aizen is a Japanese word for improvement, and on the face of it, it seems so simple that it can be dismissed; however, it is a powerful problem-solving technique. As a big part of web design and User Experience (UX) design is solving problems for businesses, Kaizen, therefore, fits in very well and can be utilised and leveraged in design.
It's the process of asking the question Why five times. However, in some cases, it can be much more significant or even less than five. When sitting down with prospective clients, many questions should be asked. You shouldn't feel silly about asking obvious questions, you are retrieving vital information and setting a base for further research. It's all very well about reading about some 'wacky' Japanese technique, but let's see it in action:
Example 1: 1 hour late for work
- Why were you late for work? The car ran out of petrol
- Why did the car run out of petrol? I forgot to fill up last night
- Why did you forget to fill it up? I was exhausted and rushing to the gym
- Why were you tired? I had a late night the night before
- Why were you late the night before? A few drinks got out of hand after work
- Why did you go out for drinks? We lost a contract.
It can go a lot further, but you are drilling down, and in this example, being late for work manifested from a lost business contract weeks earlier. It provokes thought and gets answers. Now, onto a more context-related scenario:
Example 2: The client's Google Rankings have dropped considerably over the period of a year
- Why have the rankings dropped? We have been overtaken by competitors
- Why you you been overtaken? The competitors have more industry relationships
- Why do they have more industry relationships? The competitors have invested in resources
- Why have they invested in resources? They see the value in better rankings
- Why do they see value? The online market niche is worth over 5 million pounds per year and growing 20% year on year
- Why is this market growing and worth so much? The Internet has transformed how people shop and find information
This could go even further yet again. In this example, we have gone from dropping rankings to asking the examining questions. Of course, some of these are completely obvious, but written down and documented, they become instrumental when looking at results in UX and marketing campaigns. You are getting underneath your client's business by asking the simple question "Why?" about top-level problems and getting closer to real answers.
Example 3: A customer complaint from one of our very first customers
- Why has this complaint been filed? She had problems with making an online purchase
- Why did she have problems? She is not used to making online purchases
- Why is she not used to it? Technology has advanced a lot in recent years and has not been shown how fully by sales/customer support
- Why has she yet to be tutored? Jane in customer support is not used to using the system herself and has yet to learn all the ins and outs of the website
- Why is she not familiar with the system? New features have been added and have not yet been introduced to them
- Why hasn't she been introduced? The web department has yet to provide full training to internal employees
The customer complaint has come in not because the website was necessarily hard to use but because communication between different people and departments needs to be improved. When talking about keeping customers and improving UX, this does not involve a website alone. It is the whole customer experience: in person, in emails and in instruction: every touch point! This customer is an extreme case that is having problems and has never used an E-commerce system. Providing her with some dedicated time will make her feel even more valued. The result of Kaizen, in this case, raises questions and doesn't magically provide a single solution, but it does make the business think of steps how to improve.
In these three examples, we have seen going from a problem to getting a much better understanding of the problem at hand and getting to the root cause. Kaizen may be very straightforward and even too basic for some, but it can be helpful to many organisations and thriving businesses throughout the world. Try it.