There’s a problem with the way we approach vision work.
Vision often takes too long to deliver to feel real or even useful.
So I figured out a way to get cross-functional stakeholders to care more deeply about change and called it Project Javelin.
Here’s How.
Instead of shooting for the moon and banking on excitement, Project Javelin takes a more human approach where stakeholders have no choice but to see themselves in the story of our evolving capabilities. The Unified Conversation Platform was a direct result of this change.
Not only was this an effective tool for me, but it was shared through a microsite and taught so that others could benefit.
A Javelin story covers consumer interactions with a company that cross clouds and product use cases.
While lots of vision work can go deep into a single product or feature area, and truly push boundaries, Javelin stories have to bridge the gaps between products and features to tell a start-to-finish story of a consumer.
Javelin stories showcase what can and should happen in an interaction, not the technical how it's built or supported from an engineering perspective.
A Javelin story is short and smooth with no unexpected twists and turns.
Simplicity doesn't mean the story isn't impactful, but instead swaps drama for ease of understanding and presentation.
The simplicity of story and understanding should keep a Javelin story inside of 20 minutes. The goal is for each story to be covered in a 30-minute meeting with room for questions after.
A Javelin story focuses on our customer's customer and their success and happiness.
The consumer is a person we can all identify with. We've all shopped for headphones, stayed at hotels, and some have even been in emergencies where smooth support is key.
Empathy with the consumer makes it easy for viewers and presenters to internalize a Javelin story and hold on to the bits that are the most impactful.
A Javelin story highlights a specific interaction within a larger world and acts as a spotlight on delight.
A successful Javelin story covers a start-to-finish interaction of a consumer and a customer, but that interaction is one repeatable interaction within the relationship.
A consumer can have earlier interactions with a company, and in the end should highlight lifetime customer value with encouragement for the customer to keep coming back to the company again and again.
The lasting results of Project Javelin.
Not only was the first Javelin story the catalyst that sparked the Unified Conversation Platform effort, but it continued on as a tool for thought experiments, consensus gathering, and even direct customer sales value ($$$). Stories were crafted for mixed retail, conversational, and ecommerce, proactive service for a massive US communications provider, proving out ROI of pursuing WhatsApp from a company to customer lens, and building in AI for automated service outreach, alongside human Agents.
The story artifacts themselves are company confidential, but the thoughts behind them are open for me to discuss further.