Models will bring you closer to your customers

Today, we are not going to talk about computer science. Our learning of modelling begins with a detour in the business world.

For models are not used only to develop software. The dwelling where you live and the building that houses the organisation where you work were studied and elaborated before their construction in the form of models by architects and civil engineers. And all companies follow a business model, which is an action plan their leaders have carefully thought out to make them viable and profitable.

Our sequence of posts on business models will give you a good understanding of what a model is. You will see for yourself how much easier a well-designed modelling language can make your life. In addition, you will have in your hands effective tools that will help you the day you will have an entrepreneurial desire.

Empathy for customers

No company can last without customers buying its products or services (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p. 20). Some companies fail because they put on the market things that do not interest enough people. They invest time and money in projects they presume to be great ideas, forgetting to test whether the clientele is willing to pay for the end result (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 172–253).

This pitfall is avoided by showing empathy for customers (Osterwalder et al., 2014, p. xxiii). Empathy is stepping into customers’ shoes to understand their goals, problems, and expectations. It is seeking answers to the following three simple questions:

1. First, what do customers want to make happen or see come true? (Each answer is a customer goal.)
2. Secondly, what impediments hinder or stop them? (Each answer is a customer problem.)
3. Thirdly, what kinds of solutions do they look for to overcome these obstacles? (Each answer is a customer expectation.)

It is better to put all the answers to these three questions together in one graphic, which will be an excellent customer profile. The Empathy Canvas (Figure 1) has been invented for this end (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 10–25).

The Empathy Canvas is used by noting customers’ goals, problems, and expectations respectively in the right, bottom, and top areas (Figure 1). As an example, we modelled with it the most likely goals, problems, and expectations of readers of this blog. Our model is shown in Figure 2.

Here are some easy-to-follow tips to get started with the Empathy Canvas (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 10–25):

1. Write down the most obvious goals, problems, and expectations first. For instance, in Figure 2, “be trained in software engineering”, “graduate”, and “become a software engineer” were our first, immediate notes.
2. Find the reasons behind each goal, problem, and expectation. For instance, why do our readers want to be trained in software engineering in the first place? Some of them may be motivated by the desire to retrain professionally in order to, perhaps, find a job with a future (Figure 2). Asking why inspires new goals, problems, and expectations.
3. Do not neglect emotions. If goals, problems, or expectations of an emotional nature come to your mind, put them on the Empathy Canvas. “Become a recognised expert” and “feel confident in one’s abilities to handle any software development project” are examples of emotional goals. Customers driven by these objectives aspire to gain influence, be perceived favorably, or achieve a state of personal satisfaction. And this must be taken into account.

It is a good practice to colour goals (here in yellowgreen), problems (here in orange), and expectations (here in blue) in three different hues. An additional one (we chose grey) is necessary to draw a distinction between what is assumed and what has been verified by experiments such as surveys, dialogues with customers, and calls to action (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 200–237).

A call to action is an experiment that consists in prompting customers to manifest their interest in something by performing an action. For example, by subscribing to a newsletter, coming to an event, pre-ordering a product, or funding a project. The gradual increase in the called-for investment allows to see concretely how far they are willing to go (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 218–219).

A call to action often does not need to be extraordinary. To test, for example, that our readers want to commercialise software solutions (Figure 2), we can write a book on the subject and offer it to them in exchange for an email address. This method is frequently used on the internet.

The purpose of an experiment is to validate or invalidate hypotheses (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 216–217). The positive outcome of an experiment may persuade potential partners to join a project. Osterwalder et al. (2014, pp. 204-207) have prepared a Test Card (Figure 3) to share it and, more importantly, remember it.

In Figure 2, the colour grey denotes uncertainty. At first a model might be entirely grey. Yet, to lower the risk of being wrong about what people are looking for, grey elements should be progressively either removed or recoloured in yellowgreen, orange, or blue as we experiment.

Besides, other people may have already run and documented experiments that provide clues regarding the goals, problems and expectations of customers (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 108–109).

For instance, in France, a study by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (Maetz, 2017) reveals that only 27 %, 39 % and 45 % of students enrolled for the first time in a three-year bachelor’s program graduate respectively after three years, four years, and five years, and that 46 % of them drop out after two years.

These numbers attest to the need for support services helping students to succeed.

In the United States, the situation, although better, is not satisfactory either (Cooper, 2017): 66.7 % of students attending for the first time a four-year college graduate after six years (Shapiro et al., 2017).

In the US education system, students go to college to get the equivalent of the French bachelor’s degree. Universities are larger institutions with several colleges and various complementary schools offering the opportunity to attain a master’s or doctorate degree.

Customers’ priorities

The knowledge of the importance customers place on a goal, problem, or expectation is a significant asset (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 20–21). The most worthwhile experiments are those that can estimate it statistically on a sufficiently diverse and large sample of persons.

Surveys are capable of this. However, their drawback is that they base their measurement solely on what people say. And we know that what people say and what people do are two different things. Indicators and metrics yielded by calls to action are more reliable and more conclusive (Osterwalder et al., 2014, pp. 216–217).

Let us imagine that we have evaluated on a scale from 0 to 100, after having run an experiment or in a purely hypothetical way, the priority of one of the goals, problems, or expectations of our readers (Figure 2). How do we model this piece of information with the Empathy Canvas?

For our own part, we like to use shades of colours (Figure 4). The more the satisfaction of a particular goal, problem, or expectation is preferred by customers, the darkerlighter the shade of yellowgreen, orange, or blue. When our evaluation is not based on an experiment but on a hypothesis, we add a grey border. Finally, as in Figure 2, we fill with grey goals, problems, and expectations we are not sure about.

Voilà! We have reached the end of this introductory post on models, languages, and metalanguages. We hope you liked it and that it has begun to persuade you of the usefulness of modelling.

The Empathy Canvas is the first modelling language of this series. We still have many other languages ​​to learn together. But for now, in the next posts, we will create a software program that will enable us to play with the Empathy Canvas on the computer.

Questions

1. Have you ever thought about the goals, problems, and expectations of the organisation that recruited you or that you dream to join? Model them with the Empathy Canvas.
2. What solutions do you bring or think you can bring to the problems you have identified?
3. The state of the world is explained by the fact that there is more profit to be made in hell than in heaven. What do you think of this statement?

Bibliography

Photographic credits