Innovation: It’s all about the user research
Pick out any random person and ask them their opinion of where product innovation comes from, and you will likely get this answer –a sterilized lab. That’s right. A facility where science geeks with goggles and all go about routine laboratory operations: but realistically, remarkable innovations come about in other ways. So, on that note, here are some noteworthy innovations that were not brewed anywhere near a controlled lab environment.
Let’s go back in time a bit. See, a few years back during the opening of an Apple Store, some brilliant minds put to use a customer appointment system to help schedule time with their “Geniuses.” By doing this, Apple customers are saved from the torturous long waits in queues.
Enter American Airlines. Now, this air travel giant allows customers to request a callback rather than being placed on hold by a reservation staff in the event of a flight cancellation or delay. In turn, they save you from what other airlines do in such scenarios — which is, to subject you to ear sores in the form of music and occasional voiceovers reiterating that you are a valued customer.
Feeling hungry? Need to order some bites for a group and don’t want to mix up the orders? Well, Chipotle has an online order system that lets you invite all the members of your group to make their orders. Also, thus, unlike other restaurants, by leveraging this system Chipotle helps customers avoid screwing up group orders.
So, how amazing innovations come about –which saved the business a lot, and helped the customers a lot! Surely it wasn’t done in a science lab, nor by technical wizardry.
Innovation Doesn’t Need Technical Expertise
You should know that no new invention was needed to put these features into use. See, technically speaking, they are neither outstanding nor sophisticated. Nonetheless, their clients regard these features as marvelous innovations. These businesses offered uncomplicated solutions that surpassed the expectations of their customers.
The bright minds in these businesses didn’t come by these innovations by conducting any complicated experiments in a lab. Instead, they arrived at these workable and efficient solutions by stepping out of the confines of their offices and learning the frustrations their customers encounter when using their services.
Research Informs Innovation
Drawing from these innovations, you can easily discern that these remarkable solutions arrived at after conducting observational research. To reiterate this fact, a quote by Yogi Berra drives this point home, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” The brilliant teams behind these solutions did two things. They observed their customers and took note of their struggles. The things that their customers deemed normal — like waiting in queues or making group orders at Chipotle were picked up on and improved.
From research, these businesses identified instances that brought their customers frustration or caused conflict. After that, they were able to understand their clients’ troubles and come up with solutions quickly. From then, all they needed to do was choose a suitable solution and then implement it.
Sadly, many companies fail to carry out diligent research or skip it entirely because they consider it too expensive. As a result, they end up shortchanging their innovation. However, excellent research isn’t always pricey. If insightful, research can help businesses offer innovative services and products.
