Storytelling – How I used it to create empathy for our  customers

Challenge & Selection    After I joined a new company, I was tasked with the further development of a new product that was  released on a rather new market. In my role, I was responsible for a team of developers in the research  and development department. Starting the project, it quickly became apparent, that there was a very  incoherent picture about what further steps should be taken in the future development of this  product. In order to answer this question, I conducted interviews with a diverse group of people as  part of the “What is?”-phase. One of the key insights, that was revealed during this phase was that the  majority of past and present discussions strongly focused on technical problems that the product  would have to solve going forward. However, what was missing at the time, was the insight of where  these problems came from and why they were important to consider for future development.  Essentially, there was no common understanding about who the customers of this product actually  are, what challenges they are trying to solve with our product and which applications they are having.     “Storytelling is the difference between solving a problem and creating a cause”, says Lee Palomino,  Global Leadership Development Director at Mars Inc.1 Thus, storytelling seemed to be the ideal tool to  create empathy for our customers, their pains and challenges. My goal was to create and use detailed  stories about our customers in order to clarify the cause as the basis on which to decide for new  features and development steps to take for this particular product.

Application    In order to learn and to create real-world stories about our customers, their particular pains and  applications and how they use or wish to use our product, I approached and interviewed a large variety  of potential diverse customers. In addition, I conducted interviews with several sales employees, who  shared their insights with me. Next, I had to consider who my audience would be. It turned out, that a  consistent picture about the customers for this product was missing across departments and levels.     Thus, the stories needed to generate value for developers, superiors, marketing and sales employees  alike. They needed to be tangible, short, easy to understand, with a good balance between a high-level  overview about the customers’ application and technical details. I decided to simplify and abstract the  actual customers into “personas”, who could be taken as an example for a larger group of customers.  The personas I created were described with a name, age and occupation, even certain character traits,  all based on real encounters with our customers. I described their motivation and what they are trying  to do, what their application and particular problem is, how they are trying to solve it and how our  product helps or could help in this endeavor.  I told the stories about our customers in several separate  meetings in smaller groups as well as larger diverse groups, consisting of colleagues from different  departments.

1 From Design Thinking for Innovation, University of Virgina, Week 2, „Video: Storytelling Tool“,  https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-thinking-innovation/lecture/PAXCd/storytelling-tool

Insight    As it turned out, this approach was not only beneficial for us in the development department. Here,  the stories helped me and my team greatly to identify the next steps for the future development of  this product, which was my initial goal. It gave everyone tangible examples on which to base technical  discussions and solution ideas on. The team started talking about how they could solve the problem  of particular personas, even calling them by their names and actively changing perspective from a  technical point of view to the customer’s point of view. In marketing, the stories sparked new ideas on  how to market the product, which customer groups could be targeted with which topics. The most  unexpected outcome for me was generated in the sales department. Hearing the stories and being  able to relate to the customers and their problems, some sales employees felt a lot more confident in  approaching potential customers. As they now knew more about many of the more common customer  problems, they felt better prepared to enter this still rather unknown market segment. It had a positive  effect on their motivation and even led to people challenging each other about who would probably  make more sales this year. This overwhelmingly positive and unexpected effect generated by the  storytelling tool strengthened my confidence in applying design thinking methods even further.

Approach    Having witnessed the strength of the storytelling tool and the value it generated across departments,  I would choose a similar approach for future development projects. In hindsight, I would probably  combine it more with the visualization tool, in order to bring the personas and their stories more alive  and even more relatable and easy to understand. I will also continue to spread design thinking methods  the best I can amongst colleagues in order to positively influence our mutual way of solving complex  problems in the future.


Storytelling – How I used it to create empathy for our customers Challenge & Selection After I joined a new company , I was tasked with the further development of a new product that was released on a rather new market . In my role , I was responsible for a team of developers in the research and development department . Starting the project , it quickly became apparent , that there was a very incoherent picture about what further steps should be taken in the future development of this product . In order to answer this question , I conducted interviews with a diverse group of people as part of the “ What is?”-phase . One of the key insights , that was revealed during this phase was that the majority of past and present discussions strongly focused on technical problems that the product would have to solve going forward . However , what was missing at the time , was the insight of where these problems came from and why they were important to consider for future development . Essentially , there was no common understanding about who the customers of this product actually are , what challenges they are trying to solve with our product and which applications they are having . “ Storytelling is the difference between solving a problem and creating a cause ” , says Lee Palomino , Global Leadership Development Director at Mars Inc.1 Thus , storytelling seemed to be the ideal tool to create empathy for our customers , their pains and challenges . My goal was to create and use detailed stories about our customers in order to clarify the cause as the basis on which to decide for new features and development steps to take for this particular product . Application In order to learn and to create real - world stories about our customers , their particular pains and applications and how they use or wish to use our product , I approached and interviewed a large variety of potential diverse customers . In addition , I conducted interviews with several sales employees , who shared their insights with me . Next , I had to consider who my audience would be . It turned out , that a consistent picture about the customers for this product was missing across departments and levels . Thus , the stories needed to generate value for developers , superiors , marketing and sales employees alike . They needed to be tangible , short , easy to understand , with a good balance between a high - level overview about the customers ’ application and technical details . I decided to simplify and abstract the actual customers into “ personas ” , who could be taken as an example for a larger group of customers . The personas I created were described with a name , age and occupation , even certain character traits , all based on real encounters with our customers . I described their motivation and what they are trying to do , what their application and particular problem is , how they are trying to solve it and how our product helps or could help in this endeavor . I told the stories about our customers in several separate meetings in smaller groups as well as larger diverse groups , consisting of colleagues from different departments . 1 From Design Thinking for Innovation , University of Virgina , Week 2 , „ Video : Storytelling Tool “ , https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-thinking-innovation/lecture/PAXCd/storytelling-tool Insight As it turned out , this approach was not only beneficial for us in the development department . Here , the stories helped me and my team greatly to identify the next steps for the future development of this product , which was my initial goal . It gave everyone tangible examples on which to base technical discussions and solution ideas on . The team started talking about how they could solve the problem of particular personas , even calling them by their names and actively changing perspective from a technical point of view to the customer ’s point of view . In marketing , the stories sparked new ideas on how to market the product , which customer groups could be targeted with which topics . The most unexpected outcome for me was generated in the sales department . Hearing the stories and being able to relate to the customers and their problems , some sales employees felt a lot more confident in approaching potential customers . As they now knew more about many of the more common customer problems , they felt better prepared to enter this still rather unknown market segment . It had a positive effect on their motivation and even led to people challenging each other about who would probably make more sales this year . This overwhelmingly positive and unexpected effect generated by the storytelling tool strengthened my confidence in applying design thinking methods even further . Approach Having witnessed the strength of the storytelling tool and the value it generated across departments , I would choose a similar approach for future development projects . In hindsight , I would probably combine it more with the visualization tool , in order to bring the personas and their stories more alive and even more relatable and easy to understand . I will also continue to spread design thinking methods the best I can amongst colleagues in order to positively influence our mutual way of solving complex problems in the future .