Ideo Analysis

IDEO, has developed a human centric approach over the years, wherein human’s needs and wants, and not technology is the centre for design development and innovation. In this methodology, product development considers three key factors while making design, namely desirability (customer’s wants and needs), viability (financial profitability of product) and feasibility (technological possibility of implementation). As human-centred innovation focus on unmet needs of the customers, it requires IDEO to emphasise with the customers and think from theirs’s perspective by putting themselves in real life scenarios, observing the interaction between clients and products and have a holistic view of the situation from different perspective and not focus on just apparent problems or conceived problem. Using divergent viewpoints and customer interactions for gathering ideas and converging those ideas to few prototypes and getting actual customer’s feedback, alongside continuous client interaction, enables IDEO to have a holistic and thought out solution to client questions. This approach helps IDEO’s clients to tap into new markets, create new growth avenues and provide client’s customers with better suited products/ services and provide IDEO with competitive edge. However, establishing and maintaining the human centric innovation culture requires a lot of planning, an attitude of starting with clean slate and a dynamic team ready to work with all aspects of the problem. All this starts with culture at IDEO, which needs to continuously change and adept to meet its client’s requirements in the best possible way. From employing T-shaped people, who are expert in one domain and fluent in many other things, to creation of teams based on project needs and available skills, IDEO develop this culture from recruitment itself. Alongside skills, personalities, growth aspirations, development needs and individual perspectives are considered. Within IDEO, a culture of trust, innovation and making other successful must be developed. I have worked with Highmark health solutions (HMHS), which provide enterprise health solutions to insurance businesses. Looking from HMHS prospective, IDEO methodology requires a lot of effort and time, without a significant detail of the solution from the beginning. HMHS may not want to provide IDEO with the resources and time required, as HMHS is pressed in a competitive world, with their competitors bringing new products in quick time and HMHS belief in continuous improvement instead of compete transition. Also, as there is no sure-shot roadmap and timeline for a differentiated solution, HMHS will find it difficult to transition from conventional product development methodology to human centric methodology.

The conversation between the customer and IDEO team was an eye opener. IDEO team chose a person with little background known to team, thus prevented any bias. Team visited customer’s home, instead of asking customer to visit them. Instead of asking direct questions about client, team dig into customer’s daily routine, his social life, his interaction with outer world, factors affecting his decision for watching movies, various interaction between him and movie theatre, substitutes to movie watching, suggestions for improvement and feedback on various prototype. It made me realize that the needs and wants of customers in one region vary significantly from one region to other. I like the statement where the customer says that he makes decision for his family and love to go along with his family. From the interaction, key takeaways are: 1. Customer is looking for complete service, not just movie. 2. Customer want to know about movies and their timings beforehand visiting the theatre. 3. Customer want a say in movie selection for future screening in the theatre.  Given a chance, I would go the house with family, instead of a single client. This would enable me to get into a continuous discussion, instead of set of questions and answers, enabling me to see the requirement both from the payer side and user side as in this case, we have user different from the payer.  

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