REVOCACIÓN DEL CONSENTIMIENTO
7. Médico informante:
The.overall.product.design.itself.underwent.50.iterations..Students.were.
invited.to.come.in.and.test.some.of.these.interim.designs—to.put.their.
backpacks.underneath.the.chairs.to.check.out.the.storage.space,.to.sit.and.
roll.around.in.the.chairs..Tim.recalls,.“We.tried.a.lot.of.different.features.
before.settling.on.the.final.design.”.It.was.important.to.cull.out.the.ideas.
that. truly. contributed. to. customer. value. versus. just. being. good. ideas..
Along.the.way,.IDEO.supported.the.team.with.a.series.of.refined.concepts.
and.prototypes:
cUStoMeR intiMAcY inteLLiGence: tHe ABiLitY to cReAte cUStoMeR intiMAcY
Customer. intimacy. intelligence. is. the. ability. to. learn. about. cus-tomers..To.get.it,.product.developers.master.the.core.skills.that.are.
required.to.make.the.most.of.a.customer.interaction:.identify.specific.
customers,.make.observations,.conduct.interviews,.set.up.early-look.
feedback.sessions,.and.coordinate.go-and-see.visits..Once.product.
developers.have.mastered.these.skills.with.their.current.customers.
and.products,.it.becomes.much.easier.for.them.to.learn.about.new.
markets.and.to.engage.with.customers.about.future.needs.as.well.
as.current.needs..When.this.is.a.core.competency,.the.organization.
gains.the.ability.to.investigate.a.new.market.in.the.way.that.it.can.
investigate.a.new.technology..Since.teams.have.the.ability.to.see.the.
drivers.of.customer.value,.new.products.for.new.markets.have.less.
market.risk,.and.the.company.strengthens.its.ability.to.grow.
to BUiLD tRUe cUStoMeR intiMAcY, Go-AnD-See Lean.problem.solving.drives.us.to.go.to.the.source..The.source.of.
customer.intimacy.is.with.our.customers..To.build.deep.customer.
knowledge,.we.need.to.go-and-see.for.ourselves..If.it.were.possible.to.
build.customer.intimacy.through.databases.of.sales.history,.it.would.
not.be.so.difficult.to.make.decisions.that.impact.customer.value.
As.with.any.other.kind.of.knowledge,.the.explicit.part.is.the.tip.
of.the.iceberg..If.we.truly.want.to.understand.customer.needs,.espe-cially.all.the.needs.they.cannot.easily.express,.we.need.to.be.able.to.
build.a.base.of.experiences.that.give.us.the.ability.to.put.ourselves.
in.their.shoes..It’s.the.tacit.knowledge.that.we.build.through.direct.
customer.interactions.that.helps.us.make.the.decisions.that.maxi- mize.value.for.everyone..That.is.where.we.get.the.products.that.cus-tomers.truly.enjoy.
Not.every.product.developer.needs.this.direct.experience..The.people.
who.are.responsible.for.driving.the.vision.for.a.product.definitely.need.
it,.as.does.anyone.in.a.position.to.decide.among.trade-offs.that.include.
drivers.of.customer.value..For.all.but.the.simplest.products,.technical.
staff.need.these.experiences.just.as.much—if.not.more—than.the.peo-ple.in.Marketing,.Design,.or.Human.Factors.Engineering..Without.
Steelcase: Go-and-See New Customers to Open New Markets • 99
•. Easy.assembly..The.chair.is.shipped.in.three.parts.that.assemble.in.
less.than.30.seconds.without.tools,.making.it.easy.to.get.the.chairs.
into.a.classroom.
•. Swivel.seats.and.casters.make.it.easy.for.students.to.transition.quickly.
from.watching.an.instructor.to.engaging.a.team.for.group.work.
•. Personal. work. surfaces.accommodate. students.in.a.wide.range.of.
sizes,.both. left-.and. right-handed,.with.space.for. laptops.or.note-books.. When. students. move. into. groups,.the. workspaces.create. a.
“conference.table”.setting.for.collaboration.
•. Flexible,.comfortable.seats.help.students.stay.comfortable.even.with-out.upholstery.
•. Integrated.storage.underneath.the.chairs.helps.keep.stuff.off.the.floor,.
eliminating.trip.hazards.when.students.move.around.the.room..And.
since.their.stuff.is.“on-board,”.there’s.no.downtime.from.picking.up.
their.stuff.to.move.
