Harnessing the Power of Listening
Unearthing the Next Big Idea
Everyone wants to ship the next market-making product. But most teams fill the room with their own pitch—hoping volume equals insight.
At Un_Standard, we know the secret: World-changing ideas aren’t born from more talking—they’re found by listening closer to the real behaviors, hacks, and tension points your customers live every day.
Don’t overthink your next big move. Tune in—then act.
Join The Movement
Unravel User Workarounds for True Value Creation
The best roadmap isn’t always a survey response. It’s what people do when they bend your product to fit their routine.
See what users hack, skip, add, or duct-tape.
- What do they do before and after interacting with your brand?
- Which “off-label” uses make them light up?
Modern Example: A fintech observed users exporting reports to hack their budgeting tools. By listening, they designed personalized, automated summaries—turning a workaround into a sticky loyalty feature and boosting daily engagement.
Overcome Barriers by Designing for Every Stakeholder
Sometimes it’s the “hidden gatekeeper” who quietly blocks adoption—think ops, admins, or partners.
- Watch how your product impacts every hand it touches.
- Map which non-users can stall or spread your idea.
Modern Example: A healthtech startup noticed clinic staff were skipping their new scheduling tool. A quick “noise audit” revealed front-desk friction—not doctor pushback—drove resistance. Fixing onboarding for admins, not just providers, unlocked adoption, rave reviews, and referrals.
Find the Tension Points—and Turn Them Into Opportunity
True innovation comes from “tension points”—moments when daily habits and product experience don’t quite fit.
- Run “painstorming” sessions: what makes customers sigh, joke, or say, “Well, that’s just life with this thing.”
- Listen for repeated comments, not just big data.
Modern Example: A SaaS company heard that customers struggle to switch between tools for document management and collaboration. They built an integrated sidebar and saw user time-on-platform triple.
Tension is your trailhead—if you dare to walk it.
Movement Ritual: Radical Listening Sprints
- Once per quarter, have product, marketing, and customer success shadow a variety of users without an agenda.
- Collect every unscripted reaction, workaround, complaint, or request.
- Sift for themes—and commit to bold experiments that address at least one “pain pattern” every sprint.
Proof from the Movement
A challenger game studio pivoted a product after observing Twitch streamers’ hacks. Their “side project” mode became a genre hit, not from brainstorms—but from watching real users work around constraints.
A nonprofit turned feedback from non-users (community partners) into a narrative designed to win over the next cohort. Retention and conversions both soared.
The Power of Listening, Un_Standard Style
Innovation doesn’t come from the loudest presenter in the boardroom. It comes from humble curiosity, clues in real behavior, and the ability to act on “that shouldn’t happen” moments.
Want to fuel audacious ideas? Quit tuning out. Amplify the whisper, map the workaround, and challenge the tension that old brands sweep under the rug.
Book a Radical Listening Workshop With Un_Standard →
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David Garrard
Agent Provocateur & Chief Creative Officer at Un_Standard. David helps ambitious brands unearth clarity, break the rules that hold them back, and co-create movement-level growth. When not challenging the status quo, he’s in the kitchen inventing new flavors or chasing after his three cats: Hallie Tosis, Lester Een, and Jim G. Vitis. #BeUnStandard
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