Stakeholder management through interactive visualisation.

Challenge

I work in a creative solutions agency, managing a small portfolio of tech-based clients. We have  spent the past six months working on a full re-launch for one of those clients – a food ordering  and delivery service – with particular focus on their core product, a multi-platform app. While a  new brand positioning and launch campaign were important, we knew they would be futile  exercises if the app itself didn’t live up to consumers’ expectations. It’s very easy to tell someone  how good something is, but the moment of truth happens when a consumer interacts with your  product and experiences it for themselves.    There were a huge number of stakeholders involved in product development for this business,  ranging from global C-suite executives accountable to shareholders, through to local coders  responsible for delivery and maintenance. Each stakeholder needed to be clear on what  improvements and changes were being made, why, and what the expected outcomes were. We  needed to find a way to communicate all of this, across varying levels of expertise, with a single  source of truth that wasn’t open to misinterpretation.      Selection

While a variety of design thinking tools were applicable to the task, such as mind mapping and  learning launch (using a ‘release, test, improve, repeat’ cycle), of particular value was the  visualisation tool.     Given the number and variety of stakeholders involved in the project, it was important that we  were clear on the changes we were proposing, how they would look and importantly, how they  would work. We used a specific type of visualisation tool, called wireframes, to ‘mock up’ how  screens would look and how they would function. (Wireframes are a set of simple 2D images,  showing the layout and expected functionality of a digital touch-point, such as an app or a  website.)      Application

We initially ran a number of mind mapping sessions with a variety of stakeholders – including  global CTOs, brand directors, app developers, user experience architects, product managers,  salespeople and communications creatives – off the back of which we defined the critical design  criteria that would ensure success for this stream of work.     We then took the high priority improvements and started wireframing them. Our user experience  architect blended best practice user interface design with known customer insights from existing  research, and created visual representations of the new and improved app.     After gathering initial feedback from stakeholders on the wireframes, we could see that while the  they were helping people wrap their heads around the proposed improvements, they were a little  too simple of the complexity of this task and that when it came to understanding the functionality  underpinning the visuals, they were still very open to interpretation. So we decided to take our  wireframes one step further by a building a very basic prototype using the wireframes as the  skeleton – essentially a clickable set of interactive 2D drawings – enabling stakeholders to  actually ‘use’ the proposed improvements, as opposed to just ‘looking’ at them and trying to  visualise themselves how they might work.

Insight

The major insight we gained was that there are different levels of visualisation, and that for some  projects, simple visualisation is the ideal tool, while for others, you need to take it one step  further and actually bring that visualisation to life in a tangible, interactive way.    The introduction of interactive wireframes as a form of visualisation essentially created a single  source of truth for all stakeholders. Nothing was left to chance or assumption – all stakeholders  saw and interacted with the same prototype, and there was little room for misinterpretation.     Additionally, rather than reserving a prototype as a learning launch tool, we decided to use it as a  visualisation and demonstration tool, for the purpose of managing internal stakeholders, not  testing with external customers.      Approach

Visualisation is an incredibly helpful design thinking tool, particularly when it comes to describing  things that are open to interpretation, or come pre-loaded with individual assumptions. You can  flex and stretch the visualisation tool to suit the needs of individual briefs, and make it as simple  or detailed as you like.     We felt that visualisation, particularly interactive visualisation, was incredibly helpful for our  product and worked well with regards to managing the expectations of multiple stakeholders with  varying levels of product understanding. Visualisation brought to life insights from customer  research and priorities from mind mapping sessions, and contributed significantly to our  collective readiness for customer-facing learning launches. For this reason, we continue using  interactive visualisation for all app modifications as it’s an excellent form of stakeholder  management.


Stakeholder management through interactive visualisation . Challenge I work in a creative solutions agency , managing a small portfolio of tech - based clients . We have spent the past six months working on a full re - launch for one of those clients – a food ordering and delivery service – with particular focus on their core product , a multi - platform app . While a new brand positioning and launch campaign were important , we knew they would be futile exercises if the app itself did n’t live up to consumers ’ expectations . It ’s very easy to tell someone how good something is , but the moment of truth happens when a consumer interacts with your product and experiences it for themselves . There were a huge number of stakeholders involved in product development for this business , ranging from global C - suite executives accountable to shareholders , through to local coders responsible for delivery and maintenance . Each stakeholder needed to be clear on what improvements and changes were being made , why , and what the expected outcomes were . We needed to find a way to communicate all of this , across varying levels of expertise , with a single source of truth that was n’t open to misinterpretation . Selection While a variety of design thinking tools were applicable to the task , such as mind mapping and learning launch ( using a ‘ release , test , improve , repeat ’ cycle ) , of particular value was the visualisation tool . Given the number and variety of stakeholders involved in the project , it was important that we were clear on the changes we were proposing , how they would look and importantly , how they would work . We used a specific type of visualisation tool , called wireframes , to ‘ mock up ’ how screens would look and how they would function . ( Wireframes are a set of simple 2D images , showing the layout and expected functionality of a digital touch - point , such as an app or a website . ) Application We initially ran a number of mind mapping sessions with a variety of stakeholders – including global CTOs , brand directors , app developers , user experience architects , product managers , salespeople and communications creatives – off the back of which we defined the critical design criteria that would ensure success for this stream of work . We then took the high priority improvements and started wireframing them . Our user experience architect blended best practice user interface design with known customer insights from existing research , and created visual representations of the new and improved app . After gathering initial feedback from stakeholders on the wireframes , we could see that while the they were helping people wrap their heads around the proposed improvements , they were a little too simple of the complexity of this task and that when it came to understanding the functionality underpinning the visuals , they were still very open to interpretation . So we decided to take our wireframes one step further by a building a very basic prototype using the wireframes as the skeleton – essentially a clickable set of interactive 2D drawings – enabling stakeholders to actually ‘ use ’ the proposed improvements , as opposed to just ‘ looking ’ at them and trying to visualise themselves how they might work . Insight The major insight we gained was that there are different levels of visualisation , and that for some projects , simple visualisation is the ideal tool , while for others , you need to take it one step further and actually bring that visualisation to life in a tangible , interactive way . The introduction of interactive wireframes as a form of visualisation essentially created a single source of truth for all stakeholders . Nothing was left to chance or assumption – all stakeholders saw and interacted with the same prototype , and there was little room for misinterpretation . Additionally , rather than reserving a prototype as a learning launch tool , we decided to use it as a visualisation and demonstration tool , for the purpose of managing internal stakeholders , not testing with external customers . Approach Visualisation is an incredibly helpful design thinking tool , particularly when it comes to describing things that are open to interpretation , or come pre - loaded with individual assumptions . You can flex and stretch the visualisation tool to suit the needs of individual briefs , and make it as simple or detailed as you like . We felt that visualisation , particularly interactive visualisation , was incredibly helpful for our product and worked well with regards to managing the expectations of multiple stakeholders with varying levels of product understanding . Visualisation brought to life insights from customer research and priorities from mind mapping sessions , and contributed significantly to our collective readiness for customer - facing learning launches . For this reason , we continue using interactive visualisation for all app modifications as it ’s an excellent form of stakeholder management .