Once. the. design. team. settled. on. a. single. concept. (Figure 8.1),. the.
engineering. team. set. out. to. learn. how. to. make. thousands. of. chairs.
at. a. cost. that. a. public. high. school. could. afford. to. pay.. All. of. this.
research.gave.the.engineers.a.deep.understanding.of.customer.value.
to.help.them.make.trade-off.decisions.as.they.built.and.tested.the.final.
that.direct,.personal.experience.it.is.hard.to.understand.why.these.cus-tomer.representatives.make.the.requests.that.they.do..Technical.staff.
make.decisions.every.day.that.directly.impact.customer.value..They.
make.better.and.faster.decisions.if.they.have.customer.knowledge.of.
their.own.
At.the.end.of.the.day,.we.build.customer.intimacy.customer-by-customer..Surveys,.market.tests,.and.sales.data.can.tell.us.all.the.easy.
stuff,.but.they.can.tell.our.competitors.the.same.things..If.we.can.
develop.the.capacity.to.build.personal.relationships.with.sets.of.cur-rent.customers,.we.build.a.base.of.customer.knowledge.that.is.much.
less.easily.copied.to.maximize.the.value.of.our.current.product.lines..
If.we.can.build.relationships.with.potential.customers,.we.give.our-selves.the.ability.to.understand.them.well.enough.to.deliver.the.value.
they.need.to.become.part.of.our.ecosystem.
design..Along.the.way,.the.group.had.some.specific.design.challenges.
to.overcome:
•. ergonomics:.The.observers.noticed.that.students.presented.a.wide.
range.of.body.types.in.high.school.and.college..Pressure.maps.are.
one.way.that.Steelcase.assesses.how.comfortable.a.chair.is.likely.to.
be..Pressure.mapping.showed.that.the.original.design.was.too.small..
The.chairs.needed.to.be.1.5.inches.(3.25.cm).wider.to.be.comfortable.
enough.for.a.wide.range.of.students.
•. Durability:.Anything.that.goes.into.a.classroom.gets.subjected.to.a.
lot.of.wear-and-tear..In.beta.testing,.the.team.learned.that.one.of.the.
fasteners.on.the.chair.kept.coming.undone.under.the.stresses.of.the.
classroom.environment..This.required.the.engineers.to.redesign.this.
part.for.the.rigors.of.the.education.market.
•. integrated storage:.A.key.breakthrough.came.when.the.group.final-ized.the.design.for.the.base.of.the.chair.(Figure 8.2)..Rather.than.
attaching. a. storage. basket. to. the. legs,. the. legs. and. storage. basket.
became.one.integrated.unit..This.approach.made.the.business.case.
work.by.lowering.cost.and.increasing.durability.simultaneously.
The.final.result.was.a.simple.design.that.distilled.the.essence.of.cus-tomer.value.into.an.affordable.product.that.would.also.deliver.maximum.
FIGURE 8.1 The.Node.chair.
Steelcase: Go-and-See New Customers to Open New Markets • 101
business.value..Sean.said,.“The.chair.succeeded.because.we.had.a.good.
understanding.of.the.customer.value.that.the.whole.team.shared.”
RESULTS
The.product.was.launched.in.June.of.2010.at.NeoCon,.where.it.won.an.innova-tion.award..By.launch,.Steelcase.had.already.received.nearly.5,000.preorders..
After.product.release,.the.Node.chair.took.on.a.life.of.its.own..Students.began.
asking.for.the.Node.chair..After.trying.the.Node.chairs,.one.student.said,.“The.
only.reason.I’ve.been.able.to.deal.with.the.other.chairs.is.because.I.am.a.kid.”
Steelcase.is.leveraging.everything.it.learned.from.the.Node.chair.into.
new.products.to.support.an.active.learning.environment..It.wants.to.move.
beyond. chairs. to. reexamine. all. of. the. elements. of. the. classroom.. Sean.
said,.“I.am.pleased.to.hear.the.many.testimonials,.from.teachers,.facili-ties.managers,.and.especially.students,.about.how.Node.has.dramatically.
improved.their.classroom.experience.”
Discussion Questions
•. What.do.you.do.to.help.you.understand.customer.value?
•. Who.are.the.customers.in.your.customer.chain?.What.values.does.
each.customer.group.need?.Where.are.the.needs.complementary.and.
where.do.they.conflict?
