No such thing as one-size-fits all
What can openers can teach us about writing, human-centred design & learning from ‘extremes’
It’s lunchtime and I’m in the kitchen when Chris walks in.
“This *$!&ing can opener!” I toss the recently purchased ‘time-saving’ device onto the kitchen counter. Chris is confused. He picks it up and tells me how much he loves it, how easy it is to use compared with the old one.
And it is easy for him to use, but for me - it’s a nightmare. In my rage, I could be tempted to start an argument (it’s taken less), but instead I’m curious. How can something so simple work so differently for us?
No such thing as one-size-fits-all
Can openers are a great example of how an everyday item can differ depending on who is using it and in what environment.
Take the version you have in your kitchen. It might be perfect for home cooking, but imagine taking it on a camping trip - suddenly it’s too bulky and heavy. What about in a professional kitchen? Your trusty can opener is no longer able to handle the volume of tasks needed.
How about we give your ‘standard’ can opener to a child? Someone who is left-handed or someone with arthritis? It won’t fit them all. Instead, it’s more likely to have them cursing like me as I struggle to open my lunchtime tin of beans.
There is no universal can opener, despite what product designers and marketers tell you. One size does not fit all.
What can openers teach us about writing
And so it is with writing advice. There is no one-size-fits all approach to getting the writing done. We’ve written about this before, including Why writing isn't like following a recipe and Embrace your writing quirks and It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it and Mono-tasking or multi-tasking: what's best for creativity? and Compete or collaborate?
That doesn’t mean that all writing advice is bad and can be ignored but rather, that we need to look at a range of perspectives and see what works for us. The key is to observe what other writers do without judgement - don’t compare yourself; do take inspiration.
By all mean toss out the stuff that doesn’t work but keep open to approaches that might help. Find ways to test them out. If they don’t work, you haven’t failed, but the experiment has.
Human-centred design
A lot of my work with writers has been shaped by my early career when I worked as head of innovation for a global publisher. Back then, I was responsible for user research and took a trip to San Francisco to learn about human-centred design. As design guru Tim Brown wrote in The Harvard Business Review:1
“These problems all have people at their heart. They require a human-centred, creative, iterative, and practical approach to finding the best ideas and ultimate solutions.”
- Tim Brown
Whatever problem you are facing - whether it’s opening cans or finding time to write, you need to take a creative, iterative and practical approach. It also helps to understand humans too!
Tim Brown was CEO of a global design and innovation company called IDEO, where I spent some time on that research trip. IDEO’s approach to solving problems involved seeking out what they refer to as ‘extremes’. These are mostly ordinary people with extreme perspectives that are rooted in their personality, circumstances or culture.2
The theory is that learning from extremes gives us a better understanding of the range of experiences and perspectives that would otherwise be overlooked. It prevents the bias we get from learning from successful people, such as writers who hit the bestseller list or win awards.
Just because they ‘made it’, doesn’t mean that what worked for them would work for us. We often quote Professor Ellen J. Langer, so over to her:
“The rules you were given were the rules that worked for the person who created them, and the more different you are from that person, the worse they’re going to work for you. When you’re mindful, rules, routines and goals guide you; they don’t govern you.”
- Ellen J. Langer
Learning from ‘extremes’
This newsletter is all about giving you inspiration, research and ideas to try. That’s why I’m channelling my previous self as a user researcher to seek out extreme writers, to share how they get the writing done and what we can learn from them. I’ve got a few interviews to share and some ideas about writers I’d like to talk to including neurodiverse writers, carers and parents, late bloomers, full-time workers and those with chronic illnesses.
I’d love to hear what you think, whose perspective is under-represented? Add a comment below or hit reply to email us.
In the meantime, I’m done with cursing the can opener. It’s time to find a new approach.
Keep writing, Bec
Want to revive your writing routine?
If you’d like to build better writing habits, our Writing RESET course could be perfect for you. We work with you over six weeks to help you discover and then implement the tools and tactics that help you get the writing done.
Our next Writing RESET starts June 2024. If you’d like a discounted, early bird place, pop your name on the waiting list and we’ll let you know when spots are released.
This year we’re also offering add-on personalised coaching if you need an extra accountability boost.
What people said about our winter RESET course
I really appreciate that Bec and Chris don't tell you how to structure your writing practice. Instead, they give you the tools to examine what works and doesn't for you, and build a practice that matches your idiosyncrasies.
- Paul Sturrock, non fiction writer, Climbworks
I achieved the specific goals I'd set myself, but much more importantly, have a set of writing practice tools that will help me keep going well into the future as I write my blog and newsletter, and work on my book, all while juggling a large family.
- Michelle Geffken, paperblogging.com
During RESET, I hit all my goals and finished feeling positive and full of optimism for my ongoing writing. The course gave me brilliant exit velocity – to the degree that I feel ready to finish off the novel that has been languishing on my hard drive for too long!
- Rachel Connor, author and academic
‘Design Thinking’ by Tim Brown, Harvard Business Review, 2008
I wondered whether to keep the word ‘extreme’ in this piece. It’s the original term for this type of research. Some people refer to outliers, but again, that is a very narrow band of just 0.3% of people/data, others talk about ‘on the edge’. While we need to debate what it means to be extreme, going beyond the norm and embracing diversity is necessary and important. Perhaps we just need a better word for it.