unintended consequences

#sxc13

Jan Martinek | @endlife

~ reworked & extended version, just for slideshare ~~ just because I like you all ~

This deck is not abouta problem.

Though I’ll use the word “problem”. I’ll explain.

It’s about the world as we know it. And don’t.

(first part)

What word didyou overuse most?

Innovation

Innovation

“I know what you disrupted last summer.”(@evgenymorozov)

We change things a lot.

That’s what we do.We call it design.

We change things a lot.

We try tomake things better.

Design is

solving problems without

creating new problems.

Design is

solving problems trying to avoid

creating new problems.

Or maybe…

Design is

solving problems and

creating new problems.

perhaps more like…

Those old dinosaur-like things have evolved for a long time.

They have evaded many traps, they have adapted to many circumstances.

And you dare to change them?To violate their quiet ticking?

There are two kinds of them.

New problems

New problemsforeseeableproblems

unforeseeable problems

New problemsforeseeableproblems

unforeseeable problems

How do we cope with them?

prototypingand stuff

How do we cope withforeseeableproblems

unforeseeable problems

The wholedesign processthingy we talkabout a lot.

How do we cope withforeseeableproblems

unforeseeable problems

The wholedesign processthingy we talkabout a lot.

Jesus, man?I’m no oracle,

you know.

prototypingand stuff

Should we care about unforeseeable problems?

(second part)

(The short one.)

What is “a problem”?

A problem.

~ An obstacle making it hardto achieve a goal.

What’s your problem?

What’s your problem?

Bad sleep? Evil boss? Dense traffic? Glass ceiling? Economic crisis?

Noisy highway next to your home?

There are many kindsof problems.

We cause many of them when we innovate.

Problems differ in number of people involved.

Problems differ in number of people involved.

Bad sleep? Evil boss? Dense traffic? Noisy highway next to your home?Glass ceiling?Economic crisis?

one tens

hundreds thousands

half of population kinda everybody

There’s often not a single person responsible for big problems.

Big problem: involving more than two people.

Big problems are conceived socially.

“Socially” means:in interaction between people.

However, let’s not limit ourselves to just the

problems.

Many things get better;quite often even where

we least expect it.

(third part)

(The most important one.)

Experiences are subjective. We care about every user using the product/service.

We care aboutexperiences.

Is there a difference whether we think aboutsingle user/client/customer or multiple people?

Are we obsessed aboutindividuals?

A person interacts with the touchpoints, right?It’s the customer journey, right?

When we design,we imagine a person

using the service.

Let’s start with simple definition.

Let’s think about service as of a social

institution.

~ established routine of interactions between people

+ expectations of people.

Social institution

~ What we are supposed to do.+ What we suppose others to do.

Social institution

It’s about the people and what they think and do.

(And they talk with each other, too.)

Social institution

It’s created by users using itinteracting with the people inside

and other users.

Service as social institution.

It’s created by users using itinteracting with the people inside

and other users.

Service as social institution.

it’s what they think it is

And their understanding of itactually changes what it is.

Every one personmakes the service exist.

a café might be— meeting point for friends— place where you enjoy coffee— laptop user’s office with free wifi— hipster’s status symbol

An example.

the internet might be— a source of information— a marketplace— gamechanger for music industry— for porn

An example.

the uber taxi service might be— much simpler and reliable service— an opportunity for women drivers who are treated harshly in traditional male-dominated driver’s unions — a relatively easy way how to get strangers to enter your car…

An example.

People define what service is.

And that is not a problem.It’s just reality.

People define what service is.

It might turn bad.It might turn well.

People define what service is.

It’s just good to expect unexpected.~ To be aware of

unintended consequences.

(fourth part)

(The last one.)

So what should I take away from this?

In three bullet points?

• people interact with each other, not only with product/service

• reserve resources (time, money) for later — you’ll need it for sure (in case of a crisis or pivot)

• design does not end with deadline

and three more…

• care about people, not only humans

• every person defines the service

• care about values (yes, like “the good things“) contained in your service — it’s what your service is for the people when they talk about it

You can’t prototype everything.

You can’t prototype everything.

Large numbers of people are different animal.

We need to learn how not to know too much.

We need to learn how not to know too much.

Or, at least, how to cope with knowing we don’t know much.

That’s all.

I’m thinking about it still.I’ll be glad for any feedback!

unintended consequences

#sxc13

Jan Martinek | @endlife

Thanks for your attention!