There’s nothing like a blizzard in New York City. Relax. I decided to watch an HBO movie. Did I relax? No. Instead I was inspired.
I was moved by Temple Grandin and her journey with autism. I was inspired by Grandin’s story about how she invented humane livestock-handling equipment that is widely used today. Grandin says, “She thinks in pictures.” That’s what enables her to see what others can’t.
Initially Temple did not focus on the existing equipment or the technology. Instead, Temple focused on the animals. She intensely watched how they moved and what made them more comfortable. Then, she began to design.
Today, many credit unions are looking for practical innovations that can bring some efficiency and cost savings. Try using Temple’s approach. Begin by focusing on the consumer. To drive process improvements, find the internal consumer. Take the teller for example. Tellers serve an obvious and important role in delivering service to members. And, they also serve as a consumer to functional areas like internal audit, marketing, IT, office operations, etc.
What if we spent more time observing tellers—how they move and what makes them comfortable—before we started to design new processes?
Credit unions are already doing some good work. If your innovation efforts begin with the consumer, I would like to hear from you. How have you applied design thinking or ethnographic research?
Post a comment