Sarah Doody
Last week I challenged you to choose one idea that you were going to commit to experiment with. What did you learn? Did you uncover anything new that you hadn’t thought of? Did the experiment create the momentum needed to keep going with your idea?
Congrats, we made it to April. I have no idea how three months have already gone by. I think it’s because I committed to running a ton of experiments at the beginning of the year. This kept me pretty busy, focused, and learning.
When was the last time you decided to run an experiment? If you’re like me, it was probably a long time ago.
I’m the type of person who has a ton of ideas, but I often don’t make time to act on my ideas. And they get tucked away in a notebook and left there. That is … until I stumble upon someone else on the Internet who’s done my idea! Then, I beat myself up and think, “if I’d only started 6 months ago, think of where I’d be.”
When you’re designing a website or an app, you can’t assume that you know best. Sure you probably have some good assumptions about what you think will work. But to truly set yourself up for success, you must intimately understand the people who use or will use your product.
Is your team investing enough in user research? When was the last time you did user research … last week, last month, last year, never?
Einstein once said: “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
Why should we spend more time thinking about the problem than working on the solution?
Well, the answer is quite simple. The more we understand a problem, the more obvious the solution will be.
I’m a runner and my first big race this year was going to be a marathon in May. But, I recently got an injury and have spent the last few weeks trying to figure out what’s wrong. So disappointing! And if you’re a runner, you know how torturous it is to not be able to run.
Have you ever been in a meeting and felt like you were in a giant game of telephone? I hate that feeling. A big reason this happens is because people lose context. As I like to say, problems start when context stops.
Do you know what problems you’re solving? Honestly though. Whatever project you’re working on right now, can you articulate how that project or design is solving a problem? If you can’t, then you should hit pause on everything and spend some time identifying the problem.
Think about some of your favorite brands and what it’s like to interact with them. How often do you visit their sites or use their apps? How have those positive experiences translated beyond the screen? Have you purchased a product, connected with people, or recommended the service to a friend?
A few weeks ago I decided to train for another marathon. In November 2015, I ran my first marathon – the NYC marathon – and it was a great experience. I was able to do it only 15 weeks after having surgery. Crazy, I know.