Views | 04/07/2016

Ready-to-build designs get to market faster

Tags:

Service experience design

Ready-to-build designs get to market faster and intact

Author: Joe Heapy

A lot has to happen between sign-off on the vision and its deployment within the real-world constraints of the business. And a lot can happen, with the value that’s been designed-in at risk of erosion.

Many teams are involved and many decisions will be made. The role of the designer is to help translate the design of the experience into the design of capabilities, ensuring everybody is clear which specific features and qualities will make the solution a success.

Much can get lost in translation once the design is signed-off

The subtleties of what will make the service a success can be lost once the realities of delivery appear. The ‘design package’ needs to contain enough detail to ensure that teams required to implement it can deliver the intended design, well-crafted and orchestrated.

You don’t want any surprises when it comes to the technical and operational challenges of implementation

Making the design tangible as soon as possible through blueprinting and service prototyping will reveal potential technical and operational challenges early, informing these workstreams sooner so that potential solutions can be explored. Information about the capabilities required to deliver the service should be included in the design package.

“In the new age of airport business, ‘owning the passenger’ and providing excellent service quality are becoming critical to ensure profitable and sustainable growth. This project provided ANA with an extraordinary set of strategic and tactical tools to face these challenges.”

Head of Marketing and Customer Service, Aviation sector client.

Senior decision-makers need to be comfortable with the investment decisions they’re asked to make

There will always be compromises, but importantly all those involved in making investment and implementation decisions should be clear about the factors that will make the design a success and the implications of any decision to change the proposed design.

Five questions to check whether your design is ready to build

Buildable. Have we understood enough about what is required from our technology and from each delivery area to make this a success?
Production issues. Have all the implementation and deployment issues been identified early through prototyping and blueprinting the service?
Enough detail. Have we defined the design in enough detail to ensure implementation teams can deliver design intent?
Well-planned. Is there agreement that the development plan is complete and has the right level of detail?
On-going design iteration. Do we have the governance in place to limit compromise of the design during build?

If your teams are struggling to imagine buildable solutions or to champion them through planning and development, we can help.

Get in touch at hello@enginegroup.co.uk