Category: Thinkin’ bout DT

Talking to the Customer… “I don’t get it – it’s like an overly complicated fanny pack that doesn’t hold as much”

After lying to my girlfriend and telling her we had to do market research for classmate, I knew I was going to get truthful insights about my own product… which she then hilariously – and somewhat bone-crushingly – proceeded to absolutely tear apart. (Though the look on her face when I told her it was actually my project she was reviewing was worth the price of admission.)

Here’s a pdf of my line of questioning – Customer Questions.

Since this is my blog post and I can frame it however I like, I’ll start with the good – I am happy to report I had identified a true problem she encounters when commuting – there is no easy way to store all of the things she uses to travel. I was interested however, to find out that she had other things as well that she had added to my initial list of essentials (wallet, keys, phone) to include like her helmet, gloves, etc. Additionally, I had accurately concluded that she would rather have one solution she could use not just while travelling but also while, out or even on the trail (though she did admit, she had no idea how that would be feasible). As we continued, she actually called out word for word what believed was her biggest problem, which was that a lot of this would be solved if she had pants that actually had better pockets. Additionally she liked the idea to have the phone be able to mounted on multiple surfaces like a bike or car mount. She also pointed out that she thought there would be value in adding some sort of reflective surface to it so that it could be seen at night.

Now on to what gave her pause about my design. First and foremost, it was what she described as “a question about execution.” Having the phone facing out (even if if was in an “lifeproof” like case) made her worry that the phone would easily get damaged. Also the modular design of it, made her feel less confident about it’s ability to keep her most important things safe. It was a tradeoff between convenience and reliability, and she thought she would be more comfortable with things being in sealable, water-tight pockets… which in essence was very similar to the fanny pack she already uses. Also there was the thought that if there would be enough storage added, it would be too unwieldy, and ultimately, would just be better replaced with a bag of some sort.

After I “let her in on the lie,” and reveled in her look of shock as she realized it was indeed my own creation which she had just spend 40 minutes shooting down, I was able to get other feedback, and let her in on my design process. While I know this is probably overly biased since she was already feeling bad about ripping apart my initial idea, we had a good brain storming session. She pointed out that realistically this would be better used in more technical purposes (like hiking, or mountaineering). When I brought up other possible added functionalities like having it float, or adding gps, she said that she believed the cost to add those would inflate the product into a price that was beyond what she was willing to pay (although, to be fair, she had already stated she wouldn’t pay anything for this anyway).

I think it’s safe to say that my ‘universal utility belt’ idea has been put to rest (at least for now!), but there were some interesting possibilities that arose from the conversation. The ability to easily mount a phone on different surfaces so it can be used in travel and recreation. Another thing that came up was her commute in general. Right now she uses citi bikes, but is looking into getting an ebike. Her biggest issue is that the convenience of being able to dock a citi bike is lost when she has an ebike of her own, so having a commuting solution that is lightweight, and able to be stored easily is paramount (e.g. smaller than a folding ebike). Another option would be to make the utility belt more outdoor recreation focused, but I believe there would be a lot of competition on the market already, so I would have to look into that. Lastly, I could really pivot, and just address one of her biggest problems I had accurately called out to begin with and just design pants with better pockets, but I’m not really a clothing designer, and feel like I would botch that pretty badly.

Long story short – I thought I had a good idea to address my girlfriends problem, but it turns out my solution was off the mark (though her problem was real). Moving forward I will continue to investigate some of the key takeaways I got out of our interview and circle back with another prototype that addresses one or more of them.

So What is Design Thinking Anyway?

I’m actually still trying to figure this out, but I think we can all agree that at its core, Design Thinking (henceforth referred to as DT on my site) is a process used to creatively solve problems. How DT was different from the purely data-driven methods used before its creation is that it applies a human-centered lens through which problem solving needs to be approached. I strongly believe that DT had been created after-the-fact as a crutch to ensure designers focus more on the impact of their solutions. This is achieved by forcing designers to empathize with the end-users and understand the true needs of the populations they are trying to help. In the long run, this should apply to all problem solving and although the amount of investment into the empathize stages might not always be optimal, it seems to me that any design that is designed without the end user in mind is just a poorly designed solution to a misunderstood problem. Could the outcome work out? Absolutely, but I believe that the vast majority of problems “solved” in this matter are ultimately destined to fail.