Exploration and Co-Creation

12009

Overview

Co-creation refers to the collaborative exploration and creation of multiple feasible solutions to address or validate a problem. Once we have established the goals we want to achieve, the team engages in a process to identify various feasible solutions to validate or reach those goals. Co-creation should occur after understanding the problem and setting the objectives; otherwise, the lack of goal constraints may lead to overly divergent solutions. The output of this phase should consist of numerous solutions with quantifiable indicators. In fact, each solution is derived from certain assumptions or conjectures, and each assumption equates to a risk item. Therefore, each solution is merely an "experimental plan" attempting to address a specific issue within the problem domain.

Analytical Methods

Quantitative

Using the Why-Who-How-What analysis method, the team seeks ways to achieve business objectives. We should not only know that "doing XXX can influence YYY," but also understand the current level of impact and the expected outcomes after implementation. This means starting from the business problem domain and discussing in the order of "Role—Impact—Solution—Quantification," thereby uncovering as many feasible solutions as possible.

The specific steps are as follows:

Role: List the individuals or roles involved in the problem domain.
Impact: For each type of person or role, consider the ways they can influence the resolution of the problem (which may be positive or negative impacts).
Solution: For each pathway, discuss and list all possible solutions that could influence the resolution of the problem.
Quantification: If possible, define a measurable indicator for each solution.

Sometimes we cannot immediately quantify all indicators. For instance, data related to the indicators may not have been collected or analyzed previously. In such cases, we can temporarily gather a portion of the data and make corresponding inferences, calibrating the quantification of indicators over a period of operation.

For example, a company aims to improve R&D efficiency by 10% (goal), and one solution is to enhance the deployment operation efficiency of the operations personnel. However, no data has been previously collected on the time required for deployment operations. Therefore, we utilized one week to collect data on two deployment tasks conducted that week and inferred from this to jointly define a deployment operation time cycle recognized by the team. Another possibility is that the indicators we wish to measure are difficult to quantify directly. In this case, we can substitute with some process indicators or similar metrics.

User Journey

Visually presenting the interactions between users and products or services, segmented by business flow. Typically includes the following four parts:

User Touchpoints: Key moments in the journey (e.g., SMS messages, software operation interfaces, etc.).
Touchpoint Stages: Dividing the entire journey into different stages in sequence (e.g., product inquiry, ordering, payment, etc.).
User Pain Points: What users feel is lacking during their interactions with the system services.
User Emotions: The emotional changes at each stage of the journey.

The steps for mapping the user journey are as follows:

Define Users: Clearly specify the user journey for a particular type of user.
Define Tasks or Stages: Identify the different events that will occur within these tasks or stages.
User Interaction Behaviors at Touchpoints: How users operate during different events and the order of operations.
User Motivations: What thoughts and pain points arise behind each operation by the user.
User Psychology: What psychological changes occur in users during each operation, and how their emotions fluctuate.

Once the operational flow is visualized, capture relevant information for each stage (such as operation time, waiting time, number of operations, etc.) to discover potential issues through user pain points, thereby proposing corresponding solutions to improve the initial business objectives. These solutions may involve a complete overhaul of the existing process or partial optimization of a specific link.

For example, for online e-commerce services, an important problem domain is how to shorten the cycle from "user starts searching for products" to "final receipt of goods." To address this issue, we can model the entire process and analyze each link (the roles involved, time spent, and costs). Once we obtain hypotheses about the root of the problem, we can create new processes or select certain links for solution optimization and determine quantifiable indicators.

For merchant services on an e-commerce platform, if the platform's goal is to "enhance merchant satisfaction," then shortening the billing cycle is likely to increase merchant satisfaction with the platform, which may require upgrading the existing financial settlement system and merchant management system.

Key Points

In the "co-creation" phase, two traps need to be noted: analysis paralysis and intuitive decision-making.

Analysis paralysis refers to a state where excessive analysis (or overthinking) prevents decision-making or action, ultimately affecting the outcome. This usually occurs due to having too many detailed options or overly seeking the best or "perfect" solution, with concerns about making any decisions that might lead to erroneous results.

Conversely, intuitive decision-making refers to making critical decisions based on hasty judgments or instinctive reactions without analysis. It represents another extreme opposite to analysis paralysis.

Additionally, it is important to note that the results generated by many solutions are interrelated and interconnected. One solution may impact multiple outcome indicators.

