Enzo Richards, Design Thinking for Innovation

Example Reflection: Storytelling

Challenge

I work in Product Design & Development for a consumer electronics company.  Our products typically  perform very well, and receive great critical acclaim, but in general are primarily adopted by an older  demographic.  Our company had done both analytical and ethnographic research, both of which showed  that we had products that customers were aware of, but younger audiences were unable to move past  the consideration phase of the purchase process.  We had tried different advertising, with different copy  as well as more youthful images or scenes, and time and time again they had only managed to barely  move the needle, if at all.  We also saw that there were competitors with similar product sets that were  able to gain more interest (and later sales) with their offerings, which made us question what the  differences were and how we could improve.  My team was challenged to look at our product offering  as a whole and find a way to resonate better with the younger demo (Millennials).

Selection

The challenge was levied upon my team from an executive management council, who knew we were a  group that was very connected with the product, but also had a good deal of understanding of the  problem, given that many team members were millennials.  I preached that we needed to maintain a  sense of consumer empathy, and that while we were at work, it was easy to ‘drink the kool-aid’ and  have an inflated view of how we were perceived.  Given our heightened understanding as a team, and  the need to present a compelling argument to make some potentially radical changes to the products, I  knew we would have to use storytelling to provide a convincing argument.  With that in mind, we  worked together to sell the challenge that we had identified, of updating the image of our products to  enable them to resonate more with Millennials.

Application

Our company had always made really compelling products with fantastic technical prowess, which had  some of the best performance relative to the competitive set.  But what we needed to sell to our  leadership team was the challenge that the Millennial consumer was looking for more than just a  different color palette or video of younger people using older style products.  We used storytelling to  get this point across by referring to similar challenges faced by similar companies in other industries,  and how they were able to evolve.  Being a bit of a sneaker fan myself, I told our leadership about New  Balance, which is a very strong brand for high performance footwear, but hadn’t necessarily resonated  as well with younger audiences.  To combat that, they worked with some specialty designers to update  their products to feature precision, high value materials in updated colors, and made them somewhat  limited to help drive up interest.  I had shared photos of special edition releases that the New Balance  team had worked on successfully, which led to increased exposure in blogs and had kids camping out  overnight to make sure they could buy these limited sneakers.  I also showed that there were other  ways that the team needed to address the entire product selection holistically, and how that resonated

Enzo Richards, Design Thinking for Innovation

very well.  For example, Nike has their standard releases which are available broadly, but when they do  a really limited release, they update not only the footwear design, but also the shoebox as well, which  really helps the user validate their purchase (which is often at a premium over the standard offerings).

As I was sharing this with the leadership, I could see their eyes light up a bit.  Some were surprised, if not  initially confused, about how sneaker culture could relate to our consumer electronics business.  But  through the storytelling about sneakers, the blog posts and photos of the droves of fans that would wait  in line, and even some in person show-and-tell of how truly unique some of these materials and designs  could get, the leadership team grasped the story we were presenting so much so that I was asked to give  it to an extended team as well.  In summary, we were able to present the point that we needed to make  sure we were holistically approaching the entire product experience to enable Millennial consumers to  really want to purchase our products.

Insight

The team agreed with our conclusion, and that we could no longer expect to just throw a coat of trendy  paint on and think that would get the job done.  There was of course some tension here: how would  these changes impact our current offerings?  We had to be sure that we did not artificially move the  needle TOO far in one direction, potentially alienating our current core customer.  This led to us  updating our offerings to have unique, limited variations, complete with custom, refined carry cases and  packaging that was more considered and expressive.  The results were extremely positive: not only did  we move the average age down for the updated products, we also were able to get the gender split,  which had been skewing far more male than female, to be much closer to a 50-50 split, which was a  secondary goal of the program.  What I really appreciated was that this was able to impact our entire  design community, and put the focus that was deserved on making sure we spent as much time curating  our design as well as engineering our performance.

Approach

Being able to tell a compelling story to leadership to help them understand the challenges of appealing  to a millennial audience was definitely the right method to use for our team’s time and deliverable  constraints.  Given the scale of our company, and the intricacies with our sales and supply chains, a  learning launch may have seemed helpful, but in the end it wasn’t realistic enough for us to execute.  If  we had to go through a different Design Thinking tool or exercise, for future innovations I would  advocate doing some mind mapping exercises in order to get a better picture and answer the “What Is?”  question more thoroughly before transitioning into the actual product design and development.


