Author: Rob Broadhead

  • How Will The Solution Impact You Or Your Business

    How Will The Solution Impact You Or Your Business

    The question about the solution impact should be in your mind throughout the planning process. It is an essential part of the “why” of the entire project. There is a reward, benefit, or transformation (or all of the above) you expect from this project. That is measured by the impact it has on you or your business. Therefore, the answer to this question is a factor in the cost-benefit calculations needed to craft a solution that fits you perfectly.

    Solution Impact Is Not Fuzzy, Nor Assumed

    I have found many situations with a fuzzy view of how a solution will benefit the users. General business needs can get rolled into the solution impact and result in a widespread effect. That is a good start. However, we will make decisions based on costs, benefits, timing, resources, and many other aspects. Our choices will not be well-informed if we fail to define the solution impact in detail. For example, “improve our ability to send timely invoices” is too vague. We need to dig deeper into the benefits we expect from that. There are many ways invoices impact our business and customers, and those need to be considered. Here are a few aspects that factor into the value of our solution.

    • Cost of Printing/Mailing
    • Time Required to Generate Invoices (elapsed and resource time)
    • Quality and Detail of Invoices
    • Bulk or Grouped Invoices For Multiple orders

    A good example of solution impact:

    • Lower material cost by 5%
    • Reduce resource time by 10%
    • Cut elapsed time by 5%
    • Allow for reduced errors that drop phone support time by 5%

    Hard Numbers Over General Benefits

    The above example is good because it gives us a solution impact we can place in a formal. We have a total impact number that we can measure against costs. This ability to score our solution is critical during the planning and when we have to make hard decisions like a go/no-go. While it is not all we need, it is an essential piece. It can make tough decisions easy. For example, the solution impact is measured at five hundred dollars when deciding whether to spend another one thousand dollars on the project. That becomes a no-brainer. Early on, this can influence the answers to other key questions and guide us to where our solution needs to complete in terms of time, money, and effort.

    Signing Off On This Question

    This question aims to determine a value for the solution that can be measured against time, effort, and cost. This objective is no different than having a budget in mind for any other purpose. For example, think about buying a car. When you walk on the lot, you will be asked for a budget as part of the sales process. They want to avoid wasting time showing you models below or above your target. Budget is as much a requirement as anything else for a solution. Thus, do not skip over it as you define your ideal solution.

    Improve Software Success

    We have an e-book that can help you explore all the steps in building software, including a few templates. All we ask is that you share an e-mail address so we can send you a copy. We add you to our monthly newsletter, but you can unsubscribe anytime. Your data is not shared with anyone else. Learn more about our book here.

  • Is The Problem Likely To Change Or Evolve – A Moving Target?

    Is The Problem Likely To Change Or Evolve – A Moving Target?

    One of the early assessments needed in solving a problem is whether it is a moving target. In particular, business problems often change or evolve while we build solutions. These changes can be upgrades to tools, compliance changes, or the winds of change many businesses navigate. While the problems may be good ones to face (e.g., your business is growing faster than expected), they still can impact your approach to solving them. Thus, we have items to consider that may be simple but can be difficult to judge.

    A True Moving Target

    One challenge in answering this question is determining what contributes to a moving target. For example, business growth is expected, as are product changes and upgrades. However, some changes can be quickly adopted, and others require changes to the architecture. Likewise, there are decisions made for performance and user experience reasons that can be impacted. A typical example is the customer’s address. We can often add a third address line or c/o field quickly. On the other hand, support for multiple address types (i.e., home, billing, shipping, etc.) can be complex and costly.

    Will This Ever Change?

    The question I always find invaluable when discussing a solution is, “will this ever change?” We make decisions based on whether we will need to account for change or not. While this occurs with areas like address types, it also applies to business growth. We often started a solution where a customer was simply a customer and later had to adjust. For example, a customer has to support a group of customers (i.e., an organization with multiple sites), which impacts billing, invoices, fulfillment, and so much more. It is always safest to assume things will change. However, that can lead to over-architecting a solution. This is a question that needs careful consideration.

