Study the existing workaround before proposing a new tool
AI-assisted editorial field note · Educational planning framework
What does a customer's workaround tell me?
The workaround reveals how the customer currently allocates effort, money and risk to solve the problem. A spreadsheet, manual message or extra employee may offer advantages your product overlooks. Understanding why the workaround survives helps you define a useful switching reason and avoid building a replacement that is better in theory but harder to adopt.
Put it into practice
Watch the task
Ask the participant to demonstrate a recent example with sensitive information removed. Observe handoffs, exceptions and supporting tools rather than relying only on their description.
Find the hidden benefits
Ask what the current approach makes easy. A manual process may support unusual cases or give a manager confidence that an important check occurred.
Identify the fragile point
Locate the step that breaks when volume, staffing or urgency changes. A workaround can be satisfactory until a particular threshold or exception appears.
Estimate switching effort
List migration, retraining, approvals and temporary disruption. Compare these costs with the improvement your first version can actually deliver.
A worked example
Illustrative scenario — not a customer case study
A shared spreadsheet looks inefficient until a founder sees staff add exceptions directly beside each booking. A rigid app removes that flexibility and creates a second note system. A better pilot preserves exception handling while testing whether reminders reduce missed handoffs.
Make the next decision
Position the first test against the real workaround and its strengths. Proceed when the improvement is meaningful enough to justify the switching effort for the chosen segment.
A mistake to avoid
Calling the current method outdated can make the interview defensive. Treat it as a rational response to the customer's constraints until evidence shows otherwise.
Is doing nothing also a workaround?
Yes. Leaving a problem unresolved can be an intentional choice when alternatives cost more than the consequence. Ask what would make that decision change.
Take the next step
Check the broader business context with the free six-question assessment. Use your own evidence to choose the next action.
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