Traditional approaches to defining and deploying enterprise software fail to account for that fact that people are influenced by their environment, emotions, shortsightedness, and other forms of irrationality. How do we get past the predictable irrationality of people to redefine the problem and create experiences that people will embrace?

1. Predictable Irrationality
If you build what they ask for, they will
If you build what they ask for, they will
NOT come
Copyright © 2008 Open Text Corporation. All rights reserved.
Slide 1
Joyce Hostyn
jhostyn@opentext.com
twitter @joyce_hostyn

2. I like a dark,
rich, hearty
roast
Copyright © 2008 Open Text Corporation. All rights reserved.
Slide 2
20-25%
actually do prefer rich hearty roast
majority of respondents

3. What is the number one retirement
strategy for Americans?
win the lottery!

4. It has been said that man is a rational
animal.
All my life I have been searching
All my life I have been searching
for evidence which could support
this.
Bertrand Russell

5. Copyright © 2008 Open Text Corporation. All rights reserved.
Slide 5
Traditional economic theory portrays people as highly rational.

6. Copyright © 2008 Open Text Corporation. All rights reserved.
Slide 6
Vickuick -http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickuik/2285220997/
But reasoning, decision-making, and behavior is more like a messy game of
snakes and ladders. No clear path. Highly emotional. Predictably irrational.

7. Theory of economic man is collapsing (slowly). We aren’t rational, profit-
maximizing homo economicus after all.

8. Irrational human traits are ingrained in our
brains
anchor effect collecting social validation reciprocity confabulation
commitment placebo effect discovery fear of loss
concession scarcity endowment effect choice Hawthorne
effect clustering illusion keeping doors open availability
cascade authority bias reciprocity competition
cascade authority bias procrastination reciprocity competition
zero-risk bias

9. what brain science
tells us
tells us
unconscious mind controls up to 95% of behavior

10. danger! danger! lizard brain has no time
for facts
I’m going to
get in trouble.
Focused on survival. Fight, flight or freeze. Sex. Food. Events may trigger
memories of emotional events and our deepest fears.
They’re going to
laugh at me.

11. emotion. memory. habit. mammal brain
drives behavior and decision making
Where intuition (tacit knowledge) resides and decisions really happen.

12. abstract thought. logic.
human brain reasons and
rationalizes
But it doesn’t really make the decisions. So… backwards rationalization. Adopts
a theory and seeks to support and defend it. Slows down decision-making.

13. reason conscious
requests, needs,
wishes
emotion
instinct
desires, frustrations,
intuition
fears, danger,
survival
unconscious

14. which brain always wins?
which brain always wins?

15. … key guideline was a simple
message: "A Record Turnout
Is Expected." That's because
studies by psychologist Robert
Cialdini and other group members
had found that the most powerful
motivator for hotel guests to reuse
towels, national-park visitors to stay
on marked trails and citizens to vote
is the suggestion that
is the suggestion that
everyone is doing it.
"People want to do what they think
others will do… The Obama
campaign really got that.”
How Obama Is Using the Science of Change,
Michael Grunwald

16. what does this have to do
with ECM?
with ECM?
and the challenge of adoption?

17. 16%
13%
effective user adoption
software functionality
organizational change
process alignment
Most important factor for realizing value?
70%
1%
Source: Defining Enterprise Software “Success,” Sandhill.com and Neochange 2008

18. What is the biggest hurdle behind the
ECM adoption challenge?

19. the adoption
hurdle is here
The problem isn’t getting people using ECM software. The problem is to change
people’s minds about ECM software.

20. Most implementations fail to take into
consideration business context…
implementation teams know who their
users are, but they know very little
users are, but they know very little
about the people that will use the
technology.
Thoughts On Recession...And ECM Adoption
Kyle McNabb, Forrester

21. Even minor decisions are influenced by
emotional factors and by the
cultural context in which they are to
cultural context in which they are to
be taken.
Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational

22. people tend to
overvalue what they
business tends
to overvalue what
3x
3x
The problem is on both sides
overvalue what they
currently use by
about a factor of 3
to overvalue what
they’re selling by a
factor of 3
3x
3x
9x
John Gourville, “Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers: Understanding the Psychology of
New-Product Adoption”, HBR

23. easy sells smash hits
not
much
behavior
change
sure
failures
long hauls
high
low
payoff
a lot
long hauls
John Gourville, “Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers”, HBR

24. what do we need to do?

