Strategy through design (What I do)

This is what my work looks like:






It's not particularly fabulous, and the result is actually invisible, intangible, and usually ambitious, and I'm okay with that.



We start with a project brief, and in business-speak, a Statement of Work (SOW). Then there's the actual work. It sort of looks like this:

1. Get to know your consumers.
We included our client with our interviews because we believe they should be able to participate and learn too. The more transparency we bring to our process and the more we are able to work together with our clients on the project, the more they can learn to be more design minded, and incorporate design thinking in their day to day work. That is our subgoal.

Anyway, here, I worked on an interview guide which included: project goals, interview goals, sample questions, time frame and etiquette. And also created some tools to assist with storytelling and context. My team and I conducted interviews, heard all sorts of stories from people, took notes, and then let the information to settle.

Ofcourse, before we even get to the interview part, we had to decide what kind of people, how many, where, how much, etc. but that's not particularly exciting, nor is it interesting, just realistic.



2. Tell their story.
Not all of our clients join us in our interview sessions (which is normal), so I took some time to distill all the things we heard into one story, one journey of best fit based on different experiences. Also because it's the foundation for the work we finish with, it is a non-negotiable part of this process. When doing this, I found that verbatim quotes work really well to show character. Originally we were just going to write out quotes on paper, but then we decided to share audio clips, and that was even better. Just being able to hear the voices of individuals, their intonations and inflections, really made it more real to those who weren't there at the sessions.


3. How do we make it better?
Once the basic journey is mapped out, we can start looking at what things are driving certain behaviours or actions, and why. This is fun, because it's about understanding real people in real life. Some people don't do things because they're just lazy, and that's human and normal and true. Sometimes it's something deeper like there's a stigma or shame that deters individuals from certain actions, thoughts or considerations, and then there's also the influence of cultural norms.
Knowing all of this prepares you to come up with better solutions. This is where we say "How might we..." and find opportunities in the individual's experience.


4. Let's try it.
After dreaming up answers to the "How might we...." questions, we take an idea and run with it. It's possible that we didn't choose the best idea of the lot, or that we chose an idea with a dead end solution, but that's okay, we just need to try it. Experimenting is the point here. We're only halfway through the process so there's nothing to commit to, and the only way to get yourself ready to commit is to test it out. Maybe it's to build confidence for yourself, and maybe it's to answer certain questions, that's okay. It's better to fail now when it's acceptable in this safe experimenting time bubble rather than to fail later at the cost of many expensive vehicles. I think knowing that takes off the stress of making sure you get the right idea or coming up with the perfect solution right away.

Also, at every point where there's a heap of information, similar to a pile of laundry, we have to break it down and sort it out. Socks in one pile, t-shirts in another. Or maybe it's light colours in one pile and dark colours in another, and mixed patterns in a third, and so on. That way, the stuff we work with is not so crazy for us, or for our clients, it's manageable and makes sense. You can literally see it. The last people we want confused on this team is the people we work with.


5. 1% inspiration 99% perspiration
Everybody has great ideas, and after some experimenting or prototyping, we should have better answers. This is where we bring the team back to reality. We have conversations about feasibility, people, technology, etc. We build a blueprint and an action plan that includes next steps, what the future should/would look like, and recommendations. Finally everyone can put on their business hats back on and talk about KPI (Key Performance Indicators), finance, legal, product margins, vendors, etc.

The reality is that any idea, at a large corporation, will take time to stand up and we need to ensure persistence. If the company had 5 people, all five people have to get together and nod their heads in agreement and take ownership and responsibility and changes would be quickly seen if not felt. In an office of 5000 people, this is a much more difficult task. There are teams, there are workflows, and then there are habits, politics, and belief systems to work through.
(Now think about that for a city, or a country!)

So what I'm saying is, this part is one of the hardest, because you need patience, persistence, and foresight. And this is also the place where often, our work ends. Fortunately, this is where the client steps up and shines because this is the part they know how to do best, which is to run a business. So perhaps this isn't the hardest part, but rather the easiest? Maybe the difficult part was learning a new skill and thinking differently, and thankfully, we were there to guide them through it.

Although our clients may not be able to see the results right away, but they can attest to it because they created and tested a mini version, have clarity, and know their people better. And so you may say, how can you possibly design a behavioural shift? What do your clients walk away with other than an idea of plans for what the future might be? What we leave with is usually something in the form of a presentation, or a booklet, or some sort of printed document, detailing everything that needs to happen. These are always just recommendations, ofcourse, and not the One True Answer and the individuals we leave behind who were with us in our process, are left as the stewards of the work we created together.