Running Awesome Discovery Projects

The largest risk in any digital project is building the wrong thing. Yet you’re expected to define a project scope and provide an estimate after just a few conversations. Then you have to manage to that budget for the life of the project regardless of what else you learn. This is nuts. One of your most important constraints–budget–is defined when you know the least about the project, the beginning. Running digital projects is hard. When expectations are mismanaged (or forced too early) during initial client conversations, running digital projects is nearly impossible. A few conversations and a quick estimate do not provide what you need to build the right thing.

During this talk, we will discuss how you can implement Awesome Discovery Projects to dive into a project with confidence while removing some of the largest risks. You’ll be armed with a thoughtful, scoped roadmap to provide more accurate estimates and be able to correctly set client expectations for the rest of the engagement.

Transcript

1. Rob Harr
   RUNNING AWESOME
   DISCOVERY PROJECTS
   @robertharr
   

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3. #DaytonStrong
   

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5. We are hiring!
   https://seesparkbox.com/jobs
   Tangent!
   

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7. YMMV!
   

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8. Websites are software.
   

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9. Determining scope on software
   projects at the beginning is
   irresponsible and impossible.
   

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10. Reason 1:
    Determining scope on
    software projects upfront is
    impossible because:
    Clients are really bad at describing
    their actual needs.
    

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11. We are bad at estimating work
    because we are optimistic.
    Reason 1:
    Reason 2:
    Determining scope on
    software projects upfront is
    impossible because:
    Clients are really bad at describing
    their actual needs.
    

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12. We are bad at estimating work
    because we are optimistic.
    Reason 1:
    Reason 2:
    Determining scope on
    software projects upfront is
    impossible because:
    Clients are really bad at describing
    their actual needs.
    Business needs change over time.
    Reason 3:
    

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13. Project don’t fail for technical or
    design reasons, they fail because of
    the people involved.
    

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14. I believe the biggest risk for
    software projects is building the
    wrong thing.
    

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16. Running Awesome Discovery Projects
    DISCOVERY PROJECTS
    

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17. What are Discovery Projects?
    

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18. What problems are
    we trying to solve?
    

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19. Committing to a large spend.
    

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20. Trust.
    

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21. Finding a the right client.
    

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22. Training our clients how
    to work with us.
    

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23. Reducing Risk.
    

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24. A well defined problem, a set of
    goals, & determining the
    correct first step.
    GO
    AL
    

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25. “We’ll know more about your
    project tomorrow than we do
    today.”
    

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26. Client Happiness =
    A small delta
    between project
    expectations and
    project reality.
    

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27. Client
    

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28. Managing Client Expectations
    

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29. Setting Client Expectations
    

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30. Research
    Vendors
    Vendor Selection Negotiation Project
    Expectations Set
    

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31. Research
    Vendors
    Vendor Selection Negotiation Project
    Expectations Set
    Expectations
    Managed
    

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32. Selling Discovery Projects
    

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33. “I don’t know enough to estimate
    this right now, I don’t think that
    anyone does.”
    

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34. “There is no commitment to
    continue on with us”
    

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35. Take the risk out of the project.
    

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36. Initial phone call
    and
    gut feel estimate.
    

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37. Estimating Discovery
    

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40. Large Discovery:
    3 - 4 weeks
    $40,000+
    

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41. Medium Discovery:
    2 - 3 weeks
    $25,000
    

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42. Small Discovery:
    1 week
    $10,000 or less
    

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43. Running Awesome Discovery Projects
    RUNNING THE
    PROJECT
    

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44. All projects should be designed
    as human experiences.
    

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45. Prework
    In-person
    Meetings Wrap-up
    

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46. Prework
    In-person
    Meetings
    Client
    Excitement
    Agreement Wrap-up
    

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47. #1
    Prework
    

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48. Interviews
    

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50. Who to interview?
    

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51. Feeling Heard.
    

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52. Sample Questions
    

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53. Tell us about your role and
    how it ties into the project.
    Exam
    ple
    

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54. What are the primary business
    objectives with the project?
    Exam
    ple
    

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55. Who will measure the
    success of the project?
    Exam
    ple
    

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56. How we will measure the
    success of the project?
    Exam
    ple
    

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57. Almost always the last question:
    (In your opinion) what will keep this
    project from being successful?
    Exam
    ple
    

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58. Research
    

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59. Content Audit
    

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60. Competitive Analysis
    

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61. User Interviews
    

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62. #2
    In-person Meetings
    

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63. Who?
    

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64. Studio Team
    

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65. The controller
    &
    anchor
    

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66. The pusher
    

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67. The closer
    

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68. Other smart people.
    

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69. This is a giant trust exercise.
    Story
    

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70. Home or away?
    

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71. Designing the Meetings
    

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76. Setting Ground Rules
    

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77. Parking lot!
    

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78. Stick to your schedule.
    

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79. We always start with goals.
    

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80. What makes a good goal?
    

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81. Do not have
    implementation details.
    

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82. Can be measured.
    

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83. “Have an interactive, human
    website that shares relatable stories
    and reaches millennial and gen Z
    candidates.”
    Exam
    ple
    

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84. “Increase how often and deeply
    users engage with our content.”
    Exam
    ple
    

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85. “Increase revenue from new sales
    while maintaining renewals.”
    Exam
    ple
    

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86. Don’t forget to have fun.
    

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87. Our clients are wanting
    to be collaborated with.
    

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88. Embrace the unknown.
    

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89. It is ok to not have all of the
    answers.
    

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90. “That is a great question, let me get
    back to you with an answer.”
    

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91. We always end with
    prioritization and phasing.
    

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92. Other ideas
    http://goodkickoffmeetings.com/
    

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93. Don’t forget to share what the
    process will
    look like after you leave.
    

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94. Prework
    In-person
    Meetings
    Client
    Excitement
    Agreement Wrap-up
    

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95. #3
    Wrap up
    

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96. Prework
    In-person
    Meetings
    Client
    Excitement
    Agreement Wrap-up
    

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97. Deliverables
    

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98. Project Brief
    

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99. Technical Strategy
    

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100. Experience Strategy
     

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101. Collaborative Estimate
     

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104. A well defined problem, a set of
     goals, & determining the
     correct first step.
     GO
     AL
     

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105. Running Awesome Discovery Projects
     CLOSING THE DEAL
     

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106. Prework
     In-person
     Meetings
     Client
     Excitement
     Agreement Wrap-up
     

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107. Keep it simple.
     

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108. Negotiation
     

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109. Know where you stand.
     

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110. Running Awesome Discovery Projects
     THINGS I THINK I
     HAVE LEARNED.
     

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111. Don’t write code. Don’t create
     wireframes. Don’t design anything.
     

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112. RFPs
     

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114. Rob’s two basic rules for
     happiness in business:
     

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115. Life is too short to work with people
     you hate.
     Rob’s two basic rules for
     happiness in business:
     Rule 1:
     

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116. If you ever become annoyed by a
     client, it is only because you’re not
     charging them enough money.
     Life is too short to work with people
     you hate.
     Rob’s two basic rules for
     happiness in business:
     Rule 1:
     Rule 2:
     

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117. THANKS!
     @robertharr
     rob@heysparkbox.com
     

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