setting better objectives for digital design projects
Post on 28-Jun-2015
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Setting Better Objectives!!
!
Alastair Lee | productpanda.com | @docket!
Factors that influence the success of design projects are often not directly related to the designer or the design work itself. It’s often about getting: • the right environment • the right mix of people in the team • the right timescales • the right relationship with stakeholders • and the right brief - with useful objectives
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It seems simple, but in the rush to get on, we often assume everyone shares the same view of what we’re doing and why, when it’s actually not the case. This can lead to problems later on, when crucial design decisions need to be made and there is no agreed criteria for making them.
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Today!
1. Why bother setting objectives?
2. Terminology
3. What do good objectives look like?
4. How to set good objectives with clients
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“If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will do”
CS Lewis
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“There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency
what should not be done at all”
Peter Drucker
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FOCUS
Clear objectives • gather the team • enable you to prioritise and say no • enable a more harmonious client relationship, where you share a clear goal
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MOTIVATION
Designers like a challenge Designers often don’t like being told what to do. With clear objectives you can give your team the autonomy to make their own decisions According to Daniel Pink’s book Drive - Autonomy is one of three key factors in motivating people
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PROOF
Have you ever wondered if what you were doing was worth the clients money? Having clear measurable objectives agreed in advance, explicitly tied to business goals enables you to prove ROI When that happens the boss becomes interested and you can engage at a more senior level
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BETTER WORK
And it tends to lead to better work and all that goes with it - new business, happy staff, easy recruitment, awards etc. It’s a good thing.
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!
A thing aimed at or sought - a goal!
Oxford English Dictionary
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A goal that is striven for
Wikipedia
For me a ‘goal’ is a bit wooly. It implies a lofty ambition. For me objectives should be, well, objective - meaning someone from outside the project should be able to look at what you set out to do and what you have done and say yes, you have achieved your aim.
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Objective = What you aim to achieve
For me an objective is what you aim to acheive. ‘Achieve' implies it’s done and you can prove it. If you objective is to buy a car then when you get the keys you’ve achieved it. If your objective is to become a wonderful piano player - that’s more of a goal, an ambition even.
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A way to evaluate the success of a particular activity in which
you are engaged
Wikipedia
A Key Performance Indicator does just that, it indicates performance, e.g. • Unique users • Customer lifetime value • Page load time
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Objective = What you aim to achieve
= How you measure progressKPI
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A thing that is compulsory; a necessary condition
Oxford English Dictionary
• it must be on Drupal 7 • it needs to used by people in Spain • it needs to be done by Sep 12 • not all ‘requirements’ are real, many are preferences, be sure to distinguish between the two
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Objective = What you aim to achieve
= How you measure progressKPI
= Something you can’t changeRequirement
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An action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end
Oxford English Dictionary
• You could substitute ‘feature’, or ‘activity’ in here. It’s something you do to meet an objective. It’s not an objective in itself.
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= Something you can’t changeRequirement
Objective = What you aim to achieve
= How you measure progressKPI
= Part of a proposed solutionTactic
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Objective = Sell more shoes
= Sales volumeKPI
= English, French, SpanishRequirement
= Personalised recommendationsTactic
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Objective = Reduce marketing costs
= Cost Per AcquisitionKPI
= Display ads remain as plannedRequirement
= Content marketing pushTactic
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KPIs
Objective Tactics
Requirements
✓
• Objectives and the associated requirements and KPIs should come first. Tactics are a response.
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KPIs
TacticsObjectives
Requirements
✕
• However often clients come with pre-defined tactics and requirements. And the objectives are hazy. This is not so good. Clients are not always best placed to judge what tactics will best achieve their objectives.
• What is the objective, KPI, requirement and tactic here?
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A good objective is…
2. S.M.A.R.T.
1. Pitched at the right level!
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Be happy
WHY?
Catch bus!
Be punctual
Build relationships
Get promoted
Do interesting work
Successful career
• By asking why ? we can see ever higher objectives, that are more interesting to work on
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Be happy
Successful career
Do interesting work
Get promoted
Be punctual
Impress boss
Catch bus!
STRATEGIC
TACTICAL• There are many tactical objectives contributing to less strategic ones
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HOW?
