The Spanners
Questions that make comfortable industries uncomfortable.
A Spanner Question is simple on purpose. It exposes an assumption, changes the frame and creates permission to imagine a different experience.
The collection
Start with a question nobody in the category seems to be asking.
Healthcare / 001
Why does the waiting room still exist?
Automotive / 002
Why does buying a $70,000 car involve more friction than buying a $700 phone?
Insurance / 003
Why does making a claim feel like proving you deserve the thing you already paid for?
Services / 004
Why do customers have to understand your organizational structure?
Everywhere / 005
Why are we making the form easier instead of asking why the form exists?
Retail / 006
Why does loyalty start after the transaction instead of before it?
B2B / 007
Why does “enterprise” so often mean harder to buy and harder to use?
Digital / 008
Why are we adding AI to the experience instead of removing the need for the experience?
The test
A good Spanner does three things.
01
Exposes.
It reveals an assumption hiding inside the current experience.
02
Reframes.
It moves the conversation away from optimization and toward possibility.
03
Unlocks.
It creates multiple better questions rather than pretending to contain the answer.
Your turn
What does your industry do that has never made sense to you?
Send us the assumption. We’ll start with the question.
Throw us a Spanner →