“There’s a way to do it better. Find it.”
This past week we've been talking - again - about problem definition, and the need to avoid our in-built bias for early stage solutions. Accordingly we are are making some changes to how we develop concepts - being a little less precious about killing false starts. Even though the Lab operates to a 75% failure rate we rarely touch it. Perversely we need get better at failing.
So this week:
We've made some changes to our Trello Board - which will now see Card Owners responsible for the evolution of each concept. That means the title or problem might change - and it could crash and burn and be reborn as something else, all within a week.
We've been evaluating some of our work around smart home technology, sensors and IoT. Our initial findings indicate although customers welcome the new technology almost universally the evidence that it has actually changed behaviours is less persuasive. Our thinking is it's a bit like giving a mobile device to a colleague and expecting them to automatically become more productive. They don't. They need coaching to make the best use of the features. A big lesson learnt for us - we need to identify more support for customers to make the most of digital tech.
The property sector is a multi-billion pound industry that affects all of us at some point in our lives. So this week we've had a learning session on PropTech , and how Bromford can leverage some of the R+D happening in this fast growing sector. We had a great session yesterday and are now going away to do some thinking with colleagues about where we get started. Expect to see a focus around the use of tech to reimagine the conventional landlord and tenant relationship.
We've been out and about shadowing our Starting Well Engineers , Liam and Steve, ahead of the mid term evaluation of the pilot. What's great to see is how the guys are loving the opportunity to spend time talking to and coaching customers rather than just repairing homes. Its a focus of Bromford that services should be redesigned to mobilise the energy and contribution of citizens. We're looking forward to fine tuning the concept over the autumn.
Who are the super-users of our service and what are they actually like? As part of our work on customer personas we are spending time identifying those customers who appear - on the face of it - to consume higher than average services before doing some interviews with them. We are keen to move away from demonising these people as problems to be solved and towards a better understanding of how we fit the right services to the right people.
That's us. See you next week