Results-Only Web Investments

Results OnlyWeb Investments

Jakob Persson

DrupalCon Prague, Thursday September 26th, 2013

Introducing me

Founder and CEO of Sveyt

Co-founded NodeOne

Worked with Drupal since 2005

Studied cognitive science and computer science.

[email protected]

http://twitter.com/jakobper

http://drupal.org/user/37564

Prototypes, develops and builds your product idea and validates market assumptions with Drupal.

We are hiring freelancers. Talk to us!

[email protected]

16%

16%of all web projects are

considered“complete successes”

only

16%of all web projects are

considered“complete successes”

1 out of 6 beers is Czech

(Czech beer is awesome)

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1209277

1 out of 6 cars doesn’t crash

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1357729 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1018876 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1067693 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1156584 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1093472 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1421209

1 out of 6 pets is actually happy

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1428378 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1427333 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1388996 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1421011 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1009754

"Nobody wants a 1/4 inch drill — what they want is a

1/4 inch hole.”

—Theodore Levitt, marketing professor at Harvard

Requirements

Does it say who the people who we need to involve, engage and reach are?

Does it say what the buyer expects the return to be?

Does it say why the buyer is spending resources and money on this project?

"Delivery plans and requirements documents are often shopping lists of

features, without any context that explains why such things are important."

– Gojko Adzic, award–winning strategic software delivery consultant


18V 3 Ah Li-Ion

Rubber grip

Nylon wrist strap

1h recharge time

3,000 RPM electric motor

Speed chuck

“I don’t care!

Does it make a fr****** hole?”

If so, how can we then build something that successfully brings value to our customers using that??

You will leave this room with a method to shift how you manage projects from requirements-

oriented to results-only,

with happier customers and teams as a result

We need to emphasize investment and results,

not costs and requirements

Poll: Your last project

Did everyone involved understand what the intended business results of the project were?

Oh, one person!

In your last project...

Was everyone, buyer and seller, able to communicate clearly and transparently about

risks and problems that occured?

And another one!


Did everyone feel that the project was something they could be proud of in terms of achievement,

quality and innovation?


I am not surprised...

Did everyone involved understand the definition of a successful project and how

success was measured?


And now it’s her turn!

In the end, did the customer get what they needed to address an actual business problem

or opportunity?

Anyone? :(


A

Storyfrom

Reality

Fables, myths and project management

[slide: WidgetCo HQ]

One beautiful spring morning…

Here’s the idea!

[slide: In front of computer]

Susan is researching competitors’ websites.

[slide: Stack of documents]

The requirements stack up.

Bidders call Susan to get the answers they need.

Done deal!

Milestones are set by date and tied to scope.

“What were we thinking?”

de·vel·op·er [dih-vel-uh-per] noun: A person that converts coffee into code

The team is working to exhaustion.

“Where’s the hockey stick?”

Was this a success?

+ The requirements were fulfilled to the letter- Team worked their a**es off- The seller made a loss- The buyer didn't see the results they were hoping for

1 3

How did we end up here?

Need

Requirements and Design

Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

Let’s consider five important phases

in the project

The decision to invest in the the project originates from a need or opportunity that has been identified.

✘ Business goals were not communicated making the project cost-driven.

✘ Being unaware of the business goals made it hard for the team to react to unforeseen problems.

✘ The project was given a way too small budget.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

A requirement is a capability to which a project outcome should conform and should ideally capture more than just easily observable and measurably aspects.

✘ The requirements focused on the superficial.

✘ The requirements were not relevant to the business goals.

✘ Requirements were written by someone whose expertise skewed them towards the easily definable.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

The competitive bidding process helps winnow bidders, stimulate competition and procure services at the lowest possible price.

✘ Relying only on a bidding process often tends to make the buyer only look to price, ignoring ability to perform.

✘ Bids rely heavily on software estimation which is hard, if not near impossible.

✘ Optimistic assumptions and estimates put the seller in a “knife to the throat” situation.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

Project execution is what usually takes most time and deals with directing and managing the project, its assets and its progress.

✘ Designed to make the buyer feel secure, instead it caused much stress, frustration killing motivation.

