Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes

Technology is advancing at super-speed, but we sometimes rush to use the latest tech in our products and services without understanding the full effects. To understand the full picture, a comprehensive product or service design process follows these steps:

• Use Customer Discovery to interview potential customers to deeply understand their situations and needs.
• Design products or services to satisfy their needs and desires.
• Test assumptions with trials in actual or simulated customer environments.
• Refine our design using trial results, then retest.

This process helps put us in our customers’ shoes. Let’s explore an example from the automotive industry that could use more refinement.

Automobile Tech:
Auto technology offers many opportunities to make cars safer to drive and to add convenience features. Convenience features enable option packages that increase customer choices and help battle the competition. But technology can be a blessing or a curse for drivers.

Blessing: Life-saving automobile tech

• Automatic braking to avoid front-end collisions.
• Repositioning to keep you in your lane.
• Lane-change warnings when another vehicle is close.
• Backup and side-looking cameras to warn of pedestrians and vehicles.
• Warning for seatbelts not fastened.

Curse: Distracted-driving automobile tech
Distracted driving is a major cause of accidents. Haphazardly adding technology can add to driver distraction. Multiple controls and displays are spread among the main dashboard screen, the steering wheel, the dash behind the steering wheel, the console between the front seats, the doors and ceiling. With so many choices and decisions, often with no tactile feedback, drivers must take their eyes off the road to search for the correct icon and button to touch. Here are more distractions:

• Increasingly larger dashboard display screens with even more multiple-choice icons and buttons
• Confusing arrays of icons, lights, colors and buttons
• Flat-panel touchpad buttons without tactile feedback
• Unnecessary messages like “Windshield Wipers On”, accompanied by audio alarms
• Steering wheel “hands-free”, self-driving features. Drivers look elsewhere instead of on the road ahead.

Possible Solution: Discover, Design, Test, Refine
Use an effective product or service design process. Once you understand customer needs, and how you’ll satisfy them, test your assumptions with real-life trials. Look especially at dangerous situations. Refine and retest, as necessary. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes.

AI at Work - 10 Common Uses of Generative AI

Generative AI is a game-changer in so many areas of life and work. Here are some common, practical uses:

1. Brainstorming: Exploring alternative ideas such as for new products and services, merging seemingly unrelated ideas into innovative concepts, and turning abstract thoughts into visual representations, making it easier to explore and refine ideas.
2. Content Creation: Writing articles, generating marketing copy, creating social media content, developing email campaigns, developing character profiles for creative projects like books and screenplays, and even composing poetry and songs.
3. Image and Art Generation: Designing graphics, creating unique artwork, or enhancing existing visual content for personal or commercial purposes.
4. Customer Support: Running chatbots that can automate responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ), handle customer inquiries, provide support, and resolve issues.
5. Writing and Debugging Code: Assisting developers in writing code, testing use cases, finding bugs, and breaking down complex or unfamiliar code into simpler terms and explaining what it does and how it works.
6. Personalized Education: Providing tailored learning materials, answering questions in real-time, and explaining complex topics in a way that makes them easier to understand.
7. Data Analysis and Visualization: Summarizing trends, generating reports and infographics, and helping to make large volumes of complex data comprehendible.
8. Healthcare: Supporting diagnostic results from x-rays and MRIs, summarizing patient information, monitoring patients remotely, assisting in robotic surgery, and aiding medical research.
9. Fraud Detection and Security: identify patterns and anomalies in data that could indicate fraudulent activity, detect potential risks, alert relevant parties of threats, and automate responses to security incidents to isolate affected systems or recommend corrective actions to minimize damage.
10. Language Translation: Accurately translating text instantly between languages while preserving the original tone and meaning.

As you can see, Generative AI can satisfy a variety of needs, making it an incredibly versatile tool. How might it help you the most?

—Bob Manard

Welcome, New RPCN Members

Please welcome these four new members to RPCN:

Michelle Lee is a new business owner who has partnered with Christina Gullo to create True North Executive Solutions, providing Leadership services addressing Strategic Planning, Organizational Assessment, HR needs and Board Governance. Michelle has recently joined the Reentry Association of Western NY (RAWNY) as a board member. Michelle was referred to RPCN by first year member Gerianne Puskas. Connect with Michelle here.

Caleb Shulman joins us from the Rochester area. He is a Senior Trainer with Dale Carnegie Training of Western and Central NY. Caleb focuses on leadership skills and personal skills that lead to high performing organizations. Caleb has been involved with the area music scene as Master of ceremonies at many Café Veritas events. Connect with Caleb here.

Lydia Rolle-Key also joins us from the Rochester area. She is a partner at Rolle and Key Enterprises, Inc, an instructional design company providing micro-learning videos and eLearning solutions for more impactful training results. Lydia is partnered with Erroyl Rolle to upgrade training methods for modern learners. Connect with Lydia here.

—Tom Fecteau

Help Wanted!
Assistant Treasurer

We are looking for an Assistant Treasurer. If you have knowledge, experience, or a background in accounting, you would be an asset to the Rochester Professional Consultants Network (RPCN).   

The Assistant Treasurer would assist the Treasurer in preparing required periodic financial reports, a budget, an audit, and otherwise back up the Treasurer. Some knowledge of QuickBooks is helpful. Many consultants may have these requirements. Full training will be provided by the current Treasurer. This would be a way to use your skills and talents to aid RPCN.  

If interested, please contact Frank Crombe, RPCN Treasurer, 585-255-0837.