Josh Nard

At the end of a review, summarize key feedback for stakeholders to walk ahead being heard. Have empathy that they are working through their goals and recognize their partnership in shared goals. Summarize some key metrics the team will be focused on. Remind the team where you are in current feasibility/barriers and remind teams of shared ownership to achieve a desired result. Recognize meeting attendees are part of the collective success of the project to continue future meeting attendance and buy-in.

Taking emotions out of a design can be challenging, yet necessary. It's easy to fall in love with your work. Disconnect. Remind yourself that self-improvement is the mark of a great designer. To keep calm, and find ways to disconnect from the emotional investment. Redirect conversations into a third person where possible. Avoid using the word "I" or "you." Example: "If OUR team were to re-examine your expressed concerns, what metrics should we consider to meet the BUSINESS goals?" Lastly, direct conversations from tactical changes (you may not necessarily agree with), into storytelling. "If the user came into this journey, what would they seek to achieve on X to drive Z results?"

Listening is one of the hardest EQ skills to master. The trick is to completely disconnect from the emotional weight your work brings. Practice with team members or even friends by asking them to be harsh. Listen for fears and anxieties in any feedback. Are they worried it will disrupt their business? Jeopardize their processes? Recognize their concerns with labeling. “I sense you have concerns about the impact to our business and I share them.” Then follow it up with engaging questions that separate tactical design (change this button) to “If this application improved one area of our business for you, what would it be?”

Listen. Listen. Listen to your stakeholders in parallel to customers, to think how they think. This sounds easy but it takes a trained mind to find a deficit between a customer experience and how a business can serve with a product or service. Steve Jobs didn’t invent the iPod by listening to a customer saying “I want a better Discman.” He broke down what their issues were regarding skipping, carrying CDs and randomizing music. He asked the question of “How might I make this better?” Successful innovation comes from humans, not technology. Ask how someone would interact if there wasn’t technology behind it.

In my recent experience identifying and defining emotions, behaviors, and need states of customers in key moments of the journey is so necessary to connect segmentation with greater personalization targeting. Leading with empathy can be profoundly influential in enhancing psychographic segmentation.

Everyone talks about having a customer-centric culture but many teams fall short of doing the time and deep analysis required. CX is a hierarchy of thinking, from mapping touch point metrics all the way up to YoY business goals and beacon metrics. It is also mapping moments in a journey with deep swim lane blueprinting. Digital transformation was just the start. Many companies are discovering that after they rolled out a bunch of apps but still expected customers to beg with multiple support representatives on the phone for a simple $20 bill error adjustment. Adoption takes a firm understanding of how every improvement leads to greater product experiences, purchasing, trust and lifecycles that drive revenue. It can be done.