✘ The inflexible execution prevented the project from gaining from ongoing learning.

✘ The soured relationship undermined trust between parties and chances of project success.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

In the long term, projects aren’t evaluated based on how well they fulfill the requirements to the letter but how well they have the desired result.

✘ Very few members of the project team were aware of the expected result.

✘ WidgetCo’s project failed to deliver the results the executive sponsors had been hoping for.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

This is not a rare case.

At companies that aren’t among the top 25% of technology users, 3 out of 10

IT projects fail on average

http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/6840_f03_papers/frese/

“

Lack of user input

and involvement


User research

Incomplete requirements


Systematic collection of requirements

Requirements linked to goals

Agency involvement

Unrealistic

expectations


Expectations and goals communicated and

shared

Budget in relation to expectations

70% of the “successful” projects were over budget, over time, or defective in

function upon completion

http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/6840_f03_papers/frese/

“

Is it sustainable?

For you?

For your customers?

For our entire business?

+ Team worked at an effective pace+ The seller made a profit+ The buyer saw the results they were hoping for- The requirements were not fulfilled to the letter

3 1

What if we inverted the scoreboard?

Let’s change how we view projects

Measurable successResults

A four-fold change

➊

➌

➋

➍Learning & discoveryInvestment

A change with amazing consequences

TRUST Parties expect each other to act and deliver to the best of ability

GAIN The project is done on budget, buyer gets value and seller makes a profit

RESPECT Parties respect the competence/experience of each other

PURPOSE Parties feel this project is worth doing

ACHIEVEMENT Parties are proud of being part of the project and achieving its goals

What would it be like then…

The decision to invest in the the project originates from a need or opportunity that has been identified.

✓ The business goals are being communicated from day one.

✓ The budget is based on the expected return, the project considered an investment clearly linked to the business goals.

✓ There are measurable success criteria the team feels are realistic and which motivate them.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

A requirement is a capability to which a project outcome should conform and should ideally capture more than just easily observable and measurably aspects.

✓ Requirements are focused, sufficiently high level and relevant to the success criteria.

✓ Requirements are supported by strategic analysis and user research.

✓ Reliance on requirements as a way to control is replaced with reliance on project leadership.

✓ There’s working communication and strong executive support.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

The competitive bidding process helps winnow bidders, stimulate competition and procure services at the lowest possible price.

✓ Focus on lowest price is replaced by a wish to find the company with best ability to deliver.

✓ Software estimates only serve as input for first stage of planning.

✓ Transparency makes the seller able to offer advice on how to achieve the desired business result.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

Project execution is what usually takes most time and deals with directing and managing the project, its assets and its progress.

✓ It’s understood that things be more difficult or easier than planned for – learning is expected.

✓ Constant communication helps synchronize expectations between team and executive sponsors.

✓ Continual delivery helps establish trust.

✓ Flexibility fosters high morale as well as a creative atmosphere.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

In the long term, projects aren’t evaluated based on how well they fulfill the requirements to the letter but how well they have the desired result.

✓ The team understands why the website was designed and built a certain way.

✓ Everyone involved knows what the project’s goals are and what they’re trying to achieve.

✓ Everyone is eagerly waiting for the first results of their efforts to materialize, prepared to rethink, redesign and tweak if necessary.

Need


Bidding

Execution

Evaluation

Too good to be true, eh?

“Where did all these ideas come from and do they even work?”

Let’s see what the research says.

Two methods with proven track records

AgileImpact Mapping

&Effect Mapping

www.impactmapping.org

scrumshortcuts.com

Agile Methods

Scrum, FDD, XP, Kanban, DSDM…

Some concern projects, some are sets of practices.

Family of Agile Methods

an inexact timeline

1990 2000 2010

Crystal

Scrum

Pair Programming

XP

Continuous Integration

TDD

Agile Manifesto

Lean SD*

https://corinna.scorpius.uberspace.de/finding-marbles/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/agile-lean-engineering-timeline1.png

Kanban for SD*

Lean Startup

* Software Development

Do they work?

http://www.infoq.com/news/2012/11/success-agile-projects

– David F. Rico, “The Business Value of Using Agile Project Management for New Products and Services”.

