Have you explored the periphery lately?

Have you explored the periphery lately?

 Hi, welcome to NextGenUX, two minutes of strategic UX to help you innovate. I’m Karen Zadinga, founder and CEO of NextWave Innovation.

We’ve all heard that you need to think outside the box. And that metaphor has never been that useful to me. I like thinking about the periphery, not inside of something nor outside of something, but that messy edge. Why? Because we know breakthrough innovation happens at the periphery. 

 Where is your periphery? It’s at the edge between adjacent and breakthrough or thought leading innovation. 

But talking about the periphery is all well and good, but you’re in a pressure cooker. You’ve got the pressure for velocity, you’ve got the pressure from customers, and you’ve got the pressure from stakeholders.

And due to all that pressure, due to that pressure cooker, you wind up narrowing your focus so much that you barely know where the periphery is, let alone be able to see the innovations waiting out there. 

 How can you balance keeping the wheels on the existing work and exploring the periphery for breakthrough innovation?

Strategic UX research is how. It’s next level research that moves us beyond the tactical inquiries like we see with usability testing and towards more strategic user understanding. Probably one of the best examples of research led innovation is the Aeron chair. And that’s what strategic UX research really is. It’s that deep dive research that uncovers unmet needs and opens up new possibilities. 

Hi, I’m Karyn Zuidinga. I’m an innovation researcher and designer with a passion for exploring the periphery. I specialize in leading strategic research to drive innovation. Moving from insight to action, I work with my clients to bring big ideas to life.

Thank you for listening.