Ideo, the shopping cart and the halo effect. What is – really – good design?

(almost) anybody interested in innovation knows about the IDEO process and the well-famed Ideo shopping cart video shot for ABC. It is indeed a staple for innovation seminars and a renowned example of faultless creativity methodology. In the ABC video (you can purchase it from ABC see link per below) you will see the IDEO team challenged about the re-design of a simple everyday object, the shopping cart. And the demonstration is compelling. Here’s an object we use on an everyday basis, that is almost universally used from one end of the planet to the other, and we hadn’t even thought about making it more user-friendly. Obvious isn’t it? And the Ideo team therefore redesign the aforementioned trolley in less than 2 days. Impressive, all the seminar attendees stand up and cheer, here’s an impressive process that leads to compelling results (see the finished trolley on the lefthand-side)!

 

At least that’s what I had thought too, maybe a bit naively, until I read the following critical articles for which I am providing links hereafter. Afterthoughts include questions such as “why wasn’t this shopping cart deployed after the show and why can’t we find it in shops?” and also “is the exercise real or is it artificial, namely at the beginning of the process when they start investigating the problem with cameras, are they doing it for real?”.

 

I was also pondering – whereas I have just started reading Rosenzweig’s latest opus – whether this wasn’t a case for a halo effect, i.e. “a tendency to make inferences about specific traits on the basis of a general impression” (The Halo Effect, p50). Yes, the video looks nice, and the people look brilliant and the process really seems to work fine. In just two days a new (supposedly) superior shopping cart was created but the real question is: what is really good design? Is it design that looks nice, or is it also about practicality for instance? (what about all these boxes on the cart, are they really so convenient? where do you store them? how do you pile the trolleys on one another etc.). Is it design (only) aimed at the end user or is it also aimed at shop-owners too? that’s an important part. In the video the onus is on the team to develop a shopping-cart that would be more convenient. But more convenient to whom? Can we assume that shop-owners aren’t worried about the cost of their trolleys, the way that they are stored, their lifespan? Besides, is the trolley issue the main issue, even for end-users? For instance, would clients rather pay more for food stored conveniently in a designer trolley or pay less for food piled up in a chicken-wire box on wheels?

 

These are open questions, but chances are that the answer lies in the fact that one cannot find these trolleys in our shops.

 

But mind you, don’t jump to the conclusion that the Ideo process doesn’t work either. Judging on just one example would simply be not enough. It would just be another halo effect.

• Jim from Humanbeingcurious on an article of praise on the IDEO process
• Gene Smith on Ideo shopping cart: what has happened to the Ideo shopping cart?
  
• Steve Portigal on the ‘infamous’ ideo shopping cart example
• Wikipedia entry on Ideo
• The Ideo grocery cart report (pdf)
• Purchase the IDEO shopping cart Video from ABC ($39)
• The online patent description
• The IDEO shopping cart photo on Flickr

Bain ranks management fads and tools

Seen today on my friend Jean François David’s blog (a must-read on IT and organisation), this post on a Bain study related to the appraisal of usage and user satisfaction of today’s most hyped management fads and tools. The surveys spans over a period of 14 years and covers all 4 continents. The list of items surveyed includes the Balanced Scorecard, BPR, Corporate Blogs (new in 2007), CRM, Outsourcing,
RFID, and last but not least Strategic Alliances and Collaborative Innovation, some of these very often debated on this blog too. This also reminds me of another must-read, ie Phil Rosenzweig’s sharp attack on management fads entitled the ‘halo effect‘.

Rosenzweig wrote The Halo Effect because “during 25 years in and around the business world, [he has] seen so much nonsense—unsupported claims by famous gurus and self-described “thought leaders,” sweeping assertions based on poor data, and simplistic stories that claim to be rigorous research. Worse, most people—including many very smart managers, consultants, and journalists— can’t tell the difference between good and bad research”.

So, what is Bain’s survey telling us about collaborative innovation (click above picture to enlarge)?

First and foremost, collaborative innovation is not in a bad place on the matrix. On the contrary. It’s way above the inevitable six sigma and offshoring buzzwords in terms of satisfaction, but also in terms of usage. What it tells us too is that the winners are rather basic to say the least (customer segmentation, core competencies and such like at the top). Fine, Marketing managers have all bought the latest edition of Kotler’s obligatory opus. Not a done deal for marketing 2.0 and the like for sure. One the other lessons we are tought from Bain’s report is that Hi tech companies aren’t, after all, in advance in terms of innovation. Is that surprising? Not really in fact. CPG companies innovate constantly, even though their product image may be low key. Washing powders – often mocked by hi tech marketers as the epitome of non innovation – are being constantly re-invented in different formats and various formulae which are making them probably the hardest products to imitate properly. Beiersdorf’s Nivea is also one the epitome of innovation as explained (sorry, in French only) in that detailed account of a Nivea innovation meeting I attended a year ago. So as we see, there is even more room for improvement in marketing 2.0 implementation in hi tech companies.

Indeed, a very interesting report; thanks again Jean François!

 

• complete report from Bain available here
• original picture slide available from JF David’s blog
• Jean François’s home page