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vSabotage:Anti-patterns for collaborative work and getting design done
Francis Rowland | Sigma ConsultingMichele Ide-Smith | European Bioinformatics Institute
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
SABOTAGEAnti-patterns for collaborative work
and getting design done
#sdgc16
By Nationalmuseet - National Museum of Denmark from Denmark - Dansk Industri Syndikat i København i brandUploaded by Palnatoke, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21705601
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Who we are
Michele Ide-Smith @micheleidesmith
Product Saboteur at Europe PMC
European Bioinformatics Institute
Francis Rowland @francisrowland
Senior Sabotage Architect
Sigma Consulting Solutions
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
By Unknown or not provided - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16825469
What is sabotage?
sab·o·tage (săbʹƧ-täzhʹ)1. The deliberate destruction of property or obstruction of normal operations, as by civilians or enemy agents in a time of war.
2. The deliberate attempt to damage, destroy, or hinder a cause or activity.
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General interference with organisations and production
SOE - public domain
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Insist on doing everything through "proper channels".
Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“When possible, refer all matters to committees, for "further study and
consideration."”
“Attempt to make the committees as large as possible - never less than five.”
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Managers and supervisors
By Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Libraryhttp://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/dlib/lat/display.cfm?ms=uclalat_1429_b47_N36&searchType=subject&subjectID=213944, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6967922
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Do everything possible to delay the delivery of a project. Even
though parts of the project may be ready beforehand, don't deliver it
until it is completely ready.”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Hold meetings when there is more critical work to be done.”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Multiply the procedures and clearances.”
“See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.”
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Office workers and employees
By Unknown - published in Japanese newspaper Rekishi Syashin, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5520475
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Contrive as many interruptions to your work as possible”
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Lowering morale and spreading confusion
By Palestine Railways, Khoury House, Haifa, Palestine - Report of The General Manager on the Administration of the Palestine Railways and Operated Lines:1946/1947. Warhaftig's Press.
Haifa, Palestine, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15362402
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over;
make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Perhaps you recognise some of these methods for sabotage from
where you work?
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Well, these tips were taken directly from a 1940 manual produced by the OSS (what
later became the CIA)
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2012-featured-story-archive/CleanedUOSSSimpleSabotage_sm.pdf
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Anti-patterns for service design
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1. Mislead customers about the purpose of the service
By Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. from the Illustrated London News, 10 June 1893. Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Carbolic_Company_advertisement.png
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Provide misleading information about the
service”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Make false claims about the benefits that the service
offers”
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2. Prevent people from using the service
By Toni Pecoraro, 2007. Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Labyrinth_28.jpg
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Disorientate people with confusing and contradictory
signage, maps, layout and navigation”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Don’t provide an overview of the steps involved and remove all guidance”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Design physical spaces to be crowded, cluttered, noisy and
badly lit”
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3. Reduce transaction completion rates
Public domain: https://pixabay.com/en/files-paper-office-paperwork-stack-1614223/
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Force people to re-enter the same personal information in
multiple places"
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Don’t notify people about what they need to do next”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Make people wait several weeks in between different
stages of their customer journey”
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4. Increase the cost per transaction
By rajomo1. CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/65821013@N05/6081891190
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Only offer paper processes - remove access to digital
channels”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Require people to contact the call centre repeatedly to
check progress”
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5. Make customers angry and frustrated
By Luis Marina, “Grrr!”. CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/luismarina/15547142333
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Train staff to be surly and rude. Encourage staff to speak a
different language or use jargon”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Ask customers to contact several different departments.
Ensure departments do not talk to each other”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Never get back to a customer enquiries, and hide contact
details”
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6. Sabotage organisational change
By unknown, Striking Serbin workers, 1955. CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kheelcenter/5279086865
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Don’t involve staff at any stage of the re-design”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“Make processes more complex than necessary, and
add manual steps”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
With these tips, you too can sabotage products, services
and even organisations!
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Anti-patternsUsing sabotage constructively
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“An anti-pattern is a common response to a recurring problem
that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive”
Wikipedia
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Anti-problem game (aka “reverse it”)
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“If you give someone an open-ended creative problem there is great difficulty in getting started. There is difficulty in moving at all.”
– Edward de Bono
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
As service designers, we often co-design
with people who are unfamiliar with the
design process
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
When you’re stuck solving a problem, think about it in reverse.
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Instead of:
“How do we improve access to healthcare for patients in rural
areas?”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
The anti-problem:
“How can we prevent patients in rural areas from accessing
healthcare services?”
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Ask teams to think of design
solutions to solve the anti-problem
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Then ask the teams to think of the opposite solution
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
When people are stuck, this approach
can free creative thinking and create
energy
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
It provides a new perspective on a problem, which was perhaps invisible before
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
“By disrupting the original way of looking at the situation one frees
information that can come together in a new way.”
– Edward de Bono
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
It can help teams understand what the
“opposite of good” looks like
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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith
Sabotage manual https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2012-featured-story-archive/CleanedUOSSSimpleSabotage_sm.pdf
The anti-problem http://gamestorming.com/games-for-fresh-thinking-and-ideas/the-anti-problem/
Reverse it http://www.designgames.com.au/reverse_it/
Pre-mortem http://gamestorming.com/games-for-opening/pre-mortem/
Anti-Patterns that Stifle Lean UX Teams - Bill Scott http://www.slideshare.net/billwscott/antipatterns-that-stifle-lean-ux-teams
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Thank you!
Michele Ide-Smith@micheleidesmithProduct Manager
European Bioinformatics Institute
Francis Rowland@francisrowland
Senior UX ArchitectSigma Consulting