Is that the right problem? Using User Research to Reframe Projects (a.k.a. changing the conversation by understanding users)

@luiseduardodejo

T Arena Lviv, 2016

@luiseduardodejo2

Привіт Львів !!!Google told me, sorry if there’s a mistake!

@luiseduardodejo3

https://s3.amazonaws.com/citybuzz/2016/02/ukrainian-village-chicago-where-history-meets-trendy-living/ukrainian-village-chicago-where-history-meets-trendy-living-1.jpg

A bit of me

@luiseduardodejo5

goal. start a conversation on how understanding users can help us get new perspectives by sharing two cases, some learnings and a few attitudes regarding innovation projects

@luiseduardodejo6

“…in most of the cases, problems are expressed as solutions (“we don’t have an app”) or as a consequence (“our process is slow”)…”

Inspiring conversation with Luis Arnal

Founder of Insitum

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Case 1: Bringing (or not) a Video LTE product to market

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Spending many hours in downloads is the cost of having the latest content

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pic of hard disks

And even making socializing with friends an excuse to exchange the latest content

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What problem were we trying to solve?

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Learnings: a defensible innovation cannot be in the tech/product aisle only, it has to be somewhere else too (content, brand, service, business model, structure, etc.)

If we are willing to provide a great solution, we have to be ready to let go our assumptions and even our own projects

@luiseduardodejo14

Case 2: Using different lenses to understand a smart city

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what we did

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?http://www.makingdifferent.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/New-upcoming-smartphones-in-2015.jpg

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There are too many contradictions between how companies and people see “smart”

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GDPInventory

Deflator

Exports

Trade Balance

Growth

Imports

Price

InflationConsumption

Supply

Balance of Payments

Metrics of “success”

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Efficiency is king

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Life is inefficient

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By http://www.flickr.com/people/jlascar/ Jorge Láscar - Own work, I took the picture and released it with as per license on this page, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25773235

Focus on governments

@luiseduardodejo25

What about citizens?

Are we really making cities smart?

@luiseduardodejo27

create and capture

economic value

solve citizens

problems

foster the creation of

digitally (IoT) enabled services

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Last Mile Logistics

Air QualityCity Commute

? Noise Pollution

?

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Last Mile Logistics

Air QualityCity Commute

? Noise Pollution

?

Making the invisible

visible

Access,lifestyle & participation

(More info at linkedurban.com)

@luiseduardodejo30

Learnings: applying multiple perspectives is giving us different approaches and solutions.

We have to be open as those approaches might challenge our business model and current way of doing things.

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Attitudes that are useful to reframe problems

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We practice reframing by physically and mentally changing our point of view by seeing the world from the perspective of our customers

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We do this with a real spirit of understanding and learning, not selling.

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We try to be in the user context as much as possible.

@luiseduardodejo

We avoid yes-no questions and search for stories

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We ask WHY

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We are clear on the differences between “tell me how you do” vs “show me how you do”...

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We also keep business impact in mind

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@luiseduardodejo

We don’t do this alone. That’s how make team members build empathy

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We are not afraid of asking dumb questions

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Reframing problems takes effort, attention, and practice, and sometimes even rough times within a project

@luiseduardodejo42

“You’ll never stumble upon the unexpected if you stick only to the familiar”

Ed CatmullFounder of Pixar

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What opportunities do you have to reframe and collaborate with a new perspective in your current projects?

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“Technology is the answer, but what was the question?”

Cedric Price

@luiseduardodejo45

Дуже дякую!!!In case Google got me in trouble

I meant THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!