25. deploy ECM to fit the way
people work
people work

26. anticipate and manage
resistance
resistance

27. brace for slow adoption
brace for slow adoption

28. to do this, we need to
deeply understand people
and the context in which
and the context in which
they work

29. We've learned from many enterprises with successful ECM initiatives that
focusing on business context helps. How? It allows them to build up
profiles on their people, not as users, but as people that just happen
to use ECM technology to get their daily work. They've basically adopted,
to a degree, the marketing practice of customer segmentation and
persona design and applied it to their employees....
persona design and applied it to their employees....
As a result, they've been able to fit ECM technologies into how their
people work, complementing they way their people work instead of
materially changing what they do.
Thoughts On Recession...And ECM Adoption
Kyle McNabb, Forrester

30. tools for emotional insight
tools for emotional insight

31. shift your perspective
shift your perspective

33. Probe for insight active
listening
expressed data
probing
tacit data
fertile data

34. 1
2
3
Interviews
Peeling the onion
5 whys
Six techniques to probe deeply
3
4
5
5 whys
Stories
Apprentice
6 Personas

35. Asking “what do you want” WON’T give
you what you need
Source: How to understand your users with personas, Brad Colbow

36. Most of the time people have no idea
why they’re doing what they’re doing. So they’re going to
try to make up something that makes sense.
Clotaire Rapaille, Reptilian Marketing

37. Instead, ask about how they work
John Gourville, “Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers”, HBR

38. Then listen deeply
have NO expectations
about their responses
it’s about
it’s about
understanding how
THEY see the world

39. 1 - dig deep with interviews
“You’re going to tell me a little story, like I was a 5 year old from another planet.”
Clotaire Rapaille

40. 1 - dig deep with interviews
For understanding people
• Tell me about…
• Describe the worst/best
experience you’ve had with…
• What did you think when…?
• How did you feel when…?
• What were high and low points
in…?
• Describe a great day. Bad day.
• Describe a great day. Bad day.
• What do you like about your job?
Dislike?
• What really stood out for you in …
(good or bad)?
• If you could change one thing
what would it be?
• It you had a magic wand, what
would you wish for?
• 5 whys

41. For understanding process
• Would you walk me through the
process of…?
• From whom did you get…. ? To
whom… will it go next?
• What information did you need
to…? Where did you get it? What
happens if the information isn’t
available when you need it?
• What parts of the process were
1 - dig deep with interviews
• What parts of the process were
essential? Unnecessary?
• Where did things get held up or
take too long?
• Do you ever have to do the same
thing more than once?
• Did you ever feel you were going
backwards?
• How do you measure success?
• If you had a magic wand and could
change the process any way you
wanted, what would you wish for?
image closedzero

42. 1 - dig deep with interviews
For understanding content
• What types of content do you work
with? (contracts, specs, invoices,
collateral, deals…)
• Tell me a bit about…
• Tell me about the last time you…
• How do you use it to:
Make decisions?
Influence?
Execute?
Execute?
Share ideas?
• Where is it stored? How do you
receive or locate it? How do you
know it’s correct or up-to-date?
• What type of content do you
create? Tell me about the tools you
use.
• Where do you store it?
• How do you share it?

43. 1 - dig deep with interviews

44. 5 emotions driving them
Loves, hates, passion
points
1 what they say
Why? What’s behind what
they’re saying?
2 how they say it
Words, tone, body
language
2 – peel the onion for deep understanding
4 how they feel
Trust? Complacency? Irritation?
Fear? Why?
points
3 what they do
Why? What’s
behind their
actions?

45. 2 – peel the onion for deep understanding

46. If you’re not going to finish
your toast, throw it out.
… Why?
So it won’t go bad.
… Why?
Toast goes bad if you don’t
eat it.
… Why?
It gets mouldy.
3 – use the 5 whys to get the ‘so what’
It gets mouldy.
… What’s mouldy?
Guck that grows on your
toast if you don’t throw it out.
… Why?
Because I said so.
Indi Young, Mental Models

47. I don’t want to change the
system
… Why not?
What we currently have
works fine
… How can you tell?
People are happy.
… How do you know?
No one’s complaining or
3 – use the 5 whys to get the ‘so what’
No one’s complaining or
yelling at me.
… What happened last time
you changed the system?
A partner lost his work after
an all nighter. I almost got
fired.

