It is a trap.
It is tempting to think that what worked for 10 people might work for 100 or vice versa. It is equally tempting to think what worked for 10 people in one city may work for 10 people in another city.
Great designers know this well.
The industrial age has bombarded us with products and services where they have efficiently identified the lowest common denominator population segment who can happily use their products and services. This has led us to a false sense of belief that a general solution is possible for every problem for everyone every time.
It is difficult to deny that a solution that can be replicated for all is the best one in terms of resources.
But the pursuit of scaling by thoughtless replication doesn’t work.
How often does this happen: we create a training module for a specific group of people and complete it with a great feedback from every participant. The next week, we use the same module for another group of people from the same organization. And we struggle. We struggle to get them onboard. We struggle to pass our word. We struggle to understand their worldview.
The trick is to take a pause when we’re about to jump at the idea of replication.
During the pause, we can contemplate the following questions:
- Are the fundamental qualities of recipients of two groups identical?
- If they’re not identical, do they share any qualities? In what aspects are they similar?
- What changes do you need to make within the solution to adjust for the differences?
- If you provided the same solution to the original recipients after some time, will they appreciate the solution any more or any less?
- Is replication a demand of the audience or an easy way for you?
No matter how hard the dominant culture tries to convince that one size fits all, the increasing progress in science, technology, medicine, and psychology are pointing towards a personalized future. A future that is more granular than what we are led to believe.
We need to break free from the rut of replication and start thinking about personalization.