Challenge   I work as a consultant and as a curator of technologies and businesses. I am  a specialist in  software architecture and in the development of solutions with high level of complexity or  high computational cost.  I’ve been developing software solutions for more than 20 years.

I understand that the primary cause of failing in software development projects is the  misunderstanding of what is expected – in other words, what is the real problem that the new  software needs to solve.

Some time ago, I was hired by a startup to help them in the development of a marketplace  software solution. The “entrepreneur’s dream” was to develop a software platform that  enables sales, customer loyalty, and delivery. Anyway, there was no consensus about how to  achieve this goal. There were no explicit agreements about what features were more  important. Engineers were trying to select technology with no business criteria. There was a  partner relationship between this startup and their potential key customers to develop this  solution, but the budget was limited. Until we started to work, they were working by try and  error. My job was to help the company to identify precisely what about that project really was,  providing alignment and making possible to get a real advance.

Selection  I’ve been working with product development for years, and I have experience adopting the  “Mind mapping” tool. Broadly speaking, Mind mapping is about looking for patterns and  insights in a large amount of data.

Mind mapping was perfect for this case. Adopting this tool, we had the opportunity to  organize what the team already learned and knew combining it with the feedback received  from the field. Then, I was able to invite the team to collaborate and move on getting ready for  the “What if?” phase.

The book “Designing for Growth” by Tim Ogilvie and Linda Liedtka is a fantastic reference  about how to adopt it.

Application  To start, we were focused on collecting data from everybody. Diagrams, transcriptions of  interviews with potential customers, technology experiments results, quantitative data about  the Market, and so on. Then, we created a “war room,” organizing this data in the more  explicit and visual way as possible, using a lot of attractive visual elements. The war room was  an open space for everybody that could help us detailing what we know and with suggestions  of better ways to express it. The idea was no stop improving, aligning the organization around  a shared understanding of the reality.

People should spend regular and scheduled time visiting the room and registering what was  right and what should be improved in stick notes. No more than two weeks were required to  get ready for the next step: organizing people in small groups to discuss their impressions and  notes, clustering this notes in an expressive way.

The “war room” data combined with the gathered notes enabled us to make connections and  to produce, externalize and discuss the design criteria through insights statements.

Insight  By applying the “Mind mapping” tool, we proved the value of the clear communication. Also,  we learned about how it affects the people commitment positively.

It was not easy initially, but after some time, everybody filled engaged to share data and ideas.  Finally, we were able to produce a better-shared understanding. Sometimes was not easy to  make the connection between someone notes and related subjects. Anyway, frequently these  moments revealed themselves as opportunities to unleash creativity.

Adopting “Mind mapping” tool helped us to be more confident in the “What If” process.

Approach  Given this experience, I would recommend starting organizing and sharing data sooner in the  process (as the data is collected). I understand it would help to reduce friction and make the  communication even easier. Also, I think it is necessary to adopt a “ubiquitous language” as  soon as possible which would make simpler the communication of people with different  backgrounds.

