Workshop: Running Discovery Projects

Running digital projects is hard. When expectations are mismanaged during initial client conversations, running digital projects is nearly impossible. Before the work begins, you and your client must agree to terms, so you define the project and provide an estimate. Once agreed, 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 will know the least about the project, the beginning. The largest risk in any digital project is building the wrong thing, but a few conversations and a quick estimate do not provide what you need to build the right thing.

We understand that agile and iterative techniques can help mitigate risk during a project, but how do we make sure that we are on good foundation at the beginning of a project? In this workshop, we will discuss how you can implement Discovery Projects to dive into a project with confidence. You’ll be armed with a thoughtful, scoped roadmap to provide more accurate estimates and begin to chart the course of your project. During our time together, we will walk through the sales process, contracts, research, non-kick-off meetings, and building trust with the client team along the way.

WE'LL COVER:
-The case for doing Discovery Projects
-Selling Discovery Projects
-Interviewing Stakeholders and Users
-Getting just enough feel for Design requirements
-Non-kick-off meetings: An approach different than a “Kick-Off” which includes exercises designed to engage clients while providing critical insights
-Documentation that can set up project success
-Closing the deal on the larger project
-Lessons learned from running Discovery Projects

Transcript

1. Rob Harr RUNNING DISCOVERY PROJECTS WORKSHOP @robertharr
2. GOOD MORNING!!
6. Workshop Guarantee.
7. YMMV!
8. Speak Up
9. Why are you here?
10. Collaborative Notes http://bit.ly/os-disc
11. Agenda Part 1: Context Part 2: Setting the Table Part 3: So you got the Project Part 4: Closing the deal Part 5: Lessons Learned Part 6: Anything goes
12. Running Discovery Projects CONTEXT
13. Story
14. Running a business is hard.
15. Running a profitable business is even harder.
16. Running a profitable business while treating people like humans is a constant struggle.
17. Our Craft What we believe. Business
18. Our Craft The Truth. Business
19. Web software studio specializing in development and design.
20. Rob Harr Ben Callahan
21. Rob Harr Ben Callahan
22. PM Buddy.
23. Hourly work for hire.
25. Websites are software.
26. Determining scope on software projects at the beginning is irresponsible and impossible.
27. Reason 1: Determining scope on software projects upfront is impossible because: Clients are really bad at describing their actual needs.
28. 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.
29. 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:
30. Project don’t fail for technical or design reasons, they fail because of the people involved.
31. I believe as an industry we often care more about how we get to the end, then the results.
32. There is no “One Way.”
33. I believe the biggest risk for software projects is building the wrong thing. Story
34. What are Discovery Projects?
35. What problems are we trying to solve?
37. Committing to a large spend.
38. Trust.
39. Finding a the right client.
40. Training our clients to work with us.
41. Reducing Risk.
42. A well defined problem, a set of goals, & determining the correct first step.
43. “We’ll know more about your project tomorrow than we do today.”
44. This is paid discovery
45. Research Vendors Vendor Selection Negotiation Project
46. Research Vendors Vendor Selection Negotiation Discovery
47. Negotiation Project Discovery
48. Prework In-person Meetings Wrap-up
49. This is what we sell now.
50. Running Discovery Projects SETTING THE TABLE
51. Client Happiness = A small delta between project expectations and project reality.
52. Client
53. Managing Client Expectations
54. Setting Client Expectations
55. Research Vendors Vendor Selection Negotiation Project Expectations Set
56. Research Vendors Vendor Selection Negotiation Project Expectations Set Expectations Managed
57. Selling Discovery Projects
58. The Pitch
59. “I don’t know enough to estimate this right now, I don’t think that anyone does.”
60. “There is no commitment to continue on with us”
61. Take the risk out of the project.
62. Initial phone call and gut feel estimate.
63. Estimating Discovery
69. Types of discovery projects
70. Large Discovery: 3 - 4 weeks $40,000
71. Medium Discovery: 2 - 3 weeks $25,000
72. Small Discovery: 1 week $10,000 or less
73. MSA vs SOW
74. SOW Example
75. SOW Example
76. SOW Example 7*)."/74"$$77**#"70)707)2/./("(7#(7)(7)0 7)7+&!(0!)(7.7(7 *,)3"7 )&*(674"##7*+)3"7 #"(074"/77,2(7)707*)."/74"/"(70(7
    72."(..7 6.7"7)(7".727 #"(174"#$77"(3)"7*,7/7/+'.7.*" 7"(70")(7 7)7/7.0+7 -3 .7 -&(07   ".7+&(07".7(2%#7(73)"7"7()0752074"0"(7 772."(..76.7       
           
           
             
