There’s a well-known quote by Henry Ford that goes like this, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” It’s fair to note that some don’t believe he actually said that, but let’s go with it.
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Ford is often cited when naysayers tell us that customers don’t know what they want, i.e., customers can’t help us innovate because they just want faster horses; they believe that some visionary can create a better product. The problem is, these visionaries don’t come along every day.
To the faster horses I say, “That’s what happens when you ask the wrong question!” This is an issue that I’ve been calling the “Henry Ford Principle” in recent conversations.
In truth, most customers don’t know what they want and that’s OK. They don’t know what they want because they’re focused on what they’re trying to do, not on designing products—that’s your job. You can solve that problem for them—not knowing what they want—by designing a product to help them do what they’re trying to do. Then you’ll sell some products and have very happy customers.
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”
—Steve Jobs
This is true. If you ask customers what they want, they’ll kill you with features and enhancements that will have that faster horse looking like an alien with three eyes, four ears, five legs,and seven tails that trots sideways. None of the enhancement requests will be cohesive or make sense to the big picture. You’ll just keep adding on more features and functionality, until, in the end, you have a product that’s far too complex to use and doesn’t suit anyone’s needs. I’ve seen this happen! It’s not pretty.
Instead, ask them what they’re trying to do, what they’re trying to achieve. Ask customers about their pain points with the current product, what it’s not doing for them, what they want it to do, but it isn’t. Or bypass thinking about the current product; focus on a situation for which you can develop a new or better solution.
I think this is a good approach:
• Identify the need and its level of importance. Ask about customers’ pain points, needs, and outcomes of trying to fulfill those needs. You need their input to determine what problems to solve; get to the root cause.
• Develop some success metrics. How will you know that you’ve met your customers’ needs, solved their problems?
• Ideate. Brainstorm based on what you learned from the customer. Here’s where the visionary in you and your team might come out!
• Co-create. Take some ideas, develop, and iterate—with customers.
• Develop. Based on co-creation and iteration, select the final product design and build it.
• Test your product. This will be a larger test, conducted by more than those who helped co-create the product.
• Measure product performance/success. How well does this product help customers achieve their desired outcomes? What is their experience?
• Continuously listen. Over time, the needs, attempts, and outcomes evolve and so should the product.
Does that sound too complex? It shouldn’t. The customer needs to be at the center of your product design process. If he’s not and your competitors do include him, who do you think will have the advantage?
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Not every product should or can be designed this way. Sometimes a product gets created because there truly was a visionary who had an amazing idea—and there was a willing and ready audience for it.
Keep this in mind: If you don’t have a customer for your product, then you don’t have a product; you just have an idea.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask; for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”
—Albert Einstein
First published Dec. 1, 2015, on the CX Journey blog.
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