Art of Innovation 3. Innovation Begins with an Eye

A medical device company requested that their new product must be usable with one hand, just as the current one it. However, when visiting the operating room, the designers saw surgeons use both hands on the device. Their conclusion was not to fight the natural tendency to use both hands, but rather design for it.

Takeaway: Spend time observing users, don't just take the client's word for it.

Don't just ask people what they want. They may not want to tell you or know how to articulate their needs. Example - ask people how they liked a program after struggling through a usability test of it. It's not their job to be visionaries.

*Make me think of the old quote from Henry Ford, "If I had asked the people what they want, they would have said, 'more horses.'"*

Ask yourself throughout your day, what you could improve around you.

Keep close to the action. This is why people continue to travel to business meeting for face-to-face time.

*I completely agree with this point. I don't believe conference call innovation will ever replace face-to-face time.*

There are no dumb questions.

*I prefer to say, there are dumb questions, but you should ask them anyway.*

The best products embrace people's differences. Example - Kids' small hands actually need larger toothbrush handles.

*This particular innovation has seemed to turn into a standard lately.*

Inspiration by observation - let what you see lead to better designs. Example - IDEO observed people in an office using phonebooks for footrests so they invented a desk footrest.

*This can be generalized to the idea that wherever you see "band-aid" solutions such as sticky notes or phonebooks, that is a prime opportunity for innovation.*

Embrace your crazy user - find interesting people and talk to them.

*I am still working on this part, as I find it slightly intimidating.*

Findings rule breakers. If someone is doing something in her own non-traditional way. Find out how and why.

Yes, people are human. Attitude of the 1930s as stated by an auto executive at the time

It's not that we build such bad cars; it's just that they are such lousy customers.

*My, how things have changed.*

Observation exercises. Pay attention to the environment around you - the watting rooms, the receptionist. Anything and everything is prime opportunity to practice.

Athletes must stretch before competing. Similarly, our observation muscles could use a little stretching.

*One of my personal favorite quotes from the book. Reminding us that we all need to practice to be good at the art of observation.*

Little Innovations. Widespread adoption takes time. Be prepared to innovate one baby step at a time when needed.

Seeing products in motion. Watch people use your products. Refer to products used for entirely different purposes. Use a rubber septum, like the one that open a hear valve, as a way for dirty mountain bikers to cleanly and quickly access their water.

Cross-Pollinate. User solutions from other industries (and even mindsets) to create new solutions.

Making Heroes. Empower your users with innovation. Make them look good and smart.

Chapter Takeaway: Observe your users, you may find opportunities and methods to innovation that you could not have gotten any other way.