Platform for change
Companies like Apple and Facebook have learned to harness the energy of outside developers to create new applications. By allowing thousands of new applications to run on their platforms, they create a Darwinian environment where only the fittest survive.
Jeff, a developer, noticed that Facebook lacked reminders around birthdays, so he created Birthday Alert. Customers quickly made it one of the hottest apps on the platform. Instead of trying to guess what type of functionality users wanted, Facebook just tapped into smart developers like Jeff who built it for them.
Through this process, Facebook learned it needed a mechanism to foster developers who could improve the overall ecosystem. Now the Facebook Fund supports enterprising developers who are eager to build their ideas.
How can you engage your customers and partners to help you prototype new offerings?
Front-of-house flexibility
The secret behind the unique feel of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s is how employees are empowered to co-create the customer experience. Each store establishes teams to figure out the best way to serve customers, from the products they offer to the way sections are organized. Each week, employees can see the results of their experiments in the aisles.
Jesse recently joined the cheese department at Whole Foods and one of his favorite jobs is to select the cheeses that customers sample. He feels it helps set the mood of the entire store, and when he nails the selection, the store usually sells the entire stock. Giving teams the tools to constantly improve the business creates an engaging and successful environment.
What control should you give up so your team is empowered to serve customers better?
Grassroots growth
Ayr is a former scientist with an MBA from Harvard. After several years with McKinsey, he decided to follow his dream to create a chain of fast and friendly vegetarian restaurants.
He could have hired a chef and tested his menu with focus groups, but instead he decided that it would be better to run a lot of experiments at low cost. So he launched his restaurant from a food truck parked outside the MIT campus, updating his customers about daily specials through text messages and blog posts. (cloverfoodlab.com)
After six months, the results have been phenomenal. By starting small and prototyping, Ayr is learning while he shapes his business. He’s adding additional trucks, developing permanent spaces, and has begun to cater special events. Each experiment brings him closer to his ultimate goal.
How can you intentionally limit your resources to create a more inspired offering?
Making lemonade
Like many fashion houses, Gucci and Ann Taylor were hit hard during the recent recession. The nation’s sudden shopping withdrawal left many designers with too few retail orders to manufacture their line. In similar circumstances, manufacturers will order the additional garments and offer excess inventory in outlet malls and discount retailers. This time things were different, demand was much lower so the fashion houses got creative. Taking advantage of empty retail space many designers negotiated short, temporary leases in high-traffic areas. In this short stay space they opened pop-up shops to connect with customers. The recession could have distanced these designers from their customers but quick, nimble moves created new opportunities to engage.
How can you turn your biggest challenge into an opportunity to try something new?
Real-time results
Internet companies routinely use their constant connections with customers to prototype new offerings. Companies like Google and Amazon routinely select pools of users and change the functionality in their products (e.g. you may be looking at a different Gmail interface than your friends). Depending on specific behavioral metrics, Google may change a product without ever directly asking the customer. Smart and nimble businesses know that always-on and always-accessible allows them to learn and evolve.
How can you experiment on the fly and learn without compromising experience?
Ongoing experimentation
McDonald’s has built prototyping into its organization. Since the company does not want every employee in every store deviating from service patterns, it has set up test restaurants to try new menu items, new pricing strategies, and new food preparation methods. This flexibility has paid off. McDonald’s has been able to roll out worldwide menu expansions in just a few months—quite a feat for a company that serves
47 million customers a day.
How can you build experimentation into the culture of your organization?
Name my book
Tim Ferriss loved the playful working title of his first book, Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit, but it was too racy for Walmart and other retailers. With the success of the book hinging on this decision, Tim decided to prototype. He drafted a shortlist of titles and bought Google AdWords. Each online click equaled one vote. Within a week, he had his title, and The 4-Hour Work Week was finally finished.
How much information do you need to make decisions? Can prototyping help you get there faster?
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Mike Walton
June 18, 2009
One one of my (many) long trips from Columbus to Pittsburgh, I started going off (on my poor unsuspecting passenger/fiancee) about how it is nearly impossible for a business to reinvent itself—and not just the obvious GM or Chrysler (though Chrysler makes the most godawful cars on the planet)—take Snapple—it is impossible for them to be the Snapple that they used to be, 10 years ago. There are other drinks that fill that niche and the consumer has moved on. Their product is genuinely better (have you tasted new Snapple recently!?) but it is still such an uphill battle. So many dragons (committees) to slay. So many conceptions to change. The fact that they are in expensive glass bottles w/ nearly the same print is clearly indicitive of a “NEW” product created from a committee. It’s simply not new enough, and they (the committees) simply aren’t paying attention. Crack the committee and win the game.
I think quality and luxury are the characteristics that have staying power and can be timelessly reinvented. But they are also easy to lose. Eddie Bauer used to supply jackets for expeditions to everest. Then they got cheap and mainstream, and now the clothing and layout of the store actively REPELS me (and others). And look at them. They filed for bankruptcy today.
(This stream of consciousness inspired by your guest-author publication. Keep up the good work, and now that I know about this, I’m excited to see more.)
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