Now we know the differences between subjectivity and objectivity, here is a framework to control and limit subjectivity and ensure products that meet the customers’ needs. I wrote a previous article title ‘Objective facts, not subjective comments‘ – where I talk about the importance of remaining subjective in moments of struggle. Next I wanted to go into more detail about a framework I use called Lean experiment maps, which I’ve used to tell a story of incremental improvements, demonstrate success, encourage learning across teams and I hope this is something you can use and apply to your work. 

Now I know this isn’t a science class but a great technique to create focus and become more objective is to help people frame an assumption as a hypothesis. What this technique teaches is to help people step back and break down what they’re trying to communicate into manageable parts. If a problem is too big, breaking things down into smaller pieces helps you create the building blocks to reach the desired vision. for example, you wouldn’t sit down at a table and eat all of your food in one fatal mouth full – it’s ugly to witness and this doesn’t give you the time to take in the taste of each individual flavour. As creators we want people to step back, appreciate the complexity and break things down into components. What this means as a designer is that we can create experiences from a hypothesis that help drive expected user behaviours. Working in this way allows people who you’re working with, to be able to come to an agreement, move forward on a plan and attach a soft target that as a collective we feel is achievable.