How to frame the research challenges during the briefing or the first meeting with a potential client, using coaching and design thinking tools.

A clear definition of the research objectives immediately engages the clients and makes them keen to start with a research project.

We strongly believe that it is worth dedicating time to explore the ‘real’ potential objectives with the clients and relevant stakeholders, because, from our experiences, often:

• The clients already have the answers and do not know it
• The objectives differ from the ones they had in mind
• The objectives can be further explored and better defined during the meeting.

By mixing methods, and using coaching tools and a design thinking mindset it is possible to bring added value to our clients so we are perceived not just as qualitative researchers, but also as experts, consultants and partners, with a true interest in helping our clients conduct the correct research project, if indeed it is really needed. It is also a question of ethics.

Over the years, we have developed knowledges in both coaching and design thinking, or to be more precise, in Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ) by AJ&Smart, a variant of design sprint, originating from design thinking approaches.

From coaching

Joanna Schneider (Life and Business Coach) defines ‘coaching’ as ‘a process in which a coach supports the clients in reaching their desired outcomes through powerful, focused conversations’.

A coach helps the clients to break down big goals into manageable steps and to get from the current state to the desired outcome, quickly and confidently.

Coaching has its origin in sports and it is successfully now applied also in the professional context.

John Whitmore, the father of Coaching, talks about G.R.O.W. as an acronym to help the client, by asking the right questions, focusing on:

• Goal: definition of short or long-term objectives, expressed in positive, motivating, specific, measurable, actionable and realistic terms
• Reality: analysis of the current situation to understand how to realistically achieve the goal
• Options: deep probing of strategies and alternatives of action plans, the more creative options are envisaged the better the choices that can be selected
• Ws: What, When, by Whom & Will: the action plan, the step where a discussion becomes a decision with the collection of all the useful information related to: What will you do? When will you do it? Who do you need to help you (people, resources, skills from inside or outside the company)?

Keeping all these steps in mind will help to better focus on the most relevant topics to be further explored.

From Design Thinking

Briefly, design thinking is a method for practical, creative resolution of business problems. It can last one or two weeks and these are the five key steps:

1. Empathising, to understand what is the tension
2. Defining, synthetising the needs and insights or problems
3. Ideating, general radical design alternatives, large quantity of ideas
4. Prototyping in any form to be tested in the last phase
5. Consumer testing, to verify creative solutions

The core principles of the design thinking approach are:

• Work together, alone
• Tangible items, are sometimes better than discussion
• Getting started is more important than being right
• Don’t rely on creativity

The new approach

The combination of coaching skills and the process of a variant of design thinking, has been called ‘Framing Challenges Sprint’ since it has revealed to be very useful in defining the real research challenges of our clients.

The Ideal group size is between 2 and 8 participants and the total time needed varies from 45 to 90 minutes if multiple problems are taking into consideration.

The steps are as follows:

1. Empathise with the clients in order to collect all the main concerns they currently have (collect all issues on a flipchart and re-write them in positive, motivating, specific, measurable, actionable and realistic terms) – GOAL: 10 minutes.
2. List all the things that are working: the positive side of the reality, including people, resources, products, ideas and so on that are currently working well) – REALITY: 5 minutes.
3. Capture all problems, the pain points, the tensions and obstacles related to the main goal: reframe the problems as standardised challenges and prioritise them – REALITY: 10-25 minutes.
4. Ideate without discussion, creating multiple solutions and then prioritise the solutions –OPPORTUNITY: 10-35 minutes.
5. Decide what to execute and make solutions actionable using the Effort/Impact scale to allocate each solutions and understand who will perform them – The Ws (who, when, by whom and will): 10-15 minutes.

Very frequently, more than one solution will need a piece of qualitative research (that can be small or big) in the short or medium-term. And clients are engaged and enthusiastic to let us conduct the project!