Complex Problem Solving
We all know the world we live in is changing and evolving at a fast pace. The rise of the experience economy, emerging technologies (such as the internet of things) and the commoditization of knowledge are driving changes in the way in which we work, and forcing businesses to re-invent business models and the methods used to create and design solutions. A recent World Economic Forum publication affirms these changes in the business environment with their prediction around the top ten skills that will be most in demand by 2020. Complex Problem Solving has emerged as the top skill on this list. (World Economic Forum) Businesses seek out professionals with the ability to unpack problems and successfully navigate to a solution that is not necessarily obvious to the naked out. Design Thinking has come as a discipline that many believe will help businesses solve these complex problems as they endeavor to design human-centric experiences and solutions for customers.
Adopting a Growth Mindset
Design Thinking is about experiential and strategic design. Looking at services and large-scale complex issues which requires to deeply understand the needs of our customers and employees in order to deliver more valued and successful solutions. For many, this is a fundamental shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. This shift has to occur for both individuals and the organizations that they work for. In order to really get to these complex problems, companies need to tackle traditional, linear ways of thinking about problems and the ways in which they solve them.
Reflecting and doing more research on the e-commerce, Wayfair, I can reaffirm the company is leading the industry through innovation by applying Design Thinking. They are focused on adopting a growth mindset and deeply understanding the needs of their customers. They want to explore growth opportunities for the business and to that end, they look to act quickly and place small bets that will lead to opportunities for success in new horizons. Wayfair is much more willing to accept uncertainties and seek new experiences in order to open new horizons and embark on a journey of learning and adaptation. With this mindset, Wayfair is better equipped to manage risk through action, look at the hidden growth opportunities and to adopt an empathy by an approach to design and complex problem-solving.
Wayfair’s Design Thinking Culture
The company has made sure to incorporate Design Thinking into its culture. They started with little steps like an open-plan office. By having different teams together, communication became easier. They realize problems aren’t necessarily to be solved by a specific department. By bringing different perspectives into a project, they were more likely to find hidden problems more easily. Wayfair also gives a huge amount of importance to its Customer Service team and encourage them to be involved with all the departments and vice versa. They make customers the first priority and are constantly involving them in their research. They make sure they have a one-to-one experience with different customer demographics. To wonder about things, that may not seem like a problem at the moment, but that could eventually improve. Things like, why the customer didn’t complete a purchase or why do they prefer retail shopping instead of online shopping. By understanding the type of consumer they have and their behavior they have managed to lead the industry through innovation.
From this way of thinking originated their newest added feature- Augmented Reality Camera. This feature enables customers to visualize how a furniture would look like in their house using their phone camera. It will show the real features (like height and lighting) of the item and the customer can see how it fits the house before purchasing. They came up with this idea when they were trying to understand why some customers were leaving items in their shopping cart but not completing the purchase. This customers all had problems visualizing how it would look like in their house or simply prefer shopping in a retail store to see the actual size of things. Wayfair’s Product Innovation team quickly address this problem by disrupting the industry with the new technologies available in the market.
Wayfair is a good example of a company that follows the Design Thinking process to help solve complex problems more effectively and helps understand the mindset shift needed from linear systematic thinking to one that embraces chaos, human-centricity and the abstract nature of complex problems. With this mindset, they embrace new situations and seek out growth opportunities in the market. It also integrates these solutions into the business through architecture and agile delivery to ensure successfully incorporation of new products and services into business operations which in turn allows it to scale fast when necessary.
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