Designing under true pretences: How to gain backing for what needs doing

Great design makes everything better. But to do that, it must first be funded - typically through the dreaded business case, with its cost/benefit analysis. So how can we sell the benefit of "making everything better" in a corporate business case? The answer is: we can't. We need to be selective. But how do we select?

This presentation will provide practical guidance, illustrated with examples, to help you work out how best to tell your story to gain the backing you need. This talk is for anyone who needs help turning their design ideas into investment decisions. It's especially suited to people working in corporate environments, and will cover essential concepts, even vocabulary, and practical how-to's.

Presented by Mike Efron at Managing Design 2017

Transcript

1. DESIGNING UNDER TRUE PRETENCES How to gain backing for what needs doing
2. GREAT DESIGN MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER • But to do that, it must first be funded • Business case! • How can we sell the benefit of “making everything better”? • We can’t • We need to be selective • Ok, how? • How do we find the right story?
3. WAIT, WHAT DO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH BUSINESS CASES? Everything
4. A BUSINESS CASE MAY BE PERFECT YET NOT GET UP • It was a no-brainer • The numbers stacked up • Nobody wouldn’t want this thing • And yet • It failed • Because • You misread your situation • You didn’t understand the decision makers’ mindset or pain points • You confused complexity with being comprehensive • You asked them to envision the obvious, but they just couldn’t see it
5. THESE PITFALLS AREN’T ABOUT NUMBERS • They’re about story • Being mindful of these pitfalls can help you succeed no matter what the circumstance • To be sure, sometimes • You will need to change your plans • Or even cut them back • At least temporarily • But by staying in control of your story, you can still realise your ambition • This is where true pretences are invaluable
6. WHAT DO I MEAN BY TRUE PRETENCES? Being selective in choosing the spine of your story not “alternative facts”
7. DISCLAIMER #1: SOMETIMES NO PRETENCE IS REQUIRED • Sometimes it’s easy • You can get all the funding you need just by asking • This talk is not about those times
8. DISCLAIMER #2: BUSINESS CASES ARE ABOUT MORE THAN STORYTELLING • I’d love to cover some of the more technical and practical aspects, including • Demystifying business case jargon • Methods of calculating value, even when it’s impossible • Navigating tribal differences between designers and financial analysts/managers • But no time! • So – please talk to me during breaks
9. MY STORY
10. “SWIFTSHOP”
11. “SWIFTSHOP” • Launched beta in 2015 & nationally in 2016 • World-class customer experience • Far simpler, easier and faster • Funded by a series of business cases • None of which focused on simplicity, ease or speed
12. WHY NOT? • The company was not seeking those particular benefits • So the work was sold under other pretences • Equally true • But selected • To fit the needs and appetites of the organisation • as they evolved over time
13. THE JOURNEY TO SWIFTSHOP
14. “PROJECT ORANGE” – LAUNCHED 2013
15. SWIFTSHOP – LAUNCHED 2015
16. NOT A STRAIGHT-LINE JOURNEY • Seems simple and straightforward • Was anything but • After delivering a multimillion-dollar redesign, the last thing anyone wants to do is another multimillion-dollar redesign • Yet we did it – in just 2 years • How?
17. A “TRUE PRETENCES” APPROACH • Pursued 3 distinct phases, each with a different rationale and deliverable • Worked with rather than against our given circumstance • And in doing so, not only succeeded • But actually delivered a major transformation far faster than normal
18. 4 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS • Seeking appropriate funding levels for the circumstance • Understanding the needs & appetites of our stakeholders • Focusing each business case on one critical benefit • Promising concrete outcomes, not ambition or vapourware
19. “Continuous improvement” Fixing key issues while developing a roadmap The Pay As You Go 2013 2014 2015 “Tablet site” Building the end-state vision in parallel The Trojan Horse “Cost savings” Redesign and replace The True Pretence What we called it What it was What we called it What it was What we called it What it was Approach Approach Approach
20. DRAMATICALLY LOWER OPERATING COST Cost saving wasn’t what drove us to design Swiftshop, but it was what drove the company to fund it.
21. THAT LEADS TO 4 KEY PRINCIPLES Understand where you are in the investment cycle UX your business case Be single-minded Don’t sell the dream
22. THE REST OF THIS TALK WILL FOCUS ON DEFINING & APPLYING THESE 4 PRINCIPLES Including some of my most instructive fails
23. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN THE INVESTMENT CYCLE • Organisations invest in cycles • Transformative investments need to be followed by “benefit realisation” periods • Aka “sweating the asset” • Proposing an investment that’s out of step with that cycle can doom your business case
24. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN THE INVESTMENT CYCLE Ask • Do you know where your organisation is in that cycle? • In all but the largest companies, the pool of capital is limited, and shared • Think at the organisation level, not only about your specific area • There’s risk in going too big for your organisation’s appetite or capacity • There’s also risk in going too small!
25. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN THE INVESTMENT CYCLE Case studies • The overly frugal funding request • Mother Nature took all my capital
26. UX YOUR BUSINESS CASE • Executives are people too • They have needs, expectations and pain points – explicit and implicit • They have mental models and filters • The more you understand these, the better you can fit your ‘product’ to their needs • Apply what you know!
27. UX YOUR BUSINESS CASE Ask • Do you know who will be making the funding decision? • What are their needs and expectations? Their preconceptions? What’s their starting point? • What are their pain points? • Not just the company’s pain points • Because, again, they’re people. Really • If you don’t know, find out! • Learn as much about their context as you can, so you can walk in their shoes • If you get knocked back, can you view that as “user feedback?” Then retool and try again? • Can you think of your business case as a prototype or beta?
28. UX YOUR BUSINESS CASE Case studies • Not ready for prime time • The belligerent partner
29. BE SINGLE-MINDED • Great designs tick many boxes • Wonderful products meet a plethora of needs • But your business case has to be about one thing
30. BE SINGLE-MINDED Ask • What one thing is my business case about? • Need help? Being single-minded is more of a marketing/branding discipline than a design/product discipline. Ask a marketer for help! • Maybe try a Trojan Horse? Case study • Swiftshop had 9 distinct feature themes, delivering at least 8 types of benefit • It cost millions • Yet the business case was built on one idea: cost savings
31. DON’T SELL THE DREAM • Be specific and concrete • Visions rarely sell • And are more easily shelved
32. DON’T SELL THE DREAM Ask • Is there a clear, concrete deliverable? • Are you in danger of winning Buzzword Bingo? • Are you describing your design in conditional language like “would” or “could”? Versus concrete “can” and “does”? • Does the idea need more visioning and refining? • Should your business case be to fund the visioning and refining instead? • Maybe try a Pay As You Go? Case study • How “Implement enterprise analytics” became “Avoid a big bill”
33. THE SPINE OF MY STORY • Gaining backing for great design is hard • There are many pitfalls along the way • Certainly you need to believe and demonstrate that the investment is worthwhile • But more than that, you need to choose your story carefully
34. THE SPINE OF MY STORY • Ideally, your story will match your own internal narrative of what your product or design is about • But it may not • In fact, you may need it not to • You may need to find a true pretence
35. THE SPINE OF MY STORY • The four principles I’ve talked about can help you find the spine of your story • So you can stay in control of your narrative, whatever the circumstance • And realise your ambition
36. GUESS WHAT? BUSINESS CASES ARE JUST UX CHALLENGES Understand where you are in the investment cycle UX your business case Be single-minded Don’t sell the dream Learn the context Understand user needs Make it simple Don’t make them think
37. THANK YOU