The Lesson of Four Furry Butts

A short read.

This meme is telling the story of getting out of our own way! In its truth and humor are the problem and the solution to all of our revenue worries. First, it is the truth about how we kid ourselves in our work and fall in love with an idea, or a product, or a design, or a course, or a storyline before we are actually done.

We loved it! Marketing loved it! Accounting loved it! It's not just good, it's GREAT!

But is it?

And second, it offers a solution not often taken because too often we are focused on the launch deadlines and not the experience of the results.

The Lesson in the Meme

This meme is telling us to stop and ask: What was the problem we were solving? Not what the client said the problem was...What was the real-end-user problem?

Oh, and did we even talk about that?

How would THAT person feel about our fantastic thing?

If it is anything like this epic and most frequent product fail, they see animal butts most of the time. Yup, sometimes our big sales are just ANIMAL BUTTS waiting to be replaced by another version of "animal butts"!!

Why Question Our #1 Seller

Probably, like the baby in the crib, who literally has no voice or ability to fully grasp the situation, the end-user may coo and fall asleep--as outlined and guaranteed in the marketing brochure.

But is it really a win when we just have sales and no long-term customers?

None of us can or should be proud of our work until we have taken the entire journey of the USER EXPERIENCE. It is the user that has the real problem. It is the user who needs a better product/service/experience. It is the user when fully satisfied, that ensures that we get positive reviews and loyal customers.

From baby products to office furnishings: Just because the user doesn't pay for something doesn't mean their problem isn't critically important to the overall success of that product or service. In many cases, had their feedback been taken into consideration, that product or service might still be the #1 seller today.

Ask More Questions

I think we can all agree that these clients, Mom and Dad, ultimately just want junior to fall asleep. And junior did fall asleep. But what if this mobile hanging above junior also served a better purpose, solving an even bigger problem that Mom and Dad have?

What if junior became memorized by the blue elephant trunk or black tiger eyes, or the roundness of the pig's snout? What if seeing these friendly faces soothes junior, offering comfort and joy? And, what if junior, waking up to those four friendly faces smiles and laughs in wonder, instead of crying out in fear for Mommy and Daddy at 4:30 AM from seeing four large fury butts whirling around his or her head?

There, now you have the full picture.

I love this meme. It tells such a rich and rewarding story. In it lies the truth about every "great thing" I ever bought that failed to deliver beyond the packaging. I am going to keep this image on my desktop to remind me to get out of my own way.

What does this picture tell you? What lessons will it remind you to keep in mind? Comment and let's learn together.

#whatproblemareyoureallysolving #designmatters #userexperience #buyersjourney #outoftheboxthinking