Presented March 2013 to the client-facing strategists of ABS-CBN Digital Brand Management. The workshop was for the tech-savvy, assertive, young marketers whose role was to both pitch to Clients and receive project requests. We wanted the team to have an aligned knowledge of asking, probing and clarifying product-related questions with Clients. The short primer talks about facilitation watch-outs and basic questions for product development (objectives, success metrics, target audience).

1. ANOANGMENSAHE!!
Helping us figure out
what clients want
...DAHil nakakapagoD
yung laging ganito

2. SERIOUS STUFF:
EXPECTATIONS?

3. SERIOUS STUFF:
WHY I THINK
IT’S COOL THAT
I’M “TEACHING” THIS

4. clientsarepeople,too.

5. NOBLE GOAL:
HELP THEM UNDERSTAND
WHAT THEY WANT.
WE JUST DON’T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN.

6. 1. KNOW THYSELF.
THEN FORGET.
2. KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING.
3. COLLECT, THEN SELECT.

7. CHECK YOURSELF.
THEN FORGET YOURSELF.

8. EXERCISE 1

9. THINK OF YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT :)

10. what the hell is this? I didn’t understand some of the questions
set of questions - preparing yourself “going to war without a gun”
cathartic “hindi lang pala ko ang may problemang ganito”
similarities with other people about why they like
shared struggles, shares success
nakatulong namakaisip ng follow-up questions
eye contact
thought it was an AM-Client
learned about colleague
garbage in, garbage out
pag kinukuwento, enlightenment = marirealize mo yung problems along
the way; follow-up questions
kung sino ang kausap ko
you don’t have to stick with the questions
relate it to something the person has interest in

11. 1. What is it about the project that you liked? Elaborate.
2. How do you feel about the project? Elaborate.
3.
What don’t you like about the project?
4. What events led to the project?
5. What are the characteristics of the Clients that led to those
events/the project?
6. If you were to change something about the situation, so
that those events could be avoided, what would it be?
7. Who else allowed the situation to happen?

12. Shutting up
Repeat (Use words they use)
Don’t pretend to know. Even when you do.
“What do you mean...”

13. EXERCISE 2

14. LOOK AT THE CLIENT REQUEST:
WRITE THE INITIAL BRIEF.
YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES.

15. Perspective ng tatlong tao sa website: Role vs. First stage (Ano ang
gusto mo)
Bigay-hilig: why was the project needed
AM - Client: Alam ko na kasi -hindi, mali e
Observer wants to speak up: to be productive
Nakakatakot maging Client: once AM starts asking questions - ako
yung naiipit, imbes na AM (masyado mo kong pinipiga, ito lang ang
gusto ko)
Tangina.
I need more than 5 minutes: actual Client - Ash isn’t
specifically, Clients’s answer
Ganun pala yung pressure na meron sa AM: questions na hindi pa rin
kaya sagutin ng Client
come to a point where you both don’t know: how to translate
(nahahayaan na lang sila minsan magsalita)
Weight is on your shoulders: bakit yung objective doesn’t support
your vision
Nakaka-mindfuck: disprove the need for an app, tapos oo, tapos
hindi (zeroing in - when Client doesn’t know what they really want)
Paradigm shifts: naiintindihan mo saan sila nanggagaling

16. no absolute objectivity.

17. AWARENESS.

18. DEFENSE MECHANISMScoping

19. Denial Acting as if something painful doesn’t exist
Repression Forgetting that something painful happened
Regression
Refusing to accept a current experience by reverting to
behavior from an earlier development stage
Displacement
Taking thoughts and feelings out on another person, object,
etc.
Acting Out
Releasing pressure through behavior that doesn’t consider
personal or social consequences
Projection
Attributing thoughts, feelings you don’t like about yourself to
another person
Reaction
Formation
Converting unwanted thoughts into their opposite;
expressing behavior opposite to your feelings
Intellectualization
Thinking away distressing or unacceptable situations,
experiences or thoughts without emotion or considering
emotional consequences
Rationalization
Putting behavior or experiences in a different light or offering
a different explanation
Sublimation
Refocusing or transforming conflicted or unacceptable
emotions into productive outlets

20. KNOWING WHAT TO ASK:
WHERE ARE YOU GOING
WITH THIS?

21. Things That Are Brown: “Making Things Hard”
MIX Online: “Discovering Trustworthiness”
A List Apart: “Never Get Involved in a Land War in
Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason)”
Boxes and Arrows: Series on “The Stakeholder
Interview”

22. what are you usually
trying to find?

23. DON’T BELIEVE WHAT THE
CLIENT IS SAYING.
AT FACE VALUE.
AT THE VERY LEAST: ASK “WHY?”

24. THE BASICS

25. what is the product
supposed to do?

26. who is the
product for?

27. THE REAL SCORE

28. what should the project
accomplish for the business?

29. how will you, personally,
define success for the product?

30. how would you like to be
involved in the project?

31. POINTERS.
NOT “DO YOU LIKE...”OPEN-ENDED: WHAT. HOW. WHY.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO LOOK
LIKE YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.
REPHRASE. TO CLARIFY.

32. COLLECT AND SELECT.

33. Keep an open...

35. IF YOU DON’T HAVE
A PIECE OF PAPER,
A RECORDER,
OR EVERNOTE,
I HOPE YOU HAVE AMAZING
MEMORY.

36. OBJECTIVITY
DIRECTION
OPENNESS
BE AWARE OF YOUR BIASES.
DON’T ASSUME YOU KNOW
WHAT THEY MEAN.
THINK: HOW WILL MY TEAM USE THIS INFO?

37. SERIOUS STUFF:
QUESTIONS?