48. A patient got the wrong
medicine
… Why?
Prescription was incorrect
… Why?
Doctor made the wrong
decision
… Why?
Patient’s record didn’t
3 – use the 5 whys to get the ‘so what’
Patient’s record didn’t
contain all information the
doctor needed
… Why?
The doctor’s assistant hadn’t
entered the patient’s latest
test results
… Why?
Lab tech phoned in the
results through to
receptionist who forgot to tell
the assistant

49. 3 – use the 5 whys to get the ‘so what’

50. 3 – use the 5 whys to get the ‘so what’
Perry Belcher, Peeling-the-onion

51. 4 – elicit stories using pictures
What is the best
thing about living
in Kpendua?”
1 3
2 What is already
happening in
http://cclve.blogspot.com/
happening in
Kpendua that
makes you the
happiest? What
is successful?

52. 4 – elicit stories using pictures
Perfect Pitch, Jon Steel

53. Use
emotional
words
frustrated elated angry exhausted awed timid disappointed kindness
honored stressed excited joyous confident nervous depressed fearful shocked
friendship hopeful relaxed torn proud change courageous accepted delighted
success disgusted embarrassed amused happy jealous conviction pity remorse
sad surprised worried proud unhappy strong stand respect
appreciated distant
4 – elicit stories using words
1. Start with an image building phrase:
Think about… Imagine… If… Consider…
2. Add a sentence or two to enhance the image
3. Then use an open question with emotive words
you felt really proud to be part of something
you took a real risk and it paid off or didn’t pay off
Build the
question
Ultimate Guide to Anecdote Circles, www.ancedote.com.au

54. 4 – elicit stories
http://www.visualexplorer.org/downloads/index.html

55. interview
(get overview & establish trust)
switch to master-apprentice
(learn by watching)
5 – go native and be an apprentice
(learn by watching)
observe
(master runs the show, apprentice
asks occasional question)
summarize
(to validate & fill in gaps)

56. 5 – go native and be an apprentice

57. What do they
HEAR?
boss
colleagues
influencers
What do they
SEE?
environment
friends
colleagues
What do they
THINK & FEEL?
what really counts
major preoccupations
worries &
aspirations
6 – build empathy using personas
influencers
friends
colleagues
what work offers
What do they
SAY & DO?
attitude in public
appearance
behavior towards others
PAIN
fears | frustrations | obstacles
GAIN
wants/needs | measures of success | obstacles
Source: XPLANE and Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder

58. Sally
Accounts Payable
Processor
Goals
Post invoices ASAP
Have as many invoices arrive
complete as possible
Get fast answers
“Answer my question, for
heaven’s sake!”
After the mailroom scans the invoice, Sally gets it and checks that the
invoice can be posted for payment. If the invoice references a Purchase
Order (P.O.), Sally compares them. If the invoice doesn’t reference a P.O.,
she contacts whoever requested the goods to get the P.O. number.
She wishes it was as easy as it sounds. She spends 40-50% of her time
resolving exceptions or, as she calls it, “chasing rabbits.” To resolve an
No calls from angry vendors
Job security
Needs
Complete invoices
Customer to respond in a timely
manner
Tasks
Post invoices
Get missing P.O.’s
Report to AP Manager (Susan)
on invoice status
resolving exceptions or, as she calls it, “chasing rabbits.” To resolve an
exception Sally has to get information from people outside Accounts
Payable. She often doesn’t know who to ask. When she does know, they’re
not always responsive. She wishes there was a way to make people follow
up.
Sally works frantically to post invoices before their due date. The Accounts
Payable backlog keeps growing because people won’t respond and Sally
won’t post an invoice for payment before she’s sure both the invoice and
the P.O. are correct.
Sally is sick of her boss, Susan, asking her for the status of the invoices
she’s working on. She thinks it’s a waste of time. Sally hates when vendors
call to complain about a late payment. Sally has to calm them down before
she can get the information she needs to track down the invoice.

59. 6 – build empathy using personas

60. Karl
Account Exec
Grant
Global Services
Jim
Developer
Ben
Customer Support

61. take aways
take aways

62. the adoption
hurdle is here

63. people are
influenced by their
environment,
emotions,
emotions,
shortsightedness,
and other forms of
irrationality

64. this means…
this means…

65. STOP talking
STOP talking
users. technology. requirements.

66. START observing
START observing
people. mental models. emotions. cultural context. stories.

67. seek to
UNDERSTAND
UNDERSTAND
predictable irrationality of people. what people are trying to
achieve. why.

68. then DEPLOY
then DEPLOY
with predictable irrationality in mind. anticipate and manage
resistance. brace for slow adoption.