CORE Journal: The 5 Questions
We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong. — Bono
Translation is an art. Going from Strategy to Design is a process that many feel is “Magical” or better put — hard to define. “I know it when I see it!” is a common phrase used by both creatives and clients.
So what is the key to successfully translating Strategy to Design? CORE Discovery is a framework that provides a “Scaffolding” for the solution you are about to deliver. In this CORE Journal entry I am going to recap the process to-date and then talk about an overarching “Conceptual Model” that helps contain and guide the process. But first I want to give you as simple overview. A recap so to speak.
Let’s start at a very basic level. CORE is a simple way to help any business understand, prioritize and focus on a clear vision and a plan to help them achieve their goals. It helps teams conduct the strategic planning process together. Achieving understanding, definition and agreement in one process vs. having to go back and forth for months. It’s a shortcut.
What CORE is not is the solution itself. You still have to translate words, ideas and conversations into action and deliverables.
In the first version of CORE you had 3 exercises:
- Goals Prioritization: What are the goals of the business, idea or product?
- Brand Attributes: Define the essential attributes of the idea.
- Customer Profiles: For who do you create value?
These on their own are enough to help move a project forward. But you still have to work to translate the 3 exercises. I have shared many of these translation tools in countless webinars and workshops but the key translation exercises that I actually used haven’t been shared in a kit. Though my webinars have always been a support structure for those seeking the keys to translation now I am giving them to you as part of CORE Discovery.
For CORE Discovery I included 3 exercises that replicate the processes that I have used to translated CORE into “The Brief” and then Design in the past.
CORE Discovery includes 3 new exercises:
- Attribute Clustering: What are the three most important attributes?
- Data Matching: What ideas provides value for both the brand and the customer?
- Impact Narrative: How do you put the prioritized ideas into action?
Two additional things are the Alignment Exercise and The Brief. One goes at the beginning and one at the end.
- Alignment Exercise: What does each person in the session want to get out of the session?
- The Brief: A summary of the entire process with options and a point-of-view as to what direction to take.
The Container: The 5 Questions
But the hard question was asked of me as to what was were the bigger questions that could create a “Conceptual Model” for translating CORE. The question was asked by Chris Do. The one and only.
I thought hard about this. And the 5 questions below are the result. They come from my experience delivering many of projects. The question I asked myself was — how did I contain a project? What was my mindset?
Let me share the 5 questions first. Then I will expand on them.
1. Cultural Context. What is the cultural context in which the client or project live?
2. Situational Understanding. What are the business, societal, ecological and internal factors driving the project?
3. Social Awareness. What are the political factors that you might or might not see driving the project.
4. Personal Taste. What are the client’s preferences and views about the competition?
5. Point of View. What is your own point of view about the project? What is motivating you in one direction or the other?
Let me expand. Briefly.
1. Cultural Context:
This is the soil for any endeavor. What does Cultural Context mean? The definitions can make it sound complex. The simplest definition is “Way of Life.”
The outlook, attitudes, values, morals goals, and customs shared by a group. — Wikipedia
For a Designer the best tool for this is curiosity. Small businesses have very different cultures from corporate and from Startups. Different industry sectors have different cultures. Freelance designers deal with different cultures than say small agencies. As you grow this changes. The key is to be a keen observer of the cultures that surround your project. What are their customs? Events? Fashion style? Language?
If you had to put together a mood board for a new project’s culture what would it look like?
Cultural context is the world in which you are about to play. How well do you know it?
2. Situational Understanding:
The business, societal, ecological and internal factors in a project are the forces that drive the action of a project. We could call it “dynamics.” One of the most important dynamics to understand are the internal dynamics. What are the motivations of the teams that you are collaborating with?
The Alignment Exercise is a way to understand these. By asking every team member what they want to get out of the project you get some insights into the internal dynamics of a team. You now understand their motivations. As these motivations intersect with external motivations such as the changing market conditions, the environment and social justice issues you begin to get a better Situational Understanding.
3. Social Awareness:
What are the political factors that you might or might not see driving the project. As you grow into larger projects it can start seeming complex. But creating a “Project Charter” will help you better manage the process by understanding where communication needs to be directed.
How is this different from the “Internal Dynamics?” mentioned in the previous question? Inside the facilitated CORE process it’s easier to create an understanding of the motivations of individuals. But on the larger scale of a project — whether there are 5 people on a project or multiple parties it is always best to have clarity on the social hierarchies of the project . Who needs to be communicated to? Who is making decisions? Who has decision making power? Who has influence? Who has unseen influence?
I know this sounds like politics. And even I am not a fan of politics. But if you put it down on paper on larger projects it becomes a powerful communication tool. It’s not politics when it’s all on paper. Ok, there are still going to be politics. And that is where relationships come in. The ability to build key relationships with your stakeholders is important.
4. Personal Taste:
You’ve heard the one about the client who asked her husband if he likes the color of their new logo. The client comes in and says that “her husband doesn’t like the color.” This is an extreme example, but you can’t discount the power of Personal Taste. What a client or team’s likes and dislikes are matter. That is why it’s good to ask.
This doesn’t have to be a complicated exercise. Just two questions; What do you love? What do you hate? A simple email will get you that information. This information will help guide you in the process of creating your design directions. At least it will keep you from going off on the wrong path.
5. Point of View:
This is the final question. What is your Point of View? I don’t mean your design style. That is less important that wether you have an opinion on the directions that you guide your client on. Here is the thing; as you define yourself (Do CORE on yourself) and begin to define the type of clients and industries that you want to work with you will begin to gravitate towards industries and ideas that resonate with YOU. For example: I love startups. So I became well versed in what makes startups succeed. I also love cultural creatives so I became well versed in their world. I developed a POV in those categories. And was able to provide that POV to my clients.
It’s ok to bring your POV to projects. But you have to develop it. You also have to develop confidence, content and a narrative that makes it clear that you are interested. You have to become an expert at what you love.
Conclusion
The 5 questions are a container. Or better yet let’s call it a corridor. A Conceptual Model that will help you translate CORE exercises. They narrow the decision making even further. The first, the Cultural Context will be the most important. It will determine things like color and type references, it will guide your explorations during the translation. Further narrowed by what the client loves and hates and even further narrowed by the Brand Attributes, Customer Needs and Priorities of CORE — you then get an idea of the power of the framework. Each step, each part is designed to get to the solution with the most fidelity and the least amount of rework.
Much love,
- jc
Jose is a graphic designer who started a YouTube channel which is now educating The Futur generations. He has always been a serial design experimentalist. CORE Discovery is one of those experiments. The hypothesis for the experiment was simple; “ How can the design process be made less painful.” That was it. All I was looking for was to have easier, faster, more profitable projects. Nothing much. Just that little thing known as peace of mind.
