vSabotage:Anti-patterns for collaborative work and getting design done

Francis Rowland | Sigma ConsultingMichele Ide-Smith | European Bioinformatics Institute

@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

Who we are

Michele Ide-Smith @micheleidesmith

Product Saboteur at Europe PMC

European Bioinformatics Institute

Francis Rowland @francisrowland

Senior Sabotage Architect

Sigma Consulting Solutions

@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.

General interference with organisations and production

SOE - public domain

@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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“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.”

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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“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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“Hold meetings when there is more critical work to be done.”

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“Multiply the procedures and clearances.”

“See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.”

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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“Contrive as many interruptions to your work as possible”

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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“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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Perhaps you recognise some of these methods for sabotage from

where you work?

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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

Anti-patterns for service design

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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“Provide misleading information about the

service”

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“Make false claims about the benefits that the service

offers”

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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“Disorientate people with confusing and contradictory

signage, maps, layout and navigation”

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“Don’t provide an overview of the steps involved and remove all guidance”

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“Design physical spaces to be crowded, cluttered, noisy and

badly lit”

3. Reduce transaction completion rates

Public domain: https://pixabay.com/en/files-paper-office-paperwork-stack-1614223/

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“Force people to re-enter the same personal information in

multiple places"

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“Don’t notify people about what they need to do next”

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“Make people wait several weeks in between different

stages of their customer journey”

4. Increase the cost per transaction

By rajomo1. CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/65821013@N05/6081891190

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“Only offer paper processes - remove access to digital

channels”

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“Require people to contact the call centre repeatedly to

check progress”

5. Make customers angry and frustrated

By Luis Marina, “Grrr!”. CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/luismarina/15547142333

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“Train staff to be surly and rude. Encourage staff to speak a

different language or use jargon”

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“Ask customers to contact several different departments.

Ensure departments do not talk to each other”

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“Never get back to a customer enquiries, and hide contact

details”

6. Sabotage organisational change

By unknown, Striking Serbin workers, 1955. CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kheelcenter/5279086865

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“Don’t involve staff at any stage of the re-design”

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“Make processes more complex than necessary, and

add manual steps”

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With these tips, you too can sabotage products, services

and even organisations!

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@francisrowland@micheleidesmith

Anti-patternsUsing sabotage constructively

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“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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Anti-problem game (aka “reverse it”)

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“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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As service designers, we often co-design

with people who are unfamiliar with the

design process

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When you’re stuck solving a problem, think about it in reverse.

@francisrowland@micheleidesmith

Instead of:

“How do we improve access to healthcare for patients in rural

areas?”

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The anti-problem:

“How can we prevent patients in rural areas from accessing

healthcare services?”

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Ask teams to think of design

solutions to solve the anti-problem

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Then ask the teams to think of the opposite solution

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When people are stuck, this approach

can free creative thinking and create

energy

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It provides a new perspective on a problem, which was perhaps invisible before

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“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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It can help teams understand what the

“opposite of good” looks like

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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

Thank you!

Michele Ide-Smith@micheleidesmithProduct Manager

European Bioinformatics Institute

Francis Rowland@francisrowland

Senior UX ArchitectSigma Consulting