The Frozen Middle
by petermeOn Tuesday I introduced the day of sessions, and realized something while speaking.
I told a story of a recent project, where we were hired by a financial services firm to redesign the website where customers manage their accounts, move money around, evaluate their performance, and the like. Being dutiful user-centered designers, we conducted a passel of in-home interviews with customers, finding out how they approached financial management.
We learned that while websites were key components, they were only one of many tools and channels that customers use to accomplish their goals. Customers also deal with monthly paper statements, call center representatives, physical branches, etc., etc. And by appreciating the customers’ perspectives, we realized that improving the website, while important, was insufficient. No matter how good the website’s design, its ability to satisfy both the customers and our client is constrained by the problems people have with these other tools.
And while our direct client contacts understood this (in large part because they joined us for the research), there was little they could do about it. This image from my presentation illustrates why:
The people we worked with were deep within “interactive marketing.” Their lives were the website. They didn’t really know the people who worked on the monthly statements or at the call center. And even if they did, they didn’t have the time to collaborate with them — they had too much on their plates already.
Because of the research, our contacts understood the need for addressing the customer’s experience across multiple channels and media. But they couldn’t move on it. In fact, in order to find a person who has a view across the entire experience, you had to go all the way up to the Chief Marketing Officer (at the top of this diagram).
What I realized while speaking was that this is an example of the Frozen Middle. The Frozen Middle is a term coined to describe how strategic pursuits developed by senior executives can get bogged down in execution by middle management. Our experience, then, was sadly typical.
The new wrinkle that we saw was that we also have people in the trenches who “get” the need for a holistic view. “Individual contributors” are not seen as the source of strategic insight, but it’s clear that these folks, who deal most directly with the customers, are witnessing behaviors that are crucial to the organizations larger success.
(I’ve made my introductory slides (PDF) available for download. It also includes slides stolen from MAYA Design and an introduction of Michael Bierut.)