“An early study of agile project management showed

10% to 20% improvements in revenues, quality, and

cycle time, and 54% reductions in costs…”

http://davidfrico.com/rico-apm-roi.pdf




Do they work!? Ya bet they do!

http://www.onedesk.com/2013/01/waterfall-vs-agile/

Waterfall Agile

Successful Challenged Failed

“Agile projects are three times more successful

than Waterfall projects.”

14%

57%

29%

42%49%

9%

– 2011 CHAOS Manifesto from the Standish Group

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3001627/agile-when-does-it-work-well-and-when-doesnt-it

Waterfa

ll

Agile

Stay out!

Waterfall (predictive)

Technologies and requirements are known.

Agile (adaptive)

Technologies and requirements are partially unknown.

Ralph Stacey's complexity matrix

Which is best?

It depends on the type of project.

In my experience, agile is very well suited for Drupal development.

“Impact mapping brings usability and speed to proven product and project management strategies, helping them fit better into modern

software delivery constraints, and at the same time applying some great ideas from other industries to software delivery”

– impactmapping.org

Impact Mapping

✓ Facilitate strategic planning to create a big-picture view focused on key business objectives

✓ Facilitate learning through delivery

✓ Help us manage project roadmaps

✓ Represent delivery scope in a way that is easy to evolve to react to changed market opportunities or new knowledge

Impact Maps

Impact Maps

“An impact map is a visualisation of scope and underlying assumptions, created collaboratively

by senior technical and business people.”

Why?

Who?

Who?

How?

How?

How?

How?

What?

What?

What?

What?

– Gojko Adzic

What?

What?

Impact Maps

Why?

Who?

Who?

How?

How?

How?

How?

What?

What?

What?

What?

What?

What?

Business goal Deliverables

Effect Maps

Effect

User Group

User Group

User Need

User Need

User Need

User Need

Feature

Feature

Feature?

Feature

Feature

Feature

Effect Features

Effect Maps vs Impact Maps

Effect Maps Impact Maps

Based on user research, a structured map of goals, end users and their needs, used in

interaction design

Created in a strategic meeting, a roadmap focusing on impact, used to make

decisions regarding scope

Helps interaction designers design for end users based on

business goals

Helps the project focus on the right deliverables to achieve

the business goals

You’ll do right to learn about both.

Usability Testing

User Group

User NeedFeature

Persona Wireframe

Prototype

Who are our users and what do they need?

Assumptions

SMART Goals

Impacts

Learn

What are our assumptions and what do we need to do to achieve our goals?

Why?Who?

How?

What?

What?

ActorsBuild

Measure

You’re not convinced…

"But without price bidding, sellers have no incentive to be cost effective"

"But the buyer needs to set up clear milestones, otherwise the

project will fail"

"Customers don't always know their business needs/goals"

Things can be done very differently from how they’re often done

Meanwhile, somewhere in Universe

“A.k.a ‘the nice universe’”

A

Much Better Storyfrom

Universe

Fables, myths and project management

2

[slide: WidgetCo HQ]

One beautiful spring morning…

Here’s the idea!

Realistic yet ambitious goals were set that day…

…measurable goals tied to timeframes – SMART.

IT guy Mark was eager to help.

[slide: interview of a person]

WidgetCo makes pet products, did I mention that?

[slide: wireframes]

Wireframes were drawn.

[slide: presentation]

The agencies made impressive pitches.

[slide: happy team]

The agency seemed to love what they did.

[slide: enthusiastic person]

Susan’s enthusiasm was also ehm... strong.

[slide: person thinking hard]

Analyzing the requirements took some deep thinking.

[slide: meeting]

The team had continuous meetings.

[slide: effective team]

Finding the requirements that contributed most to impact took time.

[slide: champagne, party]

The end result was what everyone had been hoping for.

Life in Universe

Stronger buyer-seller relationship

Better use of money and higher success rate

Higher satisfaction for all parties involved

Which universe do you want to live in?