World domination
Eliminate USSR & USA
Cause nuclear war
Steal rockets
Launch spacecraft
Build lair
Find lair architect
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World domination
Eliminate USSR & USA
Cause nuclear war
Steal rockets
Build lair
Launch spacecraft
Find lair architect
STRATEGIC
TACTICAL• By asking ‘how?’ we can move down the stack
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Maximise profits
STRATEGIC
Sales Prices
Costs
Productivity
Revenues
Wage bill Cost of acquisition ↑↑
↑
↑
↑↑
↑
TACTICAL
Working environment
Online sales
Shift brand perceptions↑ Offline
sales↑ Head count
↑ Staff morale↑↑
Customer lifetime value ↑Outsource
production Engage young professionals
Online conversion↑ Traffic↑ Brand
awareness↑
↑
SEO↑ Checkout flow
Reduce form steps
Restructure IA↑
Content marketing↑
Youtube channel
Average txn value
Visual refresh
ATL Campaign ↑ Repeat visits↑
Loyalty club
• The shoe corp pyramid might look like this. My view is that there is a fuzzy line where business objectives merge with digital tactics. You want to stay above that line if you can.
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Right level =!The highest level business objective you can prove your impact on
• If your line is too high then there will be too many other factors and you can’t prove a link • If it’s too low then it’s not clear how you are helping the actual business
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A good objective is…
2. S.M.A.R.T.
1. Pitched at the right level ✓
• So on to number 2
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SpecificMeasurable!Attainable!Relevant!Time-bound
• Specific - no room for ambiguity, there for all to see. Not lose weight, but loose 2cm of your waistline or 5lbs in a month.
• Measurable - If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. find a metric you can keep track of and one that proves you’re done.
• Attainable - in needs to be within reach or you’ll lose motivation. get team to agree, but push them
• Relevant - clear link to the goal above it • Time-bound - give yourself as deadline - doesn’t have to be client facing.
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Dumb version I want to lose weight!!
S.M.A.R.T. version I want to lose 5lbs by June 30th!
• Simple example
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Dumb version Encourage increased donations!!
S.M.A.R.T. version Increase the average online donation size* from £20 to £23 by the end of the year.!*Measured monthly
• Simple example
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By the end of 2015 we will increase the average customer lifetime value (CLV) from £400 to £500. KPIs
• Repeat visits • Basket size Assumptions • Marketing strategy does not change • We do design and FE dev • Project goes live end of March 2015
Increase customer lifetime value
• more likely business example
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In the next 6 months we will engage 50,000 young professionals in a conversation about classic shoe styles on Facebook.!
• To count as engaged, the user must Like, comment or share CR content containing key messages
• Young professionals are defined by Facebook’s Graph algorithm
Engage with young professionals
• Another
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A good objective is…
2. S.M.A.R.T.
1. Pitched at the right level ✓
✓
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Clients are your users
• If you are a designer, you need to think about the needs of your users. Clients are your users too
• This can help
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Engagement & Reach
Reach
Engagement
Data capture
Increase revenue
New donors
Existing donors
Spend per donation
Marketing efficiency
Reduce cost
Staff spend
Cust. services spend
Licences and equipment
Influence policy and others
Increase impact
Communication and info.
Better services
Better UX
Increase volunteering
Add new volunteers
Retain existing
volunteers
Increase activity
Likely objectives for charities
• There are not that many objectives that they can have, really. And certain ones will crop up again and again. Here’s a list for charities for example.
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Ask questions to fill gaps in understanding
• Can I just check your interpretation of… • What is driving that requirement? • Which of your business objectives do you see this
supporting • How would we measure that? • What would success look like? • What else is going on that supports this objective?
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Dot voting
• Which is more important, repeat visits or new users? Conversion rate or basket size? • Stakeholders get three m&ms each and vote with them (see Lean UX and Gamestorming)
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Effort vs Impact High Effort
Low Effort
Low Impact
High Impact
• Another way to do it. Perceived impact vs perceived effort. This will help prioritise.
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Summary
1. Empathise with the client
2. Think about out their pyramid and fill in gaps
3. Find business objectives where you can measure your impact
4. Gather team and create smart objectives to support the business obj.
5. Prioritise
6. Measure as you go
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