User Footsteps Method
PDMA St. Louis | April 11, 2023
Have you ever had difficulty understanding your user and the key drivers that influence them? Don’t miss this chance to learn a technique that will provide you with the tools to dig deep into your user’s journey and to understand their key needs, pain points and drivers. Often, product failures result from a misunderstanding of the user journey or the product team’s inability to recognize the unexpected journey of the customer.
During this discussion, participants will walk through a one-page tool designed to drive a thorough understanding of the user experience and to intentionally seek out these unexpected journeys that can prevent the product from being successful. The tool is based on a clear understanding of the elements of a story that involves your customer and your product or service. These elements include:
- The Protagonist (Your customer)
- Plot lines and twists
- Setting
- The conflict
- Deuteragonist and Tertiary Characters
- Antagonist
- Secondary Characters
While working through these building blocks to the customer story, participants will build a deeper understanding by asking a series of “because of” questions. In addition, a complete story will be built by exploring three key aspects:
- Pain points and Potholes
- Influencers and Inhibitors
- Exciters and Enablers
Whether you are developing a product or service, this tool is designed to allow you to create an experience for your customer that will place your product at the forefront of your market.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how to utilize the Footsteps template to explore the user journey through the elements used to build a story.
- Have the ability to dig deeper by asking the questions, “because of?”
- In each aspect of the story, explore further into the customer journey by the aspects of P.I.E. (Pain points and potholes, Influencers and Inhibiters, Exciters and Enablers)
About the Presenter
Bill Reid, has over 30 years of experience in all phases of product development, helping companies bring new products to the market. Over Bill’s career he has worked for many innovative large multi-national companies including Ford, General Electric Aircraft Engines, General Motors, and Covidien. Furthermore, Bill has had extensive involvement with companies as small as single entrepreneur start-up ventures. Throughout his career, he has found enjoyment in being able to teach others about innovation methods. Bill has worked as a consultant in product development and innovation for his company Immersed, since 2007. Currently, Bill is Vice President at Boulder Imaging.
Bill is a certified New Product Development Professional with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Bill is named as the inventor or co-inventor on 23 US patents. Bill has self-published his own book on innovation, titled “Immersed in the Cave.” Bill’s passion for innovation and creativeness extends beyond the workplace to his hobbies, where he is an award-winning homebrewer who has had a beer featured at the Great American Beer Festival.
Bill currently serves on the Board of Directors of PDMA and is the chairman for the PDMA Inspire Innovation Conference.