The hospital gown has been around for centuries. It's no news that the ill-fitting, dignity-stealing flimsy covering clearly needs an overhaul.


The problem is, the way products are designed and redesigned needs an over-haul as well. In the case of this hospital gown, The Wall Street journal, in this article, outlines the ill-fated 2.5 year process that has done nothing but hit walls and stall. And the reason? Because what's standing in the way of our personal dignity in healthcare is trying to be discovered by way of The Focus Group and corporate "funky task force."
In this instance, six focus groups have convened at five hospitals in North Carolina and one in Massachusetts. Then....the team working on the gowns has gotten loads of input from people they call "stakeholders" - folks who make or sell the new gowns. "We thought that it would be a much easier problem to tackle," says Prof. Traci Lamar, who has been leading the effort.
Besides over-complicating the solution, the customer gets lost along the way. Rather than going back to a good reason for the redesign (patient dignity and er, warmth), he who has the loudest voice, most money to lose in changing manufacturing to a new model or most objections to design wins. The end result: both companies and customers lose.
The Journal of Consumer Research says in its article "The Fire of Desire: A Multisited Inquiry in Consumer Passion" that "There is spreading consensus that much, if not all, consumption has been quite wrongly characterized as involving need fulfillment, utility maximization, and reasoned choices." Think of services or experiences you've had that were astounding in how they impacted you. There is a desire to repeat those experiences ... most likely not only because of the utility of what was delivered .... but for how you were related to and treated and for how you felt.
Let's say a company is in the business of making plastic drinking cups for children. While on the surface this may sound like a trivial matter, it is not, as anyone with children knows. The right drinking cup can play a leading role in getting a child to sleep and making mealtime a relatively peaceful endeavor. Traditional customer focus groups bring a group of customers together and place two cups on the table. They ask the customers, "Which cup do you prefer?" The customer will then pick a cup. But that doesn't mean either cup is the best cup for them. Maybe the customer needs a cup with a straw. But the company didn't take the time to think about the customers' life. In the absence of getting what was right, the customer picked what was available.
As consumers, we're conditioned to accept what's available. Beloved companies work hard every day to put a stop to that. They go beyond executing tasks. They're in it to deliver an experience their customer's desire. Even how they learn what customers yearn for sets them apart. In this instance, it is not the utility of buying a cup that compels the young mother to go shopping, it's her desire to help her child's development, or to get her to sleep, or to not have to wipe up the floor twenty times a day. The companies that go beyond meeting the obvious utility of needing a cup, as in this example, reach the underlying emotions and needs of their customers. They are the who build lasting bonds with their customers. They are the ones remembered with fondness long after their children are grown because for a period of time; they were an important part of their customers' lives.
Beloved companies start with the customer instead of the cup. They yearn to understand the emotions of the young mom who is buying the cup to understand what solution she'd desire, not just settle for. They learn about her life and what she needs. And then build a solution from her point of view. Auto-pilot product development solutions are turned on their ear when customer needs, emotions and desires become the inspiration for product and service development. Within the beloved companies, their curiosity for understanding customer emotions in every interaction informs decision-making.
A simple way to remember this is; the everyday company is selling cups. The beloved company is supporting parenthood. They learn customers' aspirations, needs and desires. And become a part of their life.
Is your business doing your version of selling cups...or supporting parenthood?
Let me know where you are today.