Challenge & Selection

My working environment includes highly skilled engineers who perform highly specific procedures  for our customers in a business to business industry in South East Asia. With digital advancement of  the last decade, many procedures can be improved with the help of applications and programs. My  task is to develop tools for our customers with the help of our domain knowledge experts.

The challenge of digitalisation is that people are protective of their skills, which might be a result of  being frightened of becoming obsolete. How could I get these experts to open up about their  procedures and create new tools with me?

Storytelling was the Design Thinking tool that I used to improve engagement with all stakeholders  involved. With this tool, colleagues could visualise the problems and issues at hand, and realise that  a digital trend will work in their favour. Customer stories were created as characters in these stories  for colleagues to relate to.

Application

The application of this storytelling tool involves a 4-step approach. From getting to understand your  audience, to finding a podium to allow for the story to be heard, to ask questions and not leave the  audience hanging, and find the tensions between the current situation and the ideal situation.

The first step storytelling is knowing your audience. In an office environment, this is easily done by  just asking everyone individually what they do daily, for who they are doing this, and what their  struggles are. Gathering information is a key part in storytelling because it will develop  understanding of your industry, and what processes can be digitalised.

The second step was to find probable business opportunities that would act as a stage for  storytelling. Knowing my audience – mostly internal experts – allowed me to generate opportunities  by gathering a diverse group of colleagues with similar issues. These issues were unknown between  them. By creating a character, based on the customer stories, I could describe a sequence of events  that the whole room could relate to.

The third step was to ask questions, hypothetical one’s or directed to the audience with having the  answer already in the pocket. Every new event, meeting or gathering has a different audience, and  not all of them engage similarly. Asking questions to the audience engages them and makes them  active. A major pitfall is when an answer remains unanswered and the audience is captured by that  rather than your story.

The fourth step is presenting the tension of how the current situation of your created character is  insufficient for future situations. Present possible changes for your audience to be future-ready. In  my case, how to digitalise processes.

Insight

Getting to know my audience allowed me to understand their interactions, needs, stresses and  where they want to go to. Knowing the preferred direction of your audience allowed me to find a  common point in my story. These common points – between the created character and what my  colleagues’ experiences – are now called anchors. Several anchors are placed in each story to allow  engineers to relate to the story.

Another insight is that different hierarchies might aid or thwart the process. On one side, there is the  sharing of experience, but on the other side there is a reduction in creativity when people do not  talk freely. Storytelling can help to create feedback on understanding what customers want or do,  being innovative is also to be creative.

Approach

An alternative approach was also done by providing visualisation of these processes mentioned by  colleagues and how they could be improved. The issue is that not every story or situation lends itself  to use visualisation. The audience was discussing the validity of data, rather than the bigger picture  and trends. A focussed on the goal audience will provide more insights in design thinking, and using  the right tool is part of that.


Challenge & Selection My working environment includes highly skilled engineers who perform highly specific procedures for our customers in a business to business industry in South East Asia . With digital advancement of the last decade , many procedures can be improved with the help of applications and programs . My task is to develop tools for our customers with the help of our domain knowledge experts . The challenge of digitalisation is that people are protective of their skills , which might be a result of being frightened of becoming obsolete . How could I get these experts to open up about their procedures and create new tools with me ? Storytelling was the Design Thinking tool that I used to improve engagement with all stakeholders involved . With this tool , colleagues could visualise the problems and issues at hand , and realise that a digital trend will work in their favour . Customer stories were created as characters in these stories for colleagues to relate to . Application The application of this storytelling tool involves a 4 - step approach . From getting to understand your audience , to finding a podium to allow for the story to be heard , to ask questions and not leave the audience hanging , and find the tensions between the current situation and the ideal situation . The first step storytelling is knowing your audience . In an office environment , this is easily done by just asking everyone individually what they do daily , for who they are doing this , and what their struggles are . Gathering information is a key part in storytelling because it will develop understanding of your industry , and what processes can be digitalised . The second step was to find probable business opportunities that would act as a stage for storytelling . Knowing my audience – mostly internal experts – allowed me to generate opportunities by gathering a diverse group of colleagues with similar issues . These issues were unknown between them . By creating a character , based on the customer stories , I could describe a sequence of events that the whole room could relate to . The third step was to ask questions , hypothetical one ’s or directed to the audience with having the answer already in the pocket . Every new event , meeting or gathering has a different audience , and not all of them engage similarly . Asking questions to the audience engages them and makes them active . A major pitfall is when an answer remains unanswered and the audience is captured by that rather than your story . The fourth step is presenting the tension of how the current situation of your created character is insufficient for future situations . Present possible changes for your audience to be future - ready . In my case , how to digitalise processes . Insight Getting to know my audience allowed me to understand their interactions , needs , stresses and where they want to go to . Knowing the preferred direction of your audience allowed me to find a common point in my story . These common points – between the created character and what my colleagues ’ experiences – are now called anchors . Several anchors are placed in each story to allow engineers to relate to the story . Another insight is that different hierarchies might aid or thwart the process . On one side , there is the sharing of experience , but on the other side there is a reduction in creativity when people do not talk freely . Storytelling can help to create feedback on understanding what customers want or do , being innovative is also to be creative . Approach An alternative approach was also done by providing visualisation of these processes mentioned by colleagues and how they could be improved . The issue is that not every story or situation lends itself to use visualisation . The audience was discussing the validity of data , rather than the bigger picture and trends . A focussed on the goal audience will provide more insights in design thinking , and using the right tool is part of that .