Case Study: Qwest Updates  the Suggestion Box

By Clarke Stevens, Sr. Manager, Product Strategy, Qwest 

The new product suggestion box is not a new concept, but its reputation has been tarnished as a useful tool due to neglect and ineffective management of the ideas generated. Clarke shares with us what Qwest is doing to make a new product suggestion box a valuable part of their innovation process. This article explores:

1. Effective tracking and management of product ideas.

2. 10 criteria for a successful product suggestion box.

For more than 100 years, ‘the phone company’ has been innovating new services for residential and business customers across the country.  Recently Qwest, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the U.S. and the incumbent local exchange carrier for 14 Western states, led an effort to streamline new product development and expand product creation by feeding the company’s product development team new and original ideas.

To do this, the team developed a Web-based tool featured on the company intranet that was essentially a “new product suggestion box.”   The suggestion box allows the innovation team to collect ideas about new services and products from across the company, evaluate them, and implement the best ideas efficiently.

Sounds simple – however designing the suggestion box and creating the process for managing the submission was a complex task.

During the design phase the team realized that the following criteria must be met to make the box successful:

1. The submission process must be simple enough for all company employees to use regardless of their technical expertise.

2. The suggestion box should be the single place to submit any product idea.

3. Submitters should have the option to send an idea anonymously.

4. The person submitting the idea, if known, should get immediate feedback   regarding whether the idea will be implemented, declined, or further evaluated.

5. All ideas should be saved for future reference.

6. Ideas should be evaluated by a cross-functional team comprising members from different Qwest groups.

7. Ideas should be evaluated on several criteria and given a score that can be used to help in prioritization.

8. A log with comments should be kept on the progress of every idea – and should be viewable by the idea submitter.

9. A periodic report should be generated and widely distributed to product managers, product development teams, executives, legal counsel and others with an interest in new product ideas.  The new product development team should use the report as a source for qualified ideas that have already gone through a level of evaluation.

Qwest has been able to meet these goals effectively with the Web-based suggestion box tool.  Here’s how it works.

For simplicity, the idea submitter is asked to give the idea a name, describe it, and suggest the customers who might find the product or service valuable.  A simple web-based form is used.  Submitters may enter their name, e-mail address and phone number or choose to submit the idea anonymously.

As soon as the idea is submitted, it is stored in a database and a Web page appears with a tracking number so the submitter may check the status.  Also, an e-mail message is automatically sent confirming the idea was received.  E-mail updates are sent every time the idea is evaluated or advanced through the next stage of the development process.  Comments from the reviewer are included in these updates.  Submitters also can check on the status of all their ideas anytime by searching on their name, e-mail address, phone number or the tracking number.

Once the idea is received, a number of tools help with efficiently evaluating it.  Through a secure login, only administrators and reviewers can access the administrative site and begin the evaluation process.

The initial page of the administrative site lists the ideas that are assigned to the particular reviewer.  A drop-down box allows the reviewer to see ideas assigned to other reviewers or to see the complete list of submitted ideas.  Each idea is listed with its score, rank, creation date, last changed date, and the name of the assigned reviewer.  The ideas can be sorted by any of these parameters by clicking on the column heading.  Clicking on an idea will pull up a detailed view.

In the detailed view, reviewers can see all the information available on the idea including information entered by the idea submitter, reviewer comments, the idea’s scores in each of six categories (explained below), a log of each change, and a section for entering new comments, changing the status, and assigning a different reviewer.

A cross-functional review team meets weekly to review the ideas submitted and to update the status of ideas being implemented.  Updates are entered through the administrative site.  All reviewers present their assigned ideas to the group for discussion.  Ideas are rated (1 to 5) on their impact in the following categories: strategy, market, finance, technology, operations and customer benefit.  The assigned reviewer proposes scores in each category and solicits comments and debate from the group.  Scores for new ideas are compared with others and the new idea is ranked.  The score helps in the ranking, but ideas can be ranked independent of their scores allowing the team to use some discretion in cases where the score does not reflect the real value of the idea. 

After each meeting, the team generates a report that summarizes their progress and tallies the number of ideas submitted, reviewed and outstanding.  It also highlights the top-ranked ideas overall.

So far, the results have been encouraging.  Although the tool has intentionally been distributed to only a small group to date, the ideas are interesting, and the process is efficient enough that ideas can be reviewed in just a few minutes. 

Despite the fact that only a small number of the submitted ideas will become products, those that are implemented help add value to Qwest and its customers.  Another satisfying result of the suggestion box is that the spirit of innovation is spread throughout the company – not limited to R&D.  Idea submitters appreciate getting immediate feedback and the cross-functional nature of the review team is helping build a sense of community across groups that previously had less interaction.  An added bonus is that the product development team can concentrate on ideas that have already gone through a level of qualification.

Qwest’s plan is to distribute the product suggestion box to a wider audience.  The team anticipates a dramatic increase in the volume of ideas, which will be difficult to manage, but the sense of community and the spirit of innovation instilled in the company will continue, making the new complexities worthwhile.  It is through great ideas – no matter where they are generated – that Qwest will continue to be a leading communications provider.  

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