Cookies that follow you.

In 1994, the 23-year-old engineer Lou Montulli invented the cookie for web browsers. Lou created the cookie so websites can remember things. Like whether you visited the site before. Like what you added to a shopping cart.

For Lou, the cookies were for exchanging info between users and the visited website. However, advertisers saw a different use. Cookies turn out to be a way for them to follow you around the Internet. To target you with ads they want you to see. Lou had a clear purpose of his creation. The advertisers had another purpose for his creation. 

This brings up a rather interesting observation. The utility and value of something can be different for different people. The purpose of something we create can have a different purpose for someone else. 

Starting with why

In his famous TED talk and book, Simon Sinek points out the importance of starting with WHY. To first have clarity of purpose. To know what it’s for. And use that as a platform for the HOW and the WHAT. 

When we build on this and add the above observation to the mix, we can consider the WHY from not just our perspective, but the perspectives of others. 

I think the WHY often originates from us. It can stem from our roots, our beliefs, or our intentions. But we must not forget that the WHY should also be relevant with who it's for. Martin Luther King's dream would not work if it didn't strike a chord with us. 

In other words, it means that we need a clear picture of the world view of who it's for. Because if the WHY we define is not in their world view, the WHY will not function. Because it's not relevant to them. Because they don't care. Because they don't see it. It's not in their view.

Three scenarios

This is all very fascinating. When we create something, there can be different instances and variations of the WHY for the intended audience, non-intended audience, and ourselves. We can represent the observations as a diagram and sort the observations into three scenarios.

The variations of WHYs of a project, product, or service.

Scenario 1: Orange WHY

We have a WHY, this WHY is only in our own worldview. It's not in anyone else’s. It's not a good situation to be in if we want to make change happen. 

Scenario 2: Green WHY

We have a WHY that's both in our worldview and in the worldview of our intended audience. This WHY matters to them. A good place to be in.

Scenario 3: Red WHY

There's a WHY that's not in our worldview, but this WHY, a different one from ours, is in the worldview of an audience we didn't intend for. The example of advertisers using cookies to track us falls here.

And that leaves us with some questions to think about when we set out to define what something is for: 

• What does the WHY look like from the eyes of who it's for?

• But also, what could the WHY look like from the vantage point of who it's not for? 

Considering the possibilities 

All this thinking leads me to this. A conclusion in the form of an invitation.

Though knowing clearly about what-something-is-for is important, the story of these inedible cookies invites us to consider the possibilities. 

To ask. 

What could it be for?