Results-Only Web Investments

Results Only
Web Investments
Jakob Persson
DrupalCon Prague, Thursday September 26th, 2013

Introducing me
Founder and CEO of Sveyt
Co-founded NodeOne
Worked with Drupal since 2005
Studied cognitive science and computer
science.
jakob.persson@sveyt.com
http://twitter.com/jakobper
http://drupal.org/user/37564

Prototypes, develops and builds your product idea and
validates market assumptions with Drupal.
We are hiring freelancers. Talk to us!

16%
of all web projects are
considered
“complete successes”

only
16%
of all web projects are
considered
“complete successes”

1 out of 6 beers is Czech
(Czech beer is awesome)
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1209277

1 out of 6 cars doesn’t crash
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1357729 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1018876 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1067693 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1156584 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1093472 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1421209

1 out of 6 pets is actually happy
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1428378 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1427333 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1388996 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1421011 http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1009754

"Nobody wants a 1/4 inch