn’t.

Step 5: Test

Test the prototypes with users. Gather feedback, refine and redefine to ensure the solution meets user needs effectively.

Case Studies

Case Study 1: Revamping Customer Experience in Banking

Challenge: A leading bank wanted to improve its customer onboarding process to enhance satisfaction and reduce drop-offs.

Approach: Through a series of Design Thinking workshops, the bank invited frontline employees to empathize with customers. They mapped the entire customer journey, pinpointing stressful pain points.

Outcome: The bank devised a simplified onboarding mobile app with real-time assistance features, slashing drop-offs by 30% within six months.

Case Study 2: Educational Tools for Remote Learning

Challenge: With the rise of remote learning, an educational publisher needed a way to keep students engaged outside traditional classrooms.

Approach: Utilizing Design Thinking workshops, the team included educators, students, and tech experts. Empathy maps were crafted to understand both teachers’ and students’ struggles.

Outcome: The team created a gamified learning platform that used interactive storytelling, resulting in a 40% increase in student engagement rates.

Conclusion

Design Thinking workshops are not just sessions, but transformational journeys that reshape perspectives and cultivate innovative solutions. When executed well, they empower organizations to not just meet, but anticipate and exceed user expectations.

Bottom line: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Pexels

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Harnessing the Power of Data Analytics in Designing for Disruption

Leave a reply

How Businesses can use Data-driven Insights to Identify Emerging Trends and Design Proactive Strategies

Harnessing the Power of Data Analytics in Designing for Disruption

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In an era of rapid technological advancements and unpredictable market dynamics, businesses face the constant challenge of adapting to disruption. Traditional approaches to strategy development are no longer sufficient in navigating this volatile landscape. To thrive amidst such uncertainties, organizations must leverage the power of data analytics to gain crucial insights into emerging trends and design proactive strategies. This article explores the significant benefits of data-driven decision-making by presenting two compelling case studies that demonstrate how companies successfully harnessed data analytics to stay ahead of the disruption curve.

Case Study 1: Netflix’s Data-Driven Content Strategy

Netflix, the world’s leading subscription-based streaming service, is renowned for its data-driven approach to revolutionize the entertainment industry. By leveraging the vast amounts of user data collected, Netflix employed sophisticated data analytics techniques to identify viewer preferences and consumption patterns.

In one instance, Netflix analyzed their users’ viewing patterns and discovered a rising interest in political dramas. This data-driven insight enabled them to develop their highly successful original series, House of Cards, which catered precisely to their target audience’s preferences. As a result, the show garnered critical acclaim and increased user engagement on the platform, cementing Netflix’s position as a market disruptor.

The key takeaway from this case study is that by harnessing data analytics to inform their content strategy, Netflix transformed the traditional television landscape and outperformed competitors by delivering tailored and engaging content.

Case Study 2: Walmart’s Data Analytics-driven Supply Chain Optimization

Walmart, one of the world’s largest retailers, recognized the potential value of data analytics in optimizing their supply chain operations. Facing fierce competition and customer demands for seamless shopping experiences, Walmart strived to proactively identify patterns and trends that could impact their inventory management and distribution.

By analyzing a diverse range of data sources, including point-of-sale transactions, weather forecasts, and social media sentiment analysis, Walmart gained real-time insights into customer preferences and inventory demands. This allowed them to make data-driven decisions related to inventory stocking, item assortment, and pricing strategies. Moreover, Walmart applied predictive analytics to anticipate potential disruptions, such as extreme weather events, and proactively adjust their supply chain to minimize operational disruptions and improve customer satisfaction.

Through these data-driven initiatives, Walmart significantly improved its supply chain efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced its overall competitive advantage. By staying ahead of the curve, Walmart demonstrated the power of leveraging data analytics in designing proactive strategies to navigate a disruptive retail landscape successfully.

Conclusion

The two case studies presented highlight the immense potential of utilizing data analytics in designing proactive strategies to handle disruption effectively. By applying a data-driven approach, businesses gain an edge by identifying emerging trends, understanding customer preferences, and optimizing operations. Companies that embrace data analytics can make informed decisions, develop innovative solutions, and gain a significant competitive advantage over their disruptors. In a world driven by data, harnessing data analytics becomes pivotal in designing strategies that propel businesses towards success despite uncertainties.

Image credit: Pexels

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

The Best Tools and Techniques for Implementing Human-Centered Design

Leave a reply

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In our fast-paced, technology-driven world, crafting solutions that genuinely meet human needs is more challenging and crucial than ever. Human-Centered Design (HCD) stands out as an approach that prioritizes human values and needs in the design process, ultimately leading to more effective and meaningful outcomes. This article explores the best tools and techniques for implementing HCD and highlights two successful case studies from real-world applications.

