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Innovation comes from knowing what your customer needs, beforethey do.

By Simon Raik-Allen

ABC Technology and Games, Opinion 

Early on in my IT career, I was given a1

piece of advice that has always held me2

in good stead, 'if you want to build great3

products, know your customer'. I would4

take it one step further and say that great5

products anticipate the needs of your6

customers, and make life much easier for7

them.8

The genius of Steve Jobs was not that he9

revolutionised the PC or even the music10

industry, but that he accurately predicted11

how his customers wanted to listen to12

music, access the internet and even13

make phone calls, before they did.14

The mistake often made in software15

development is focussing on new features or 'something new you think will be useful16

for others', which fails the 'understand your customer' and 'anticipate their needs'17

tests. Just because it's new and simplifies a task doesn't mean your customers will18

find it useful.19

Even if you go and ask customers what they want, they will often request a particular20

feature that doesn't get used when the software goes live. When you go back and21

ask them why, the answer is typically that they thought that it would have been22

useful but now that it's there they realise it's not.23

Sounds frustrating, doesn't it? Here's what I have learnt about customers from all this.24

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Put simply, show them the software, revise25

and show them again and after more revisions, show them one more time.26

Customers lack the technical knowledge to come up with practical out-of-the box27

ways to improve the software they use. Henry Ford, the inventor of the car, summed28

it up perfectly when he said: "If I had asked my customers what they wanted they29

would have said, a faster horse."30

Without showing them working models, IT professionals are merely guessing how31

consumers will interact with a given product. But for success to be repeat-able, there32

needs to be a straightforward process in-between showing the customer. The33

answer comes in three parts: knowledge, analysis and evolution.34

To start with, 'know' your customer. You need to understand their challenges, how35

they cope with them and how you can make life easier. This can only be earned36

through constant interaction with your customer base and sound research.37

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Next analyse what you have learned. Map out how they currently use the software,38

chart out processes, identify and distil patterns, commonalities, inefficiencies, waste,39

and what features they value. Next, draw on your own experience and knowledge to40

establish what you actually think they 'need'. Then take it a step further and41

anticipate what they will need next.42

Finally, show them, get feedback, and refine. Create more mock ups and take these43

back to your customers, and get their feedback. Use this feedback and your44

knowledge, and build a new set of mock ups to show them a third time. It helps to45

employ an agile methodology to remain flexible and be able to do this in stages.46

Does this sound time consuming and expensive? Well, that is the price of providing47

true value to your customers.48

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Innovation comes from knowing what your customer needs, beforethey do.

Warm-up Exercises 

1) Writing in your Reading Journal and DiscussionWrite your answers to the following questions and then discuss your answers witha partner or in a small group.

a) What software programs do you frequently use on your laptop or PC?b) What software or apps do you frequently use on your phone or tablet?c) Do you think you could identify ways to improve the software or apps you

use? Why?d) How do you think companies identify ways to improve their software and

apps?

Word Power 

Add these words to your vocabulary list in your reading journal or vocabularynotebook/file. Find each word in the text where it appears and study that sentence.The number in brackets refers to the line where it appears in the reading.

anticipate (6)revolutionised (revolutionized) (10)interact (32)distil (39)

refine (43)agile (46)

Pre-reading exercises 

1) Identifying Vocabulary in Context.Below are five excerpts from the reading. Use context clues to write the bestdefinition possible for the word or phrase in bold type. Underline any key wordsthat helped you to form your definition. After you’ve finished, look the word up tosee how close you were to the real definition. After that, add it to your vocabulary

list in your reading journal or vocabulary notebook/file.

a) Here's what I have learnt about customers from all this. The proof of thepudding is in the eating. Put simply, show them the software, revise andshow them again and after more revisions, show them one more time.

My definition:

 ______________________________________________  ______________________________________________  

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b) Customers lack the technical knowledge to come up with practical out-of-the box ways to improve the software they use.

My definition: _____________________________________________  _____________________________________________  

c) This can only be earned through constant interaction with your customerbase and sound research.

My definition:

 _____________________________________________  _____________________________________________ 

d) Create more mock ups and take these back to your customers, and gettheir feedback. Use this feedback and your knowledge, and build a new setof mock ups to show them a third time.

My definition:

 _____________________________________________  _____________________________________________ 

2) Preparing to Read and Making Predictions

a) Based on the title ‘Innovation comes from knowing what your customerneeds, before they do,’ what do you think this article’s main topic will be?

 _____________________________________________  _____________________________________________  _____________________________________________ 

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Post-reading exercises 

1) Comprehension Checks.Write brief answers to the following questions.

a) Why does the author believe that customers can’t successfully identifyways to improve software?

b) Why does the author think that IT professionals can’t successfully improvesoftware without feedback from customers?

c) What process does the author advise IT professionals follow in order todevelop software that is useful and relevant for their customers?

2) Discussion.Discuss the following questions in groups.

a) Do you agree with the idea that customers cannot successfully identify

ways to improve software? Why or why not?b) Imagine you have been asked to improve the KAIST Moodle.a. How would you interact with the customer base (students and staff

at KAIST) and research how they use the Moodle?b. How would you identify useful improvements?

c) Choose a software program or app that you frequently use.a. What are its strong points?b. What are its weak points?c. Try to think of one innovation or improvement for this program.

Writing exercises 1) Summarizing.In your own words, summarize lines 31-46. Be sure to focus only on the key points.

2) Writing.Choose one of the options below. Use your notes from the group discussion.

a) Write a paragraph that explains how you would conduct research toidentify useful improvements for the KAIST Moodle.

b) Write a logical division of ideas paragraph that describes the strong andweak points of an app or program that you use.

c) Write a paragraph that explains how you would improve an existingprogram or app.

Extension Exercises 

1) Group Presentations.Identify a weak point about an app or program and design a potential solution, or

identify one way in which an existing app or program could be improved. In your

presentations, briefly introduce the app or program, outline its strengths and

weaknesses, and then present your proposed innovation.

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While listening to other groups’ presentations, take notes and provide feedback at

the end of each presentation.

After receiving feedback, discuss in your group if or how you should modify your

proposed innovation.