We have all grown up hearing that a picture is worth a thousand words, but, has anyone ever tested this notion that is generally taken as fact? While the question is rather elementary, in the business world, the essence of solid a solid idea is sometimes lost in the conveyance to others. As people might expect, the story often ends in disaster. So, why is it so hard to get an audience to understand and grasp the essence of what we might believe is the next earth shattering idea? Great question! The audience is sometimes lost because in our enthusiasm to demonstrate our mental wizardry, we often forget to set the context surrounding the idea. Context setting is a skill that many technologists fail to master, but this topic should be explored in greater detail. Close your eyes and recall any number of meetings you have endured where a simple question was asked of the presenter: "How does your product improve my business?" The presenter, in numerous cases, has not thought of the answer because "it should be obvious to the audience" why the presented product is the next big thing! So, the presenter did not complete his homework assignment of placing the product into the context of the domain from which his audience hails. Okay now, open your eyes so you can finish reading this article! Context setting can be done by a number of means and we have all witnessed at least once or twice in our respective careers where a presenter has performed this skill masterfully to convey his points. When context is properly conveyed and the idea/product is portrayed as a viable means to address the need, the likelihood of product uptake is increased dramatically. The immediately preceding statement holds the key ingredient! The phrase "address the need" must be explored more closely. Convincing an audience of perspective buyers about the viability of your idea depends on their collective ability to see its worth in their business domain. In addition, they must be shown how the idea addresses a problem very specifically. If the idea is an improvement over some existing product or service, then this new idea must exhibit characteristics that outperform the status quo. By the way, this context setting is practiced routinely in television commercials. [A problem is stated] Your buddy just had his ID stolen [context] by someone electronically scanning his credit cards in his wallet! [proposed solution] Don't let this happen to you. Do something about it! You need [product/idea introduction] "The Super Shield Wallet". The commercial then goes on to detail the features that addresses the stated problem and the potential customers begin to call in and order the product. This context setting approach works well because people instantly relate to the stated problem. Taking the cue from the commercial example, for instance, nearly everyone has been the victim of a theft (or they know someone who has been a victim). This makes the problem familiar to the audience. If the identification is stolen, there is a lot of leg work that must be done to block accounts being created and to replace all of the medical cards, driver's licenses, work building access cards, etc. This thought process is playing out in the mind of the audience and acts as a motivator to move them to acceptance of the idea. Who wants to go through that level of pain when they can spend a mere $30 bucks and have the problem solved. Technologists have a corresponding analog to the commercial called a use-case. The use-case can be as simple as a text description of a process on how the idea is used to address a given problem. It can also be a more elaborate and graphics-based depiction showing the location and function of the idea within the process and the problem it addresses within the process. In short, if the idea is to convince a group of people that you have the next greatest idea or product in the world, you are required to paint a picture of that idea/product working in a world that they understand and that solves a problem that they know needs to be solved.
