In the last module I referenced an example of when IDEO after conducting comprehensive research made recommendations for their client to increase membership. In this module we'll learn how that research was conducted. IDEO does comprehensive research in a variety of ways dependent upon the challenge at hand. Commonly IDEO will use the following three methods, one customer interviews, for example if IDEO is researching refrigerators they might go grocery shopping with a customer and study the way they shop while asking them questions about their habits. IDEO is curious not only about one dimension of shopping but about the multi layered context in which people live and eat. This method of in depth interviewing allows IDEO to capture smaller and more precise details that might not come out in a survey. Number two, analogous research, when you're on a product development team, you can use analogous research to ask, what are parallel organizations that might provide insight into my organization's challenge? What are similar challenges others in the industry have overcome? And how can I apply my learning to my organization's challenge? For example, in developing games for PlayStation, IDEO might ask how you can get more people to play games on PlayStation. This comes from getting an understanding of gamers needs outside of gameplay. To answer this question, one IDEO designer took game developers to a dance class. After the half hour class, she asks them about their experience. By and large, the gamers disliked the experience because they didn't know how long it was going to last. Others in the class had better mastery of dancing, and they felt improperly prepared to dance. For example they came in wearing the wrong shoes. The audio designer likened this to how people feel when they aren't gamers, but try to play a video game. The inside gleaned from the dance class allowed game designers to have an empathetic experience with new game players. The game designers could then use this insight to redesign or enhance the gaming experience. Number three, experts in the field. The third method is to interview those in similar separate fields to get an understanding of what they’re doing, or how they can help with the challenge being examined. This research method can provide insights from the field and potentially forge collaborations with those being interviewed. These three methods are used to triangulate and synthesize data in order to determine next steps. Research findings allow companies to tell stories and identify patterns that provide a basis for establishing the goals, roles and norms of product development effort and the details for the product itself. All of this insight is then used to start designing and prototyping now the prototype doesn't have to be a finished product, it's simply meant to help organizations get high quality feedback on an initial design. In summary, IDEO is successful in helping product development teams because they use methods to draw out others creativity or ensuring they don't shut down potentially valuable ideas and contribution. Due to IDEO's core values of optimism, collaboration and learning from failure, the sky's the limit, when it comes to any stage of the design phase. An emphasis on action over discussion, and a process for conducting rigorous research, ensures that teams get to work, even as ideas are continually welcomed. IDEO's research, and prototyping process provide a thorough psychologically safe way to vet ideas, and ensure that they are desirable, feasible, and viable in the real world. The key lessons from IDEO that drive performance are, ask the right questions, prototype your ideas, collect feedback, and learn from failure. On your team you can use and adapt the best practices and principles of IDEO to match the appropriate needs of your teams and clients. Remember that there is no one framework that drives high performance, but IDEO examples of rigorous research and human centered process certainly drive high performance for their clients and IDEO teams. We just discussed how to encourage a high performance on product development teams. In the next two videos, we'll discuss the strains and pitfalls of committees, and best practices for setting goals, roles and norms. See you soon.