## Overview

Co-creation refers to the collaborative exploration and creation of multiple feasible solutions to address or validate a problem. Once we have established the goals we want to achieve, the team engages in a process to identify various feasible solutions to validate or reach those goals. Co-creation should occur after understanding the problem and setting the objectives; otherwise, the lack of goal constraints may lead to overly divergent solutions. The output of this phase should consist of numerous solutions with quantifiable indicators. In fact, each solution is derived from certain assumptions or conjectures, and each assumption equates to a risk item. Therefore, each solution is merely an "experimental plan" attempting to address a specific issue within the problem domain.

## Analytical Methods

### Quantitative

Using the Why-Who-How-What analysis method, the team seeks ways to achieve business objectives. We should not only know that "doing XXX can influence YYY," but also understand the current level of impact and the expected outcomes after implementation. This means starting from the business problem domain and discussing in the order of "Role—Impact—Solution—Quantification," thereby uncovering as many feasible solutions as possible.

The specific steps are as follows:

1. Role: List the individuals or roles involved in the problem domain.  
2. Impact: For each type of person or role, consider the ways they can influence the resolution of the problem (which may be positive or negative impacts).  
3. Solution: For each pathway, discuss and list all possible solutions that could influence the resolution of the problem.  
4. Quantification: If possible, define a measurable indicator for each solution.

Sometimes we cannot immediately quantify all indicators. For instance, data related to the indicators may not have been collected or analyzed previously. In such cases, we can temporarily gather a portion of the data and make corresponding inferences, calibrating the quantification of indicators over a period of operation.

For example, a company aims to improve R&D efficiency by 10% (goal), and one solution is to enhance the deployment operation efficiency of the operations personnel. However, no data has been previously collected on the time required for deployment operations. Therefore, we utilized one week to collect data on two deployment tasks conducted that week and inferred from this to jointly define a deployment operation time cycle recognized by the team. Another possibility is that the indicators we wish to measure are difficult to quantify directly. In this case, we can substitute with some process indicators or similar metrics.

### User Journey

Visually presenting the interactions between users and products or services, segmented by business flow. Typically includes the following four parts:

1. User Touchpoints: Key moments in the journey (e.g., SMS messages, software operation interfaces, etc.).  
2. Touchpoint Stages: Dividing the entire journey into different stages in sequence (e.g., product inquiry, ordering, payment, etc.).  
3. User Pain Points: What users feel is lacking during their interactions with the system services.  
4. User Emotions: The emotional changes at each stage of the journey.

The steps for mapping the user journey are as follows:

1. Define Users: Clearly specify the user journey for a particular type of user.  
2. Define Tasks or Stages: Identify the different events that will occur within these tasks or stages.  
3. User Interaction Behaviors at Touchpoints: How users operate during different events and the order of operations.  
4. User Motivations: What thoughts and pain points arise behind each operation by the user.  
5. User Psychology: What psychological changes occur in users during each operation, and how their emotions fluctuate.

Once the operational flow is visualized, capture relevant information for each stage (such as operation time, waiting time, number of operations, etc.) to discover potential issues through user pain points, thereby proposing corresponding solutions to improve the initial business objectives. These solutions may involve a complete overhaul of the existing process or partial optimization of a specific link.

For example, for online e-commerce services, an important problem domain is how to shorten the cycle from "user starts searching for products" to "final receipt of goods." To address this issue, we can model the entire process and analyze each link (the roles involved, time spent, and costs). Once we obtain hypotheses about the root of the problem, we can create new processes or select certain links for solution optimization and determine quantifiable indicators.

For merchant services on an e-commerce platform, if the platform's goal is to "enhance merchant satisfaction," then shortening the billing cycle is likely to increase merchant satisfaction with the platform, which may require upgrading the existing financial settlement system and merchant management system.

## Key Points

In the "co-creation" phase, two traps need to be noted: analysis paralysis and intuitive decision-making.

Analysis paralysis refers to a state where excessive analysis (or overthinking) prevents decision-making or action, ultimately affecting the outcome. This usually occurs due to having too many detailed options or overly seeking the best or "perfect" solution, with concerns about making any decisions that might lead to erroneous results.

Conversely, intuitive decision-making refers to making critical decisions based on hasty judgments or instinctive reactions without analysis. It represents another extreme opposite to analysis paralysis.

Additionally, it is important to note that the results generated by many solutions are interrelated and interconnected. One solution may impact multiple outcome indicators.