If you like to nerd out on history, here is some context for the CRE: the framework is deeply rooted in systems thinking principles dating back to Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory in the 1940s and later advanced by pioneers like Donella Meadows and Peter Senge.

Systems thinking treats products not as isolated artifacts but as interventions in complex, interconnected networks of human relationships and institutional structures.

Key systems thinking principles that inform the ripple effect approach include:

1. Interconnectedness: Understanding that changes in one part of a system affect other parts in non-linear ways.
2. Feedback loops: Recognizing how effects can amplify or dampen through reinforcing or balancing feedback. Think of these as either tailwinds or headwinds for your product.
3. Emergence: Acknowledging that new ecosystem-level properties will arise from interactions between components. So you may understand the world today, but as you introduce products into the world, you’re creating a moving target and you need to track those changes and adapt to new, emergent trends and forces.
4. Boundaries: Consciously deciding what’s inside versus outside your scope of consideration.

When we examine technology through a systems lens, we reject a reductionist notion that products only affect their direct users. We change the unit of analysis so it’s not one person using a product. Instead, we take a more holistic view where each product creates cascading effects across an ecosystem of stakeholders. And by understanding that cascade of effects – or at least acknowledging it exists, because let’s face it, none of us can see the future -- we can make more informed and strategic decisions – decisions more likely to help us build an enduring company.

The ripple effect framework also builds upon the evolution of design methodologies over the past several decades, as the technology industry moved from a features-based approach to a more UX focus. Through that trajectory, design and product development communities have expanded their scope of concern from narrow technical considerations to broader human outcomes. The CRE framework takes the next logical step by recognizing that products create outcomes not just for direct users but for entire interconnected networks of people and institutions, and it gives a practical approach for building technology that not only serves its initial users but contributes positively to the broader ecosystems in which it operates. The customer ripple effect framework provides a structured methodology for anticipating these broader social impacts by systematically mapping how a product affects not just direct users, but also their relational networks and society at large. Give it a try – define primary, secondary and tertiary customers of your company today and as it scales.