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| Image courtesy of Pixabay |
What happens when we really understand our customers’ desired outcomes or the jobs they are trying to do?
Something pretty incredible happens!
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Faster Horses… and Customer Outcomes and the importance of asking the right questions – to understand desired outcomes – in order to develop products your customers will want to use/buy.
In that post, I wrote:
… step back and ask customers about their pain points with the current product, what it’s not doing for them, what they’re trying to achieve that they can’t. Or bypass thinking about the current product; focus on a situation for which you’ll develop a new or better solution. Focus on what customers are trying to do and uncover unmet needs to aid in your new product design efforts.
When we understand pain points, desired outcomes, and what customers are trying to do, we can truly innovate and create some incredible products. Case in point, here’s an example of what happens when we understand these things:
Pretty awesome concept! Imagine if that technology appeared on more trucks around the globe.
I thought it was important to share an example of what happens when we understand what our customers are trying to do and how we can help them do it – or what the current experience is and how we can improve upon it. This particular example is pretty powerful because it’s a lifesaver. Literally.
You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around. -Steve Jobs
Lovely idea Annette, though I'm not entirely sure what my wife will think of my modified overtaking style.
I guess as with all things there is more than one customer
Annette, first – thanks for sharing the Samsung video. What a great idea they had.
Second, when starting an innovation project to find additional ways for our clients to create value for customers we always advise them to learn what jobs the customers are trying to do and then go our a watch how they are working. This includes understanding their perceptions of their experience. Then our client can begin doing the innovation magic and creating solutions with a very high probability of being commercially successful.
The combination of value creation and customer experience are amazingly powerful.
Hi Annette,
What a great idea and thank you for sharing it.
The idea is brilliant and a no-brainer. However, whilst the benefits are clear in terms of road safety, I wonder how they made the RoI case for the innovation investment.
Adrian
Ha! Be safe out there! And yes, absolutely.
Sam, I love the idea of going out and watching them do what they are trying to do… and seeing, in person, how painful it really is. (And most of the time, it is truly painful, unfortunately.)
I think ROI is not always about $$. Sometimes, when it comes to saving lives, perhaps that's the no-brainer part.