Understanding Human-Centered Design

Human-Centered Design is built on three core pillars: empathy, ideation, and experimentation. It is a problem-solving method that involves deeply understanding the people you’re designing for, generating ideas based on that understanding, and iteratively prototyping and testing solutions.

Tools and Techniques for Human-Centered Design

1. Empathy Mapping

Empathy maps help designers visualize their understanding of the users and organize the process of empathy collection. These maps include segments such as what users think, feel, see, and say, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of their experiences and perspectives.

Technique:

Observations and Interviews: Conduct in-depth interviews and observations to gather qualitative data about the user’s behaviors, goals, and pain points.
Persona Development: Create detailed personas based on real data to represent different user archetypes, ensuring that design decisions meet actual user needs.

2. Journey Mapping

A journey map is a visual representation of the process a user goes through to achieve a goal. This tool helps in identifying pain points and opportunities for innovation by tracing the entire user experience.

Technique:

Touchpoint Identification: List all the touchpoints a user interacts with, including emotional highs and lows throughout their journey.
Experience Mapping Workshops: Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to map the user’s journey and brainstorm potential improvements.

3. Prototyping

Prototyping transforms ideas into tangible products for testing. It can range from simple sketches to fully functioning models, allowing teams to visualize and experiment with different solutions.

Technique:

Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Start with sketches and paper models to iterate quickly and gather early user feedback.
High-Fidelity Prototypes: Develop more detailed prototypes using digital tools like Sketch or Figma for thorough testing and refinement.

4. User Testing

User testing is a critical step to validate and refine solutions. It involves observing how users interact with the prototype and collecting feedback to improve the design.

Technique:

Usability Testing: Have users complete tasks with the prototype while observing their behavior and noting any issues or confusion.
A/B Testing: Compare two versions of a prototype to determine which one performs better based on user interaction and feedback.

Case Study 1: IDEO and Bank of America – Keep the Change

Background:

IDEO partnered with Bank of America to innovate its banking services. Through extensive research, they discovered that many customers struggled with saving money.

Process:

Empathy Mapping: IDEO conducted hundreds of interviews and focus groups to understand customers’ financial behaviors and pain points.
Journey Mapping: They mapped out the banking experiences of various customer segments, identifying a common challenge: the difficulty of saving money.
Ideation and Prototyping: The team brainstormed the “Keep the Change” program, which rounds up purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference into a savings account. They created low-fidelity prototypes and iteratively refined them based on customer feedback.
User Testing: After multiple iterations, they pilot-tested the concept with a small group of customers, fine-tuning the process based on real-world usage.

Outcome:

The “Keep the Change” program was wildly successful, signing up millions of users and significantly increasing Bank of America’s customer engagement and savings rates.

Case Study 2: General Electric – MRI Machines for Children

Background:

GE sought to improve the experience of children undergoing MRI scans, as many found the process frightening.

Process:

Empathy Mapping: GE’s team interviewed families, pediatricians, and radiologists to understand the children’s fears and anxieties related to MRI scans.
Journey Mapping: They mapped out the MRI experience from a child’s perspective, identifying moments of stress and discomfort.
Ideation and Prototyping: The team brainstormed creative ideas and landed on transforming the MRI experience into an adventure. They created prototypes of various themed environments, such as pirate ships and space adventures, that integrate the MRI machine.
User Testing: GE tested these environments in hospitals and gathered feedback from children, parents, and healthcare workers, iterating on the themes and improving the overall experience.

Outcome:

The revamped MRI experience significantly reduced children’s anxiety and increased the completion rate of scans. Hospitals reported less need for sedation, and the initiative was lauded as a groundbreaking approach to pediatric care.

Conclusion

Implementing Human-Centered Design requires a deep commitment to understanding and prioritizing user needs through empathy, ideation, and iterative testing. Tools like empathy maps, journey maps, prototypes, and user testing are indispensable in this process. The success stories of Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” and GE’s child-friendly MRI machines vividly demonstrate the power of HCD in creating innovative, effective solutions that truly resonate with users. By embracing these methods, we can drive transformative innovations that genuinely improve human experiences.

If you’re looking for someone to help you bring human-centered design to your organization, Braden Kelley is a globally-recognized thought leader in human-centered change and innovation. His work continues to inspire organizations to harness the power of HCD for meaningful, impactful design.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.