    Planning For The Future

    We previously asked what a perfect solution looked like. That is hard to answer. In the same way, it is hard to plan for the future entirely. However, most businesses grow and evolve. That should not be haphazard. There should be a plan and roadmap for where the company wants. These plans are critical in the determination of whether a problem is going to change or evolve. A complex solution that accounts for today and the future is not as difficult to solve as a moving target. The goal is to identify areas where we need to be more flexible.

    Improve Software Success

    We have an e-book that can help you explore all the steps in building software, including a few templates. All we ask is that you share an e-mail address so we can send you a copy. We add you to our monthly newsletter, but you can unsubscribe anytime. Your data is not shared with anyone else. Learn more about our book here.

  • What Is The Perfect Solution To Your Problem

    What Is The Perfect Solution To Your Problem

    Once you define your problem to solve you are ready to dream about that perfect solution. Perfection is hard to achieve. However, it is helpful to have a goal that aims high. If we fail to ask for everything we want, we can miss out on excellent opportunities. There are many reasons to cut back on our ask. These include cost, time, budget, and even practicality. On the other hand, I have surprised many customers and product owners with what is possible. Do not underestimate how far and fast technology progresses.

    Yes, The Perfect Solution

    We can spend a lot of time discussing how no solution is perfect. Yet, it is worth the time to think through what an ideal solution looks like. This is a step that many overlook. However, it can cause scope changes and headaches once the project starts. A solution can sometimes be like an onion, where you must work through a layer to see the one below. We find this in business problems where a primary pain point overshadows lesser issues that we still want to solve. A simple example is sales. We can focus on how we sell a product and ignore fulfillment, only to find that we have challenges in fulfilling products once we get that sale.

    This exercise also aims to “shoot for the moon.” We can always scale back or reduce the scope if something is too costly. Yet, when we aim too low, we can put a solution out of reach because it costs too much to add later. We see this in buying a computer. It is often far less expensive to start with more memory or storage than add that on later. The results are helpful even when we do not implement our perfect solution. The design process can leave room for that future enhancement or feature. When we fail to think about a feature, we often fail to provide a way to add it later.

    How Do I Consider A Perfect Solution?

    We often start our project so far from perfect it is hard to imagine what that looks like. That makes the envisioning process a challenge, and we need to be thorough as we do so. Thus, here are some suggestions for peeling the onion.

    • Think of it as an outline of your process, and list your main pain points.
    • Start with a solution for each point. Then, what a perfect solution would be.
    • At each solution, ask, “and then what?”
    • There will be “sub” pain points to solve.
    • Repeat this process until you have exhausted every point.

    How Do I Know When I Have Arrived?

    The process above could technically go on forever. On the other hand, there is a practical limit you can hit. We can consider a single pain point of selling a product. We will keep it short and take one path. First, we find a potential customer. Next, we convince them to buy the product. Finally, we deliver the product. Solving those three items would be helpful. However, let’s drill down on the first item. We find a potential customer and ask, “and then what?” We need to contact them, find the decision-makers, and set up a sales call. When we find the decision-makers, we need to research their needs and craft a message that speaks to them. We have probably found a leaf for our path and can move to another branch.

    Know Your Process In Detail

    All of this points back to your processes being understood in detail. Not only do you need to know the steps needed to get from A to Z, but you also need to be able to communicate them. When we get through this activity, we can examine the layers of our “onion” and envision a perfect solution. Assume you have one detailed wish to be granted. Why not be as thorough as possible? If you want to see the many ways things can go wrong when you fail to ask for a solution properly, check out any movie or story about someone having a wish granted, but things go off the rails.

    Practice Makes Perfect

    Ok, perfection does not come from practice, but improvement does. We have worked on numerous projects and solved countless problems over the years and are happy to help you with yours. Even a short consultation can help you get your creative juices flowing and improve your ability to ask for a perfect solution.

    Improve Software Success

    We have an e-book that can help you explore all the steps in building software, including a few templates. All we ask is that you share an e-mail address so we can send you a copy. We add you to our monthly newsletter, but you can unsubscribe anytime. Your data is not shared with anyone else. Learn more about our book here.