      
77. SOW Example
78. SOW Example
79. Still takes time months to sell discovery.
81. Not talking about something gives it more power.
82. The best way to make sure your project does not hit budget, timeline, and scope is to not talk about it.
83. People are scared of things they don't understand. 
 We can take the mystery out of things by talking about them a lot.
84. Short Break
85. Design Direction Exercise
88. The goal
89. The setup
90. Design Gut Check Exercise
91. Running Discovery Projects SO YOU GOT THE PROJECT
93. Now what?
94. All projects should be designed as human experiences.
95. Having a plan vs planning
97. Prework In-person Meetings Wrap-up
98. Prework In-person Meetings Client Excitement Agreement Wrap-up
99. Prework In-person Meetings Client Excitement Agreement Wrap-up
100. #1 Prework
101. Interviews
103. Who to interview?
104. Feeling Heard.
105. Sample Questions
106. Tell us about your role and how it ties into the project.
107. What are the primary business objectives with the redesign?
108. Who will measure the success of the redesign?
109. How we will measure the success of the redesign?
110. Almost always the last question: (In your opinion) what will keep this project from being successful?
111. Research
112. Content Audit
113. Competitive Analysis
114. User Interviews
115. #2 In-person Meetings
116. Who?
117. Studio Team
118. The controller & anchor
119. The pusher
120. The closer
121. Other smart people.
122. Technical
123. Creative
124. User Experience
125. This is a giant trust exercise. Story
126. Client side
127. Point of contact
128. The fan
129. The relevant executive
130. The person who could kill the project
131. Other stakeholders
132. Home or away?
133. Designing the Days
134. Agenda Sample
139. Setting Ground Rules
140. Parking lot!
141. Stick to your schedule.
142. We always start with goals.
143. What makes a good goal?
144. Do not have implementation details.
145. Can be measured.
146. “Have an interactive, human website that shares relatable stories and reaches millennial and gen Z candidates.” Exam ple
147. “Increase how often and deeply users engage with our content.” Exam ple
148. “Increase revenue from new sales while maintaining renewals.” Exam ple
149. Goal Setting Exercise
150. The setup
151. The goal
152. Goal Setting Exercise
153. Lots of listening and showing you understand.
154. Don’t forget to have fun.
155. UX Sketching Exercise
156. The setup
157. The goal
158. UX Sketching Exercise
159. Our clients are wanting to be collaborated with.
160. Embrace the unknown.
161. It is ok to not have all of the answers.
162. “That is a great question, let me get back to you with an answer.”
163. We always end with prioritization and phasing.
164. Prioritization & Phasing Exercise
165. The setup Exercise
166. The goal Exercise
167. The step back Exercise
168. Priorization & Phasing Exercise
169. Other ideas http://goodkickoffmeetings.com/
170. Don’t forget to share what the process will look like after you leave.
171. Prework In-person Meetings Client Excitement Agreement Wrap-up
172. Short Break
173. #3 Wrap up
174. Prework In-person Meetings Client Excitement Agreement Wrap-up
175. Deliverables
176. Project Brief
178. What is it?
179. Situation
180. Goals & Measurements
181. Roadmap
182. Estimate & Timeline
183. Executive Summary
184. Technical Strategy
185. What is it?
186. Architecture Diagrams
187. Challenges & Recommendations
188. Delivery
189. Experience Strategy
190. What is it?
191. Tone & Voice
192. Audiences
193. Design Aesthetic
194. Visual Vocabulary
195. User Experience (UX) Strategy
196. Collaborative Estimate
206. Running Discovery Projects CLOSING THE DEAL
207. Prework In-person Meetings Client Excitement Agreement Wrap-up
208. Keep it simple.
209. Negotiation
210. Know where you stand.
211. Working with purchasing departments.
212. Don’t forget about cashflow.
213. Embrace the “Office of the Presidency”
214. Running Discovery Projects LESSONS LEARNED
215. The best part of project teams is that they are made up of humans. Humans sometimes suck. The worst part of project teams is that they are made up of humans.
216. Don’t write code. Don’t create wireframes. Don’t design anything.
217. Deliver a popluated task board.
218. Project Drag.
219. RFPs
220. Don’t steal your client’s story.
221. Deliver a popluated task board.
222. Embrace your super power and understand your blind spots.
223. Communication is the most important part of making any project work.
224. Be willing to change directions.
225. Accept the fact that you will be completely wrong about things that you are sure you learned.
226. People Over Process
227. It is ok to punt to future you.
228. There will be dragons.
229. Putting People Back Into Projects EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION
230. If you can’t say no, it’s not collaboration.
231. Often we confuse getting along for effective collaboration.
232. Conflict can be healthy.
233. Have difficult conversations.
235. My long term business plan is to have happy, healthy, well-adjusted humans and families.
236. Rob’s two basic rules for happiness in business:
237. Life is too short to work with people you hate. Rob’s two basic rules for happiness in business: Rule 1:
238. 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:
239. Running Discovery Projects ANYTHING GOES
240. THANKS! @robertharr rob@heysparkbox.com