By Will Sullivan and Molly Williams
As creative professionals, there is often a significant difference between what we think we need to do, or what we might want to do, and what actually needs to be done.
It’s among a host of core reasons why many businesses find success online elusive.
The problem: we don’t know what that thing is, that obvious thing, that will make our mark or take us to the next level.
Getting to the obvious isn’t easy. Obvious is that element that causes you to say, “That’s so simple” when you see a new product, design, or business that fits a previously unmet, and specific, need. The best ideas are often the most obvious.
So, what steps must we take to ensure that we’re working toward the obvious? Below are 5 considerations that creative professionals should take into account when presented with a new problem or opportunity online. Whether for new business opportunities, existing clients, or for your own company activities, these steps will help you to measure the true value of your creative efforts.
1. Focus on the problem, and the problem alone. This can be one of the most challenging tasks because it requires that you know what the problem is in the first place. What your client tells you or what you perceive to be the problem might not actually be the problem. Take the time upfront to analyze the situation presented to you, conduct research, look at existing analytics, talk to people and dig deep to find the core problem that needs addressing.
2. Ask yourself what the simplest route is to solving that problem. As your mind begins to wander and your creative nature urges you to think bigger and bolder ideas, bring yourself back to the simple ones. Sometimes the most obvious ideas, the ideas that will achieve all your goals, aren’t outside the box, they’re smack dab in the middle of it.
3. Don’t let suggestions about what could be done, or what might be done, play a roll in your decision about what must be done.
4. Test early and often. Choosing a simple path, or a solution that seems to be obvious, should not only be obvious to you. It should be obvious to your customers and audiences. The best way to check this? Test. If you choose a simple route, your assertion of the obvious should be relatively simple to test, and cost effective to boot. Testing ensures that you’re not working in an echo chamber, making uninformed assumptions, and that you’re not missing an even simpler route to arriving at the final, most obvious destination.
5. Obvious and simple aren’t pejorative terms. Remember that obvious doesn’t necessarily mean “boring” or “rehashed.” Some of the simplest, most obvious solutions were ground breaking: Apple’s product design, Google’s homepage, Twitter, The Drudge Report site design, Got Milk, Just Do It, and many, many more.
Have a simple idea in mind that solved an obvious problem? Please share it below!
