Beginning with an Eye - Part 1

In preparation for narrowing the Bug List down to one topic for semester long research and development, the readings this week provided good information on forming a great team, prototyping, and designing to eliminate potential human error when using a product or service. I'm very interested in the crossover between design and business leadership or creating a culture within a company. Tom Kelley's discussion of "hot teams" is one of my favorite chapters of the entire book. It seems so simple to foster a fun, collaborative environment and motivate employees to do their best work and be invested in their work, yet so many small businesses fail miserably at this task and endure the struggles that come with a divisive, unmotivated workforce. With the plethora of books and articles touting servant leadership and collaboration, how is it that so many business are still getting it wrong?

I'm endlessly fascinated with the connections between compensation (both money and fringe benefits) and motivation. I don't believe there is any magic formula for compensation, but aside from money, creating an environment similar to that of IDEO seems like an achievable task for any company. I'd like to think that - given the opportunity - I could try and emulate at least some of IDEO's strategies for building a hot team. First and foremost, getting buy-in from team members is crucial. When discussing the shopping cart project, Kelley says that the team members "were totally dedicated to achieving the end result [...] everyone was enthusiastic." I feel this is the first misstep for most companies. If a team member doesn't feel valued and important, it is not likely they will pour 110% effort into any project. IDEO's lack of permanent hierarchy gives all employees an opportunity to play "the expert." Furthermore, Kelley states that "The right team and leader can create their own energy around the task at hand." Innovation is not something that can be achieved through rote memorization of a process or by following a book. Inspiring leadership and dedication are vital to innovation. One more word on inspiring hot teams. I love Kelley's statements about morale. He says, "You can't worry about how much time or money the fun costs. You'll get back whatever time the team lost in the next week and quickly move into the black. After all, morale isn't something that can be measured or planned." Such a fantastic statement, but apparently harder for businesses - particularly small businesses on a tight schedule or budget - seem to embrace.

In his advice about prototyping, one sentence really spoke to me this week, as it is something I have always struggled with...this week's assignment no exception. "Think about tackling problems when you don't have the answers." Even as I made my Bug List last week, I found myself already trying to solve the problem that I couln't even articulate. I had to constantly prod myself to add a problem to the list or research the problem further even if I had no worldly idea what I might be able to do to solve that problem. In a society that is so results-driven, so much emphasis is placed on success. Success in worldly terms. Making more money. Saving more money. Winning awards. Even knowing that greats like IDEO have created "failures", it's difficult to embrace the process and the experimentation without having the answers already. And risking failure. Maybe more than once. I know numerous inventors and entrepreneurs have failed numerous times and later gone on to be a great success, but that is a huge barrier to cross, even in a school environment. I must keep reminding myself that there is still learning in "failure." :)

I continued to be fascinated by Norman's discussion of errors and mistakes (two completely different things that I'm sure I have used interchangeably by "mistake"). The entire chapter boiled down to two simple sentences advocating for user-centered, empathetic design. "Think of the user's point of view. Assume that every possible mishap will happen, so protect against it." One funny side note about "every possible mishap will happen"...

During my first year or two of college, my grandmother came to stay with me for a weekend and we made an outing to the new Target store. Although she normally still wrote checks for most purchases, she was paying with a credit card this time and had her first opportunity to use the point-of-sale card reader. She slid her card to pay. Then, despite the special stylus hanging from the display, my grandma carefully used her ballpoint pen to sign for her purchase and permanently etched her first, middle, and last name in beautiful cursive on the digital screen. Don Norman is right again!

Now, to narrow down that Bug List to one single problem...