Climbing to the top • 1

Dec 30

Metaphors can be used to explain abstract concepts by identifying hidden similarities between two unrelated entities. What can we learn about service design by comparing the certified mountain guide with the seasoned service designer?

The core job of a mountain guide is to guide and assist client climbers up and down the mountain in a safe, efficient, and rewarding way. The guide will significantly improve the climbing experience, especially if the climbing party lacks the expertise, equipment, and/or experience required for the terrain ahead.

Climbing parties may face quite a few hazards during the tour: the terrain itself; inclement weather; extreme temperatures; performance anxiety; stress; dehydration; fatigue/exhaustion; illness; physical injuries; equipment failure; getting lost; and fellow climbers (who may be overconfident or underconfident in their abilities, often due to inexperience).

This means that the guide is constantly handling complex situations and making life-or-death decisions, based on extensive experience, tons of practice, rigorous planning, solid problem-solving capabilities, and a sound approach for on-the-spot decision-making (to avoid personal and team biases).

The experienced service designer often functions as the expert guide and facilitator in challenging innovation projects, guiding cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams all the way from exploration to implementation. Project teams may face multiple hurdles throughtout the innovation and design process, and the seasoned service designer will need to  handle complex situations, make important decisions, and manage risk.

In two blog posts, I will highlight five similarities between the certified mountain guide and the seasoned service designer:

Planning and thinking ahead
Managing and mitigating risk
Utilizing tools to tackle complex problems
Simplifying and de-stressing the experience
Committing to life-long learning and continuous improvement

1. Planning and thinking ahead

The mountain guide is responsible for the safety of the climbing party. Before each tour, the guide is planning and thinking ahead by:

Reviewing weather forecasts and snowpack conditions
Collecting data about the location, frequency, and severity of objective hazards
Obtaining advice, tips, and general information on how to successfully complete (or protect) particular climbing routes
Gauging the experience and capabilities of the climbing party
Planning reasonable routes for conditions and climbers
Determining options and bailout possibilities
Making hard choices about food, water, clothing, and equipment (it would be nigh impossible to carry everything you want)
Gathering the climbers, providing information, determining ground rules, setting realistic expectations, and strengthening bonds

Like the mountain guide, the seasoned service designer is planning and thinking ahead before the project kicks off:

What is the overarching need (or rationale) for the project? What type of solution is envisioned?* What are the desired outcomes?
Who are we targeting, and why? Who will be affected, and how? Who are we intentionally including and excluding, and why?
What explicit and implicit assumptions are we making in this project? How do we reveal hidden biases and illuminate blindspots?
What external and internal forces are driving change and resisting change respectively?
How will organizational quests, strategies, beliefs, sub-cultures, and processes shape the project (or vice versa)?
How does the project fit into the innovation portfolio? What level of risk and uncertainty is the organization willing to accept?
What interdependencies exist with other solutions and/or components in the business ecosystem?
What constraints do we need to take into consideration?
What are our knowledge gaps about market segments and target audiences?
What is the right approach/process for the challenge or problem at hand? What tools and spaces do we need for our process?
When and how often should we engage users and other stakeholders throughout the process?
What is the right timing and timeframe?
What obstacles are we facing in this project and how do we overcome them?
What does success look like and how do you measure it?
What type of capabilities do we need? Who should we recruit or partner with?
How can we empower and engage team members, especially if the team is inexperienced or newly formed?

* For a discipline-neutral classification of potential solution areas (rather than predetermined solutions), see Richard Buchanan’s four broad areas in which design is explored (1992) and GK VanPatter’s process model Design 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 (Jones, 2009).

2. Managing and mitigating risk

The mountain guide is constantly identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks and constantly finding ways to control or mitigate them. As the climbing party is ascending or descending, the guide controls the situation at hand by:

seeing and assessing the terrain above and below the group
observing current and changing conditions (inclement weather, avalanche danger, rock fall potential, etc.)
weighing all the evidence and exercising sound judgment
identifying the right decision points and routes to scale the terrain in a safe way
choosing appropriate tools, techniques, and fall-protection systems to manage risk effectively
modifying plans on the fly (because of fatigue, changing weather conditions, etc.)
determining contingency paths in case of emergency
providing clear, unambiguous instructions to the group
exercising patience with inexperienced climbers
managing the expectations, fears, hopes, and desires of individual climbers

Scope creep. Cost overruns. Shifting goalposts. Inadequate stakeholder engagement. Unmet expectations. Fluctuating velocity. Disengaged team members. Resistance to change. Large, complex service design projects are fraught with expected and unexpected risks. Like the mountain guide, the seasoned service designer constantly identifies, assesses, and prioritizes project risks, and explores smart ways to manage or mitigate them (e.g., by speeding up or slowing down the process). Needless to say, the service designer should be taking into consideration the relative (in)experience of the team while devising specific courses of action.

(to be continued)

References

Buchanan, R. (1992, Spring). Wicked problems in design thinking. Design Issues, 8(2), 5–21.

Jones, P. (2009, March). Design 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0. The rise of visual sensemaking. NextD Journal. NextDesign Leadership Institute.

In terms of mountain climbing and mountain guides (two topics I admittedly knew precious little about before collecting my thoughts), I leaned heavily on The Mountain Guide Manual by Marc Chauvin and Rob Coppolillo. I am also indebted to several blogs and websites about mountaineering in general and mountain guides in particular.

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innovationservice designdesign processMetaphors