There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to designing user experiences in the digital transformation, but IBM Global Business Services is offering organizations the opportunity to take advantage of its global reach, outcome-focused methodologies, domain skills and deep industry expertise today, according to Jason Kelley (pictured), vice president and partner, global business leader, solutions and design, at IBM Corp.

“Design evokes emotion. So we think of emotion, take that and put that into a business and think about creating an elegant solution for the outcomes of the end user in business,” said Kelley.

During IBM Interconnect 2017, Kelly joined John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live-streaming studio, to discuss how design impacts the way the user feels about technology. (*Disclosure below.)

Consumer-focused technology

When the consumer is the focus, it is critical to have a consumable solution that would excite the user. What IBM is doing is taking that concept and scaling it to a consumer-grade solution that the enterprise can enjoy.

“When a business has a problem, they need to solve it, and you want to create a solution that evokes emotion,” Kelley explained. He said that if the customer experiences good design, they form an attachment to it, and IBM wants that type of design for their solutions.

Four years ago, IBM established more than 36 design studios globally. Clients love to come to the studios because they get the opportunity to discover the pain points and pull all the pieces together, according to Kelley. The challenge is to take the crashing of different capabilities and business processes and combine them with the business, technical and human architecture.

“That’s where you begin to weave those things together by understanding how each one of those diverse pieces of the business works in harmony,” he said.

Kelley describes it as a therapeutic process. “You can’t think your way into a new way of acting. You have to act your way into a new way of thinking. So that’s what the process is. You bring this discovery by way of using the basics of empathy,” said Kelley.  

Designing technology for Kelley is an infinity sign. He characterized it as never ending loops of understanding, reflecting and creating.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM InterConnect 2017. (*Disclosure: SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE is a media partner at InterConnect. Neither IBM nor other conference sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE