We're all in the technology business, but I think sometimes we get caught up
in the technology and not ways to apply it to make it meaningful to people,
either directly or via the business that employs us. I guess that is not all
bad, someone has to manage bits and bytes, right? Yet as much as I (we?) like
technology, I like to think that first and foremost we're problem solvers.
Over the past year or so I've seen some really interesting innovations both
in software and consumer products (not tech related). The interesting thing
about all of these is that to me none are revolutionary, but the result of
someone realizing that they could solve a problem in a better way. The
proverbial mousetrap.
Example #1. I visited Salt Lake City this year, downtown is great for
walking, but some of the streets are six lanes across. They have the walk/don't
walk signs that I imagine you've all seen. What do you do when the don't walk
signal starts to flash? Run, fast walk, hurry up in some way. These signs were
the first I had seen that showed how long you had left to cross, counting down
from 20 seconds. Now you don't have to run or wonder how long you have left to
cross.
Example #2. Actually on the way to Salt Lake City the onboard monitors showed
the flight path, direction, landmarks, speed, temperature outside, etc. I
wouldn't say it's enthralling, but it's very nice to look at sometimes as you
look out the window, wondering what is below.
Example #3. Most bottles/containers of mustard, ketchup, and similar items
come sealed with a foil seal to prevent tampering. They work good enough that
they are frustrating to remove. New versions have a nice pull tab on top,
accomplishes the original purpose AND makes it easier for the end user.
The pattern I see is that the technology to accomplish all three of those
exists - and probably has existed for some time. The trick was realizing there
was a problem. These aren't problems that would have stopped your business, or
caused you not to buy a product. Maybe you never even thought of not having the
examples above as a problem. Yet once you see the solution, would you want to go
back to the old way?
Look for the pain points. Things that take your employees or customers a long
time to do, or that they try to avoid because it's tedious, not fun, doesn't
feel very useful. There are places there where a surprisingly small amount of
effort may result in a huge gain in perceived value or usefulness. Not every
innovation has to cost a million dollars.
Sometimes it's mundane. My employer probably takes on around 20 new clients
each year. For each of those we have to create a database, replicate a portion
of it to a reporting server, configure various initial settings in perhaps 10
different places before we're ready to actually load some data and do business.
Done manually, it's probably a 50 or 60 step operation that takes 30 minutes or
so for someone who has done it before. It's also slightly error prone, very easy
to miss a step or get a step wrong. We bundled the whole process into a utility
app, probably took 4-6 hours to code and do a test run. Now it takes 5 minutes
instead of 30. I think you can see that there is a positive ROI there, but ROI
isn't the only issue here. We get a solid result each time and we automate a
task that can be automated, changing what was drudgery to a quick administrative
task. In the same ballpark as the tab on the ketchup seal? Well, maybe not, but
it's the best working example I could think of!
As I think more about it, I'm not sure it is a good example. Automating
processes is a fine idea and usually worth doing, but the ideas I'm looking for
involve more of a conceptual leap, or at least I think the great ones do. It's
more of a user interface, usability issue.
I don't the answers, and maybe not even new questions. I do know that our
businesses rely on us for not just core technology, but to help them find the
innovations that keep the work coming in - and our checks going out. Spend a few
minutes a week thinking about strategic ideas in your corner of the world.
