500 words or less
In 2003 I was part of a small team at IDEO responsible for developing new business with AT&T Wireless, the company’s original mobile division. These were the earliest days of commercial smart phone technology and the conceptualization of a mass market service experience was still in its infancy. In fact, the prevailing belief at the time was that smart phones were just a version of your desktop computer with far less real estate.
Our work proved this assumption to be inaccurate. Why would customers pay for something they could get for free at home or the office? By exploring the customer perspective and bringing our clients along for the ride (literally – our engagement began by sending AT&T executives on an elaborate scavenger hunt through the streets of San Francisco), we discovered the unmet needs for accessing specific kinds of information in a mobile environment.
This all seems terribly quaint in 2024 but the design principles that emerged from the insights we discovered were used to guide the creation of the first commercially successful wireless data service in the country.
Spending more than a decade on the design of service experiences across a range of industries greatly influenced how I engage with clients in my independent coaching and consulting practice today. Even when I first considered sharing essays like this one, I was very conscious of the reader experience. Thinking about other missives that regularly arrive in my inbox, I was able to discern why I read some and why I discarded others.
Thus, the design principles for this essay series were born:
Focused: Share just one big idea
Relatable: Include a personal story or anecdote
Useful: Offer something to try or think about
Actionable: Provide guidance for how to reach me
Easy: Make it 500 words or less so that it’s easy to consume
In short, I respect your time. Writing is not one of my superpowers, nor my first choice for self-expression - I’d rather engage in live conversation while drawing you a diagram on a whiteboard!