I am super excited to be back blogging. For a long time I have not really written anything because for the most part, I felt I had nothing to say. I thought to myself, what would you say to the world that someone with access to the internet may not already know or would not be able to find out in a second?
Then this week, I realized I actually do have something to say. Reading through my old posts, I was reminded that I actually had something unique to offer – my perspective.
There is something different we all contribute to making this world an interesting place to be in. This is because our varying experiences with life, our varying social interactions, our varying engagements with clients/product users, our various skills and abilities all contribute to providing us with unique perspectives. However this is not a post about “life”…pardon me.
This is about how perspectives in product development matter. This is why getting multiple inputs from stakeholders, members of the team and most importantly, users, is pertinent.
Asides from the point I raised above, there are a number of reasons why this is critical.
1. The consideration of perspectives drives innovation
Let’s visualize this for a second. Picture the colour wheel, when you mix any two primary colours, you get a secondary colour. When you mix two secondary colours together, you get a tertiary colour, the more colours you introduce, the possibilities in the outcomes become endless.
In case you think that was a poor attempt to make my case, the point is simple…anytime you introduce a new stakeholder, person into the requirements gathering mix, you get a unique perspective. Like the colour wheel generating endless possibilities in colour outcomes, one thing we would find is it that this new colour will fall into a shade of a more dominant, recognizable colour e.g Purple with all it’s variants – lilac, lavender, mauve etc
Before I get carried away again, this is not an art lesson people. If anything any 4 year old’s painting of an apple would probably give mine a run for its money.
My point is when all perspectives are considered, sooner or later, you begin to find the data/information pointing you in a particular direction. At this point I could describe the sort of innovation that has happened here as a melting pot of ideas. This is what I mean when I say the consideration of perspectives drives innovation.
In practice, this is what it could like:
Task: Re-imagine and re-design a work from home desk.
Team composition – 5 members consisting of a designer, a random work from home guru, an engineer, a carpenter and a sales expert
- Team member 1 – could come up with a new design for the legs that are collapsible and could fit into a small briefcase
- Team member 2 – could suggest it would be great it the desk could be slanted forward or backwards incase they needed to change positions
- Team member 3 – May want to look at the solution from a materials perspective. Maybe even integrating a wireless self charge feature on the desk so you don’t have wires flying about
- Team member 4 – Has a good idea on what sort of wood could do the job
- Team member 5 – The sales guy is already thinking of pitching this new product as a mobile, eco-friendly, desk solutions that helps busy professionals work from anywhere. Has probably come up with a fancy name like “desk in a box” or “Mobile office” etc.
Alas! new product birthed. By the way, if you are reading this and decide to “borrow” and “expand” on this idea, don’t forget to credit me. There’s more where this came from.
2. Integrating perspectives keeps you in the competition
Again, in my humble opinion, a company that maintains a constant channel of open communication with its users is one that would remain competitive and consequently expand its market reach.
Inclusivity is beyond a buzz word. It has the potential to open avenues you never thought possible. Go ask the makeup companies who eventually remembered that black women actually do want their foundation to match their complexion. Some became even more successful when they realized that shades for black people went beyond tan, light, medium and dark.
Any business that makes a deliberate attempt to consider the varying needs of the populace, be it their cultural background, professional background, age ability etc stands a much better chance of attracting a global audience, especially in this digital age. They are able to stay ahead of this curve because there is a constant flow of information from different sources on what the market wants.
Other benefits that can be attributed to incorporating multiple perspectives into product development include;
- The reduction or elimination of bias.
- Boosting of team morale (if you want to go the HR route)
- Finally, improved brand reputation for the company.
Conclusion
To conclude this post on what could have easily been an article about cultural diversity in the work place, If you are looking to build a successful company, “inclusion”, “diversity” are beyond buzz words speaking to race and ethnicity alone. In my opinion, they include the collation of ideas and unique view points, with the aim of creating something extra ordinary. A quick google search will bring up a huge number of products and services that have been deemed successful because they mastered this approach.
So I have shared with you my thoughts on why perspectives matter in product and service development. In my next post, I would either be talking about how to integrate these perspectives in practice or how to convince your boss that requirements gathering is as important a task as writing code. You pick, by letting me know in the comments.