The steps we need to take

The new dictionary

Cost Investment

Requirements Results

Plan Learning

Control Trust

Four principles

1. We view the project as intended to create results

2. There’s agreement on how to measure and define success

3. The project is considered an investment

4. It will be a learning experience for all parties

➊➌

➋➍

Starting with goals

“We need a better website!”

“It’s really hard to find out who we are and

there’s no way to post comments and feel

involved!”

“A big share of our customers want to

feel involved.”

“We need to reach those customers in order to channel more sales through our site.”

KAA-POW!

We view the project as intended to create results

➊

$€£

“We need to reach those customers in order to channel more sales

through our site.”

“How many?”

SCALE Number of orders per month

METER Order list on e-commerce site.

BENCHMARK 3,000 “We’re seeing 3,000 per month now”

CONSTRAINT 5,000 “We need at least 5,000 to break even”

TARGET 7,000 “We want to reach 5,000”

We are in agreement on how to measure and define success➋

“We need to reach those customers in order to channel more sales through our site.”

“By when?”

MILESTONE 1 – more purchasesMILESTONE 1 – more purchasesMILESTONE 1 – more purchases

SCALE Number of orders per month in six monthsNumber of orders per month in six months

METER Order list on e-commerce site.Order list on e-commerce site.

BENCHMARK 3,000

CONSTRAINT 5,000

TARGET 7,000

“We can tolerate higher costs for a short while.”

MILESTONE 1 – more purchases, higher IT costsMILESTONE 1 – more purchases, higher IT costsMILESTONE 1 – more purchases, higher IT costs

More orders Operational costs

SCALE Number of orders per month in six months

Hosting costs + IT staff salaries

METER Order list on e-commerce site. Financial accounts

BENCHMARK 3,000 €80,000

CONSTRAINT 5,000 €120,000

TARGET 7,000 €80,000

“But we want to reduce them as soon as we see results.”

MILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costs





BENCHMARK


TARGET 7,000 €50,000

MILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costs





“What are these results worth to you?”

“Let me think. The answer to that determines the budget.”



SCALE Number of orders per month in six months Hosting costs + IT staff salaries


The project is an investment➌

7,000 orders per month

Customers

Place orders

Product recommendations

Why are we doing it?

Who will help us?

How will they help?

What are we doing?


Customers

Place orders

Facebook integration

Why are we doing it?

Who will help us?

How will they help?

What are we doing?

What else could those guys do for us?Who else can help? How?

Who can obstruct us?


Customers

What else could those guys do for us?Who else can help? How?

Who can obstruct us?

Friends of customers

Repeat customers


Customers

What else can they do?

Place orders

Tell friends

Place orders

Tell friends


Customers

Which ones to try first?Is there a high-value low-hanging-fruit

impact somewhere?

Place orders

Tell friends

Customers

What are the deliverables?Could we test it without software?

Could we start earning with a partly manual process?


Facebook like/share

Impact maps visualize deliverables and assumptions

and link them to business goals. This helps us justify every feature we build or test.






BENCHMARK 3,000 €80,000


TARGET 7,000 €80,000

Place orders

Tell friends

Customers


Facebook like/share


Friends of customers

Repeat customers

A simplified

impact map

with milestones

attached

Are we achieving key targets?

Milestone 1

Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3

Milestone 2


Hmm, no. Let’s rethink our strategy!

Milestone 3


More ordersMore orders


METER Order list on e-commerce site.

BENCHMARK 3,000

CONSTRAINT 5,000

TARGET 7,000

The project will be a learning experience for all parties

➍

๏ Why invest in this project?

๏ Who needs to act for the goals to be achieved?

๏ How will actors’ actions contribute to the goal?

๏ What will the actors do to create impact?

Goals, Milestones, Investment, Results

Actors, Personas

Impacts, Needs

Deliverables, Features

So next time you’re starting a new project, ask:

Impact Mapping | I

Books

Background:http://jasonbleinel.deviantart.com/art/Carbon-Fibre-Texture-114032735

Resources, books, links and more:

www.jakob-persson.com/rowi



You’ve just been part of

A production by

Presented by Jakob Persson, Founder and CEO

[email protected]

jakobper

www.jakob-persson.com

lifeissveyt

www.sveyt.com

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Results-Only Web Investments

Technology