As a lead service designer, one of my responsibilities is to help project teams see the big picture. This means understanding the broader context of the problem, the users’ needs, and the various stakeholders involved. By providing this perspective, I ensure that the team is designing an effective solution that fits into the larger ecosystem of users’ lives.
Why teams may not see the big picture
A common barrier for stakeholders is only having visibility of their tasks or components of the project. Moreover, this limited view may cause them to overlook other important aspects of the challenge, such as the overall journey or experience. A helpful analogy to illustrate this point is the parable of the blind men and the elephant.
The blind men and the elephant parable
The parable of the blind men and an elephant is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant’s body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the elephant based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other.
The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they ignore other people’s limited, subjective experiences which may be equally true.
Source: Wikipedia
As the parable illustrates, each person’s perspective of the elephant is limited by their knowledge and point of view. No one can see the whole elephant, so everyone believes their view is correct.
Putting all the parts together (seeing the elephant)
I help teams see the big picture by making the “elephant” visible.
Journey mapping is a common tool used to surface and bring visibility to the actors, influences, touchpoints, and stakeholders involved. This process identifies areas of pain and opportunities for improvement. It ensures that the team designs solutions that consider the entire experience. Additionally, bringing people on the journey and sharing findings encourages collaboration and communication between teams – leading to more cohesive and effective solutions.
Influencing the wider journey
Factors affecting a user’s experience are sometimes beyond the project team’s control. However, the project team should still be made aware of these factors if they impact the outcome.
Although the project team may have limited influence, understanding these factors may reveal additional improvement opportunities.
Sphere of influence
On occasion, the team may have some influence on the experience before or after their stage in the user’s journey.
Conclusion
Show & tells and co-design sessions are excellent opportunities to involve stakeholders not part of the project team into the research and design process.
Additionally, sharing the big picture and working in the open can create real impact by building empathy. Taking the time to do this will bring clarity to complexity and break down silos. In fact, I have successfully persuaded external organisations to change their practices based on user insights and stories told.
While external teams may have competing priorities and may not be ready to act, including them in the process adds tremendous value to the outcome by creating a shared view.