Enzo Richards , Design Thinking for Innovation Example Reflection : Storytelling Challenge I work in Product Design & Development for a consumer electronics company . Our products typically perform very well , and receive great critical acclaim , but in general are primarily adopted by an older demographic . Our company had done both analytical and ethnographic research , both of which showed that we had products that customers were aware of , but younger audiences were unable to move past the consideration phase of the purchase process . We had tried different advertising , with different copy as well as more youthful images or scenes , and time and time again they had only managed to barely move the needle , if at all . We also saw that there were competitors with similar product sets that were able to gain more interest ( and later sales ) with their offerings , which made us question what the differences were and how we could improve . My team was challenged to look at our product offering as a whole and find a way to resonate better with the younger demo ( Millennials ) . Selection The challenge was levied upon my team from an executive management council , who knew we were a group that was very connected with the product , but also had a good deal of understanding of the problem , given that many team members were millennials . I preached that we needed to maintain a sense of consumer empathy , and that while we were at work , it was easy to ‘ drink the kool - aid ’ and have an inflated view of how we were perceived . Given our heightened understanding as a team , and the need to present a compelling argument to make some potentially radical changes to the products , I knew we would have to use storytelling to provide a convincing argument . With that in mind , we worked together to sell the challenge that we had identified , of updating the image of our products to enable them to resonate more with Millennials . Application Our company had always made really compelling products with fantastic technical prowess , which had some of the best performance relative to the competitive set . But what we needed to sell to our leadership team was the challenge that the Millennial consumer was looking for more than just a different color palette or video of younger people using older style products . We used storytelling to get this point across by referring to similar challenges faced by similar companies in other industries , and how they were able to evolve . Being a bit of a sneaker fan myself , I told our leadership about New Balance , which is a very strong brand for high performance footwear , but had n’t necessarily resonated as well with younger audiences . To combat that , they worked with some specialty designers to update their products to feature precision , high value materials in updated colors , and made them somewhat limited to help drive up interest . I had shared photos of special edition releases that the New Balance team had worked on successfully , which led to increased exposure in blogs and had kids camping out overnight to make sure they could buy these limited sneakers . I also showed that there were other ways that the team needed to address the entire product selection holistically , and how that resonated Enzo Richards , Design Thinking for Innovation very well . For example , Nike has their standard releases which are available broadly , but when they do a really limited release , they update not only the footwear design , but also the shoebox as well , which really helps the user validate their purchase ( which is often at a premium over the standard offerings ) . As I was sharing this with the leadership , I could see their eyes light up a bit . Some were surprised , if not initially confused , about how sneaker culture could relate to our consumer electronics business . But through the storytelling about sneakers , the blog posts and photos of the droves of fans that would wait in line , and even some in person show - and - tell of how truly unique some of these materials and designs could get , the leadership team grasped the story we were presenting so much so that I was asked to give it to an extended team as well . In summary , we were able to present the point that we needed to make sure we were holistically approaching the entire product experience to enable Millennial consumers to really want to purchase our products . Insight The team agreed with our conclusion , and that we could no longer expect to just throw a coat of trendy paint on and think that would get the job done . There was of course some tension here : how would these changes impact our current offerings ? We had to be sure that we did not artificially move the needle TOO far in one direction , potentially alienating our current core customer . This led to us updating our offerings to have unique , limited variations , complete with custom , refined carry cases and packaging that was more considered and expressive . The results were extremely positive : not only did we move the average age down for the updated products , we also were able to get the gender split , which had been skewing far more male than female , to be much closer to a 50 - 50 split , which was a secondary goal of the program . What I really appreciated was that this was able to impact our entire design community , and put the focus that was deserved on making sure we spent as much time curating our design as well as engineering our performance . Approach Being able to tell a compelling story to leadership to help them understand the challenges of appealing to a millennial audience was definitely the right method to use for our team ’s time and deliverable constraints . Given the scale of our company , and the intricacies with our sales and supply chains , a learning launch may have seemed helpful , but in the end it was n’t realistic enough for us to execute . If we had to go through a different Design Thinking tool or exercise , for future innovations I would advocate doing some mind mapping exercises in order to get a better picture and answer the “ What Is ? ” question more thoroughly before transitioning into the actual product design and development .