Published on the 25/10/2016 | Written by Anthony Caruana
There’s little point doing something without good reason, which is why Katja Forbes named the company she founded syfte…
Syfte is the Swedish word for purpose, design or goal – and purpose is an important part of any business’ planning and execution.
Forbes previously ran another business but it wasn’t really what she wanted to do. So she took a kind of sabbatical. But rather than sipping cocktails on a beach, she took a job at the Commonwealth Bank, as she considered what to do next.
This led her to a project within the bank where she had the opportunity to hire a team and establish her own company. Suddenly, she was managing a business with seven people.
“It came as a bit of a surprise to me at the time,” said Forbes.
Syfte bills itself as ‘curious, expert problem solvers’. The focus is on helping business create or redesign processes so that customers and staff are the focus of satisfaction. It is an experience, design and research company, said Forbes.
“We go to clients who have issues and challenges with things they are trying to achieve for their business. We research with their clients, customers and staff – the staff part is really important. We research what’s going on with the people they are delivering products and services to and the staff who are delivering it. We figure out what is going wrong, where the opportunities are and we design to make it better”.
Unlike the old ‘business process re-engineering’ trend of the 80s and 90s, syfte’s focus is on people rather than systems.
“This is different as it’s really human centred. It’s all about understanding what needs people have when they’re interacting with other people, or products or services – when they’re interacting with technology or interacting with a physical space. It’s not just looking at getting from A to B and following these steps and making these decisions. It’s more about how we serve the people who are coming to us for whatever the business brings to the table.”
Rather than entering an interaction with a client asking what they want, Forbes said syfte’s model is to engage with the client and research what they are doing. Then syfte looks for ways to do things better. The focus then becomes delivering what the client needs rather than what they want.
That observation and research based approach is critical. Often, when people are asked what they do, they focus on the large steps but leave out small details that have become tacit in their knowledge and work habits. Forbes used the example of asking someone how they drive a car. While they might say things like ‘get in the car’ and ‘start the engine’, they will omit details such as unlocking the door, putting the seatbelt on and putting the key into the ignition.
It’s in those details where syfte finds opportunities for improving the interactions between staff, clients and products and services.
“It’s not the customer’s job to tell you what they want. It’s your job to engage with them in a meaningful way and uncover it,” she said.
Forbes’ approach involves a high degree of engagement and what she calls ‘participatory design’.
“We bring the people, who are the ultimate end-users of the product, into the design of the product using tools and techniques to help facilitate that.”
As well as establishing and running syfte, Forbes is a co-founding member and local leader in Sydney of global community organisation Interaction Design Association. She was also recognised in the Board and Management category for her contribution to Experience Design in Australia by the Australian Financial Review.
