Immerse & Observe

March 7, 2022 Jeremy Utley

We instructors at the Stanford d.school are unwitting perpetrators of many unanticipated consequences in respect to our own methodology. One is the popularization of a recipe-driven approach to innovation. We’ve been trying to remedy that — for years.

Another is the abandonment of the art of observation.

“What?!? ‘Observe’ is not one of the hexagons…” some might say (see what I did there?).

Because many learning experiences begin with empathetic engagement of a particular user group — and don’t get me wrong, I’m all about talking to humans! — most folks never even learn of the virtues of observation. And while it’s true that the shorter the learning experience, the more tools we have to lay aside, it’s also true that folks don’t appreciate all they’ve yet to learn. Increasingly, regardless of the duration of one’s learning experience, folks tend to project their learning experience as comprehensively exhaustive.

And that’s a shame. Very, very few introductory experiences have the space for something as time-consuming as observation. And yet few activities will reward persistence as much. One can’t help but remember the shocking, organization-transforming insight that occurred to Dick Drew back in 1925, as he sat watching auto mechanics botch paint job after post-bodyshop-paint job, or more recently, how Kelly Garrett Zeigler stumbled upon an entirely new product innovation opportunity by immersing herself in unexpected places.

How to do it? I asked one of the most customer-centered leaders I know for his playbook. Here’s what he told me:

“Twice a month, every team member is tasked to go live a full day in the life of our clients. They literally go in the back room and take phone calls, write up orders, count products, make products, pack and ship orders… the whole thing, just like our clients do every day.

The goals are empathy for the end to end problems that our clients face, even when it’s not related to our business (Dick Drew, anybody???) and ultimately to gain the context that will help our team to make more valuable macro and micro decisions.”

That’s not to say that observation takes the place of conversation, but rather, sets the stage for it. He continues:

“Twice a week, I ask my teams to hop on a zoom or call with clients to do much of the same. They are talking to them about the state of their overall business, what macro factors are out of their control that are impacting them, what factors are in their control that they are focusing on, and what we can do to help them be more successful.”

To make empathetic engagement with end users as rich as possible — and to stock up on the richest-possible directions to take a conversation — it’s essential to immerse in and observe the world of your user. Do it regularly.

Join over 10,447 creators & leaders who read Paint & Pipette each week

See this gallery in the original post