•. When.is.customer.feedback.integrated.into.your.product.develop-ment.process?
FIGURE 8.2
The.Node.chair.base.
next Actions
. ☐. Go-and-see. a. customer.. Spend. a. day. observing. people. use. your.
product.as.they.use.it.
. ☐. Talk.to.a.team.that’s.in.early.development.about.how.to.incorporate.
more.go-and-see.visits.into.the.investigation.plan.for.their.concept.
. ☐. Map.out.your.customer’s.value.stream,.using.some.simple.boxes.and.
arrows..Where.is.the.waste?.What.is.the.true.value?
Steelcase: Go-and-See New Customers to Open New Markets • 103
cRoSS-PRoJect KnoWLeDGe SHARinG At RUAG SPAce company:. RUAG. Space. is. the. biggest. independent. supplier. of.
space. equipment. in. Europe,. with. facilities. in. Switzerland,.
Austria,.and.Sweden.
Problem:. RUAG. Space’s. R. &. D. teams. in. Gothenburg. build.
space.equipment.for.specific.customers.on.a.project.basis..The.
engineering.teams.tend.to.think.about.their.work.in.terms.of.
these.projects,.which.limits.their.thinking.around.the.abil-ity. to. reuse. knowledge. across. projects.. The. engineers.focus.
on.delivering.exactly.what.the.specific.customer.wants,.with-out.thinking.about.how.the.knowledge.they.create.could.be.
reused,.and.sometimes.suboptimizing.the.system’s.ability.to.
reuse.knowledge..As.a.result,.these.projects.take.more.time.
than.they.would.if.the.engineers.were.able.to.eliminate.this.
waste.of.reinvention.
countermeasure:.RUAG.Space.in.Gothenburg.held.a.series.of.
workshops.to.talk.about.the.concept.of.“product”.by.using.
examples. outside. RUAG.. The. importance. of. including. all.
parts.of.the.organization.to.help.the.engineers.think.beyond.
their.own.boxes.was.discussed..The.workshop.leaders.used.
a.visual.model.to.help.product.developers.think.about.the.
need.to.reuse.knowledge.across.products..This.picture.shows.
the.flow.of.knowledge.from.one.product.to.another.as.the.
technology. evolves.. At. the. end. of. the. workshop,. product.
developers. filled. out. a. questionnaire. to. ask. them. about.
the.current.state.of.product.development.and.their.desired.
future.state..The. leaders. organized.the. answers. within.the.
four.capabilities,.and.then.they.analyzed.the.gaps.between.
current.state.and.future.state..They.established.action.plans.
to.close.the.gaps.
Experiences
Principles Leadership
Project Tomorrow Roadmap
SEMS
. Cross-project.knowledge.sharing.at.RUAG..SEMS.is.RUAG’s.management.system.
Results:. Three. of. the. actions. have. already. helped. RUAG. share.
knowledge. across. projects. more. effectively.. The. group. began.
conducting. technical. knowledge. sharing. seminars. to. ensure.
that.the.product.developers.would.have.opportunities.to.talk.
about.the.knowledge.they.had.created.with.members.of.other.
project. teams. and. provide. a. forum. for. resolving. challenging.
technical.problems.
. The. group. changed.the.process.for. analyzing.and.managing.
risk.and.introduced.continuous.“lessons.learned”.sessions.as.a.
part.of.every.week’s.project.meetings..They.support.the.lessons.
learned.process.with.a.template.to.guide.the.reflection.and.an.
improvements.board.to.keep.track.of.the.improvement.ideas.
. The.group.also.set.up.an.internal.Wiki.to.capture.knowledge..
Wikis. are. internal. “Wikipedias”—Intranet. systems. that. use.
Wikipedia’s.open-source.software.to.build.internal.knowledge.
Steelcase: Go-and-See New Customers to Open New Markets • 105
supermarkets..Per.Malmborg,.Lean.Manager.for.RUAG.Space.
in.Gothenburg.says,.“The.Wiki.has.grown.very.strong.within.
some.parts.of.our.organization..We.see.teams.using.it.to.share.
knowledge..For.the.group,.it.has.become.a.good.tool.to.share.
ideas.”
next steps:.The.company.intends.to.finalize.what.it.has.started.
and.continue.to.work.the.items.that.show.up.on.its.improve- ments.board..It.also.needs.to.figure.out.how.to.develop.a.simi-lar.experience.for.its.engineers.
107