Design Toolbox

Design methodology and process for developing

technology and innovation



27 February 2008, Clive Grinyer
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Design Toolbox
Design is a verb. Although we think of design as a very visual discipline, the
visual aspect is just the most noticeable component of the manipulation of
our emotional response. The overall experience can include sound, touch,
smell and the overall effect, through time, creates an experience.
So when we create customer experiences, the design process is just as
relevant. Only here it takes many of the methods used in designing
something and applies them to each of the individual functional, cognitive
and emotional events that come together to create an overall experience of
service or a technology.
In designing things there are several unique tools that are transferable
across many different situations and contexts and can add value to the
process. The Toolbox is a quick explanation of the main methods.

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Tool 1. Design it
The most basic design tool is simple but often forgotten. At its most
basic, design thinks about what something should be, from the
customers point of view, at the beginning of the process, before
anything is built or decided.
If this does not happen, there is no plan, no vision, no template to work
against. As a result, many customer experiences are accidental, the
sum of decisions, technologies or convergence of existing systems.
Tool 1 is: develop a complete understanding of what the customer
experience is going to be, across the customer journey (which is wider
than the individual service, application or product you are creating).
Examples are:
writing the user guide first - how should something work, how do
people want it to work?
mapping the customer journey
getting real insight and not making assumptions about people
Looking beyond the horizon, not just reacting to the current competition
or marker but exploring alternatives, innovations and new ideas.



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Tool 1. Design it
Before and after
This project was built around technology rather than user requirements.
The result was that no one know what it did. Visual design and
copywriting made the service successful.




Before
After
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Tool 2. Inputting customers





To decide what something is, you need to know who its for and what will
they do with it. Research is an obvious and much used tool but research
in the design process is more focused and consists of:
Observation -
looking at people doing things and observing, in a real context:
difficulties and barriers
work arounds, what do they do to overcome difficulties
identifying un-met needs

Co-design -
Asking people to specify what they would like

Customer insight is rocket fuel for innovation and improved customer
experiences. Combined with Concepts and User Testing, you can fast
track development and reduce risk


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Tool 3. Gaining requirements





Building product specifications is a key part of the development process
and can be complicated by taking into account multi party stakeholders.
Business requirements documents reflect the company strategic and
marketing objectives of a product or service, but are not customer
focused, lack vision or future foresight or are able to specify the
emotional aspect of customer experience. Design brings together all thes
lines and can model requirements in a way that helps understand the
impact of decisions and where you need to prioritise to ensure a good
customer experience.
A Compendium approach presents -
All aspects that make a customer experience in a relevant way.
Benchmarks and compares against best in class experiences
Models possible solutions and impacts of decisions for discussion
Allows multi stakeholder feedback and reaction
A compendium approach is a useful design tool to speed up specification,
make it tangible, measurable and meaningful.


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Tool 4. Concepts





Creating concepts is what design is about but the important difference is
that design synthesises and quickly makes tangible more than 1 concept.
This is crucial, there is no optimal solution, there are many variables and
these need to be formulated, modelled and tested with experience
prototyped.
Concept Creation (Ideation, etc) -
From user insight and observational research, concepts create solutions
and new opportunities that can be explained visualised and discussed
Designers typically develop 4-5 concepts. The process stretches creativity
and forces new ideas out. These can be combined together as appropriate.

Once you have concepts, you can make decisions, based on customer
feedback (by testing and experience modelling), strategy, technology
feasibility , economical context, competitive advantage, brand
differentiation and other criteria



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Tool 5. Modelling





Design makes things tangible. Design turns an idea into something that we
can begin to react to and understand what it could be. A simple drawing
can replace the most complex business requirements documentation and
get an immediate emotional response. That response may be positive or
not, its not important, the value is in getting a response.
Modelling includes:
Drawing
Paper prototyping
Unfinished prototypes have the advantage of speed and economy and of
encouraging people that it is OK to change of modify, though the
disadvantage of not representing ideas in their final form, so are less
believable.
Mock ups - representations of key parts of the experience for user
testing, but requiring no technical reality
Experience prototypes - realistic but mocked up experiences, covering all
aspects of the customer experience

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Tool 6. Defining the customer journey





Companies are orientated vertically and products and services are created
vertically. Unfortunately the customer experience is horizontal, cutting
across any number of touchpoints, platforms, technologies and corporate
divisions.

Design maps that journey and identifies the key elements that are
functionality required, their performance level and defines emotional
satisfaction.

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Tool 6. Defining the customer journey





Advertising
Sponsorship
PR
Referral
Hear
Retail
Web shop
3rd Party
Other web
Tarifs, offers


Join
Out of Box
User interface
Usability
Functionality
Ergonomics
Use
Customer
relationship
Information
Upgrade
Bill
Web

Grow
Customer
services
Retention
Information
Retain
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Tool 7. User Testing





Involving the end customer in the design process is a key part of the design
process.

Using paper prototypes, mock ups, or experience prototypes, you can
involve customers in every level of the development process. This gives
real time feedback and informs and improves the design of the
experience. It can highlight make problems which will cause reduced
usage, identify areas of confusion and also give confidence where the
experience is right.

User testing must be part of the design process to be of any use - it is of no
use at the end when it is too late and too expensive to modify.

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Tool 7. User Testing





Foam models, click through screens, paper prototypes

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Tool 8. Future modelling





Almost any act of design is concerned with the future. The combination of
current user insight, creativity, synthesis of the possible and probable,
and the ability to model and an idea appear make real, allows a dialogue
with customers about the future.
Car companies do this all the time. In technology development, it is vital to
present and understand new developments early to anticipate social
acceptance, potential barriers, real and alternative applications, to focus
investment and optimise success.
Whirlpool; washing machine of the
future, uses plants to filter water
and clean clothes. Not real but
allows a discussion with customers
of the future possible.
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Tool 9. Holding the vision
In presenting a vision of a product or service and the surrounding
customer experience, development of that experience has a
template to follw, inspire and measure against. Decisions can be
made according to the vision, decisions are easier and resolvable.
Importantly, the customer viewpoint is put to the fore and the impact
of developments or modification can be evaluated.






Microsoft created a film of what their managers would do to
the Apple iPod packaging concept, destroying its attractive
simplicity through countless micro decisions, each one
justified but eventually resulting in a complicated
incomprehensible customer message!
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Process overview
Focus Explore
Insight
Design
Test
Specify

User Observation
Co-creation

What will it be?
Concepts
Creativity
Modelling
Future
Foresight


Paper
prototypes
Experience
protoyping
Mock ups
User testing


Compendiums
Performance Metrics
Experience metrics
Detail
Usability testing


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Design Tools versus
Product Specification word doc

Pilot projects technical

Optimum solutions single

Technical prototypes expensive

Building reactive

Applied brand superficial

Accidental Experience uncontrolled
Experience compendium visual

User testing mock ups contextural

Designed concepts multiple

Experience protypes contextural

Designing strategic

Brand DNA ingrained

Consistent, excellent customer satisfaction