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00:00:01
Great Artist's Steal
19 Plays1 year ago
In our first MVP episode of The Commute, Liam and Noah sit down to chat all about how great artists steal.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'The Commute' Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey folks, we're trying something new. So we want to connect you to the folks who work here in a different way. We think there's a lot of great ideas to share coming into Loblaw Digital. So much wicked talent, so many fascinating people that I'm bumping into here in the office. And we also know that many of you are facing a different commute.
00:00:19
Speaker
So we thought we would try an experiment, as we do here, and spin up a podcast. We're calling it the commute. That's our MVP name. And we're going to break off, call it 10, 15, 20 minute segments on a topic where we can chat casually, share our learnings, and connect it to things you might not already know.
Purpose and Format of the Podcast
00:00:40
Speaker
I'm Liam. I lead the user experience practice here. My pronouns are he and him, and I'm here with my partner in cry for this first couple of episodes. Please introduce yourself. What's up, everyone? I'm Noah. I, right now, lead the Joe Fresh business moving into new role soon. My pronouns are he and him. And just going on with what Liam said, you know, we know you all have a bit of a commute now, so we want to make that as joyous as possible.
00:01:05
Speaker
And what you could expect is just real good authentic dialogue and conversations about topics that you're probably not going to cover in your day-to-day meetings. They might not only be topics that you talk about with your colleagues at lunch, but
00:01:20
Speaker
We're going to talk about some fun things. We're going to talk about some things that are necessary for your career and building relationships. But I'm super excited about this. I know Liam is calling an experiment, but I feel like this one might stick.
00:01:36
Speaker
And we'll see. I'll bet on that one. I'll caveat the real good, Doha Props, real good content. This is an experiment. We're both podcast obsessed. We think we can do this, but you tell us whether this sucks. And finally, going forwards, that we'll have a rotating cast of guests and folks running this with us.
Tech Sector Evolution and Problem Solving
00:01:52
Speaker
It's Noah and I for now because we've got a vibe, but we would love to open the door on other thinkers and contributors to this content. So we'll see how these first couple snippets go. And we'd love to invite you all in to contribute and listen on your daily commute.
00:02:10
Speaker
Liam, we got an interesting topic that you really are passionate. So I'm going to flip it over to you to give everyone what we're going to talk about. Yeah. Thanks, man. I also love to hear your intro voice like maturing over time. There's like some smooth buttery qualities coming out. It's real nice. Thanks. Thanks. So, so I just said to Jacob and Keanu here on the river, this is like a topic that is an idea that is forming in my head, in my heart that I was sort of practicing on you all today. So bear with me on your commute. Hopefully you can take this one in.
00:02:40
Speaker
So, you know, we're part of the tech sector. We work in a giant retailer. Of course, nothing we do is possible without Loblot. We work at Loblot Digital and we're building technology that is maturing over time. Over the past 20 years that I've worked in the tech sector, we've seen things go from, you know, inventing everything from scratch 20 years ago
00:02:57
Speaker
from buttons to navigation to apps to whatever it is, any digital experience was brand new to now, fast forward 20 years later, there are many, many solve problems and patterns in the products that we use every day.
Balancing Innovation with Proven Models
00:03:11
Speaker
And so I'm faced with this reality that let's call us adolescents in the tech sector. We've now sort of figured some shit out. We're not fully formed, we're not fully mature, we're not fully there yet, but there's a lot of solve problems out there.
00:03:26
Speaker
And I feel that the instinct, especially with knowledge workers and design thinkers, is to go back to first principles and rethink everything from the ground up. I agree that that's totally required in some cases. I agree you don't get innovation without it. But deciding when to do that work, when to tear it down and start from scratch is a really, really critical decision, especially as we're trying to build products at scale.
00:03:55
Speaker
When we start to rethink checkout, when we start to rethink a PDP, when we start to look at core parts of the e-commerce journey in particular that are predictable and solve on other platforms, through Amazon, through any retailer you shop, through Shopify templates, through you name it, through our products,
00:04:19
Speaker
How much freedom do we want to engage in breaking the mental model of our customers? The first principle of great user experience is don't make me think. So our customers should never be in the position of opening a product or opening a website and not knowing how to use it. And so why don't we just copy the best in class platforms and products that do everything that we do really well?
00:04:44
Speaker
And it's honestly like, I'm adding like an identity crisis. I'm like, okay, you know, if Netflix does it well, if Walmart does it well, if Amazon does it well, why don't we just steal from them great artists steal, right?
00:04:58
Speaker
And I think that that is fundamentally true, because those products are at a scale of adoption, a scale of usage that, given their geography, given the size of their companies, that we won't ever reach. And so you can trust that they've proven that these models convert, that these models, these patterns are performing.
00:05:17
Speaker
And so, when we're building new things at LD, I'm always challenging ourselves to say, okay, but who else does this better? Who else does this well? What are we looking at? And it's always been a poor part of the UX practice here and our product practice to an extent to tear down comparable features.
00:05:34
Speaker
But I think it's more important than ever now to like really do the due diligence there before we start the research, before we start calling any customers, before we hit a whiteboard, before we design anything from scratch. And you might think that that takes the magic out of the process. And that's the identity crisis I'm having. It's like, well, shit, like having a blank canvas to create something new on is like why I work here. This is like why I do this job. I love to create something out of nothing and create value for the people I'm serving.
