Refection - Learning Launch

Challenge

I’m a IT financial consultant and in my job I need to develop financial application. The application will be  used by whole the entity (managers, directors, auditors…) at different hierarchical levels with a different  level of information. Financial application needs also to exactly correspond to the needs of users.  Considering the price about the editor licenses, the implementation… and the strategic position,  financial application needs to be adopted by end users. For that, the challenge is to do a financial  application easy to use and which will exactly correspond to the needs of users. So that, financials  informations will be easily usable.

Selection

Learning launch seems like many prototypes which will improve as the project progresses with clients  feedback so that the application exactly respond to the expectations.  This tool seems to be like the  “agile methods” where it’s necessary to change, to improves, to correct the financial application all  along the project. I think this tool is essential for an IT project success because future end users will need  to be to the center of the project. I develop financial application for them, so that they need to be  implicated in the project with feedback about what I did. I create some prototypes, improve them  during the entire project with key users feedback until the financial application exactly respond to the  expectations.

Application

In finance IT, the objective is to deliver an easy to use application which really meets the needs of users.  It’s easy to make “a kludge”, a very complex financial application which will not be usable by end users.  As a reminder, financial application is for financials users not for computer scientists. It’s why, in IT  sector, it’s important to designate key users, users which exactly know business challenges, users which  are representative of the needs expressed, which are doing feedback about prototype. Firstly, the  financial application must exactly meet the needs of key users. For that, during the project, there are  many exchanges between me (I’m doing the financial application) and them (keys users). I must listen to  their remarks and improve the financial application periodically so that it corresponds to the expressed  needs. There are therefore several learning launch at each stage of the project. It’s kind of co-creativity  involving feedback from the end user. My prototypes are test and improved regularly with key users  feedback until the final version.

Once the final version is approved and accepted by key user, the objective is to extend the using of this  application for the whole of the entity. As key users exactly know the application because they  participed to the conception with their feedbacks about prototypes, it will be easy for them to explain  his using, to train end users and as they are representative of end users, the probability of acceptance of  the financial application by end users is very important.

Insight

By applying the learning launch tool, we are very reactive and we can respect the timing. If we are doing  a financial application only with the expression of the need, the risk is the existence of a difference  between what the client want, how he will express his need and how we will understand this. Usually,  we note a big difference between those things. If we realize this at the end of the project, it will be a  failure, we will have to do everything again resulting in a waste of time and money.

With the application of this tool, we can develop the financial application step by step with customer  approval at each stage. Learning launch will save time, money and the customer will have the expected  result.

Approach

Next time, in my next project, in addition to using learning launch tool, I will use visualization tool. As IT  finance consultant, we need to be specialist in finance and IT but our clients are only finance specialist.  As the vocabulary is different between these two disciplines, it was sometimes difficult for them to  understand IT subjects. I think, in addition to using learning launch tool, that making drawing will  facilitate the communication and the comprehension for my client.

