Let’s face it: it’s no longer just a good idea or a nice gesture to listen to your consumers: If you don’t, someone else will. You have to really listen and empathise with a person to design something that makes a difference.
We are all human beings despite colour or culture. We should have a fascination to learn more about people and their cultures. The only way to do justice to this is through acceptance and respect.
In our race to the top, we are jeopardising our one chance of survival. Our only option is to overcome the differences we see in each other – and the perception that there’s not enough to go around – and work together.
As a business, we can bemoan negative criticism of the way we do things, or we can choose a winning perspective and find huge value in it: this is an opportunity to up our game.
Artificial intelligence is gradually outdoing us in many of the roles that take up our working days and put food on our tables. Computers work unceasingly; they think at mindblowing speeds; they make decisions with unnerving success. But they do not feel.
We need more better listeners. It’s a skill we can and must cultivate if we are going to keep customers coming back, differentiate ourselves in our market and be better at tackling challenges. Today, if you’re not listening to your audience, you’re falling out of touch and into danger.
Over the past few weeks, I have decided that the next 12 months will be my Year of Yes. This basically means that for the next 12 months I am the Yes Woman. I will say yes to things that I usually find unusual, or things that take me out of my comfort zone – both in my personal life and my professional life.
Your customers are the people who know your products and services from regular, on-the-ground experience with them; they are the people who are going to tell you what it’s like to interact with your brand every day. Giving them a chance to have their opinion heard, considered and implemented will improve your relationship with them.
Human-centred design works well with the notion of finding uniquely African solutions to African challenges. Even seemingly insurmountable challenges such as water shortages, sanitation and poverty have viable solutions, and the solutions could more than likely come from those who face these problems on a daily basis.
The success of a product or service is rooted in user experience. This simple yet powerful premise has gained traction for human-centred design in all major business sectors around the world, says Stuart McDougall, MD at Tenaka, a human-centred design agency helping clients to exceed customer expectations.