00:06:04
Speaker
So I've reached the point where I think I have like a framework in development for this.
00:06:15
Speaker
where it's sort of like the 80-20 rule. Let's say 80% of the commerce journey. And I'm using commerce as a convenience sort of lens here because commerce is one of those more mature parts of the tech experiences we all use. We all buy things online now. We saw a great growth in that during the pandemic. And I think that really accelerated the maturity of e-commerce generally. And so call it 80% of your commerce journey is solved.
00:06:38
Speaker
But there's 20% that could really be that big swing or that moonshot that isn't solved or we can solve very differently.
Focusing on Unique Offerings for Impact
00:06:47
Speaker
And so I think as we start new initiatives, it's incumbent on us to decide within this initiative, you know, what is the 80% that we can basically copy and paste from another retailer? And like, just be honest here, you know, like, why reinvent the wheel?
00:07:03
Speaker
But what is the 20% that we as Loblaw can do that no one else can do? It could be attached to our loyalty program. It could be attached to our store footprint. It could be attached to the way we work at health. You know, there are so many tendrils of this business and connections that we can make that require that 20% innovation, that like incredible moonshot thinking.
00:07:25
Speaker
And to put our team's energy and strategic focus on that is where we're going to have the most leverage to transform the business. The 80% that is solved, making sure that conversion is good from browse to cart to checkout, like that's hard work. I agree. It's important. It requires a ton of thought and especially a ton of like smart people doing, making incredibly tight decisions on a roadmap. But I do think that, you know, from a design thinking, a creative perspective,
00:07:52
Speaker
We shouldn't boil the ocean over there. We shouldn't reinvent the wheel on that stuff. We should be looking for where that 20% of innovative leverage comes and really making sure our teams are pointed at that and identify the opportunity there.
00:08:07
Speaker
to drastically transform our experiences, even if it is just in a small slice. So, to go back to not making a customer think, they should be able to get through that commerce journey seamlessly, whether it starts in PCL, PC Express, Unlike Rushing, Joe Fresh, Shoppers Bregman Wire, PCL, to name it. They go through things predictably, but then all of a sudden, there's a personalized moment that introduces them to more of our assortment, that converges them across more of our businesses.
Joe Fresh Redesign and Leadership Focus
00:08:31
Speaker
I think about convergence, Noah, your new scope as like,
00:08:34
Speaker
You know, one of those 20% moments, no other retailer can do this. That shit is exciting. You know, I think about things we're doing in fast, like fulfillment as a service. No other retailer can do that because of our fulfillment network and our store services and our footprint naturally. That shit is exciting. That stuff requires true innovation and true design thinking. There's a lot of the other parts of our journey that frankly don't. And I struggle with this daily.
00:09:01
Speaker
I'm trying to share it as a point of vulnerability. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Honestly, that was a great sell-pot. It actually reminds me, I love the 80-20 rule. So, Joe Fresh, in 2024, one of the big rots is going through a redesign. I've been pushing for it for a long time, but now is the time to strike. That's why they happen.
00:09:26
Speaker
And the team asked me, what does that mean? What does a redesign mean? What are you looking for? And what else does it look like? It's not like we do things bad, right? It's a website.
00:09:40
Speaker
We could put content up that inspires customers. You can navigate to said content. You could go onto a product detail page and find out what you need to know. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. You could add to your card and then you could put your credit card in and you could buy. That's really the course journey that I just walked you through. We do that.
00:10:00
Speaker
Do we do it perfectly? No, but like no one's perfect. But I think that's like your 80-20 will really resonate with me because like that's the 80% that I just mentioned. That's it. And that journey really shouldn't change.
00:10:14
Speaker
but we're law block digital. And that's our 20% is where we thrive. And that was when we were thinking about that, that's what I pushed on. When this came out, we had this offsite and it was just starting to build our free plan.
00:10:36
Speaker
And, you know, I did a take on, uh, the Taylor Swift, um, eras tour. And I listed like three different eras that, you know, in my time on the business where joeflash.com has been. And, you know, the last era was leader era. And that's the era that we were entering. But it's that 20% that's going to differentiate you from being, you know, just part of the pack to a true leader. Yeah.
00:11:07
Speaker
And what do you think that 20% is for Joe? Where do you think the leverage is to really stand out? I don't know. And that's why we pay you the big money. Yeah. Yeah. My cell box was becoming a leader. Then let the rubber meet the road with the team. That's what. We won't let you do it. I promise. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
00:11:28
Speaker
That was great. That was a great honesty. I think that was really, I hope a lot of you take a lot of what Liam said and have a think through it. I think that was really good. The core takeaway is just like don't reinvent the wheel. If you're working on something you've seen somewhere before, make sure to dig into where you've seen it before and leverage the learnings from those other platforms before you go off and do soul searching on how to reinvent, you know, a solved problem.
00:11:58
Speaker
That's not to say to take the agency away or the innovation away. We need that critical thinking, but make sure you're applying in the right place. Set. That's my word. Hope you're having a great commute. We'll see you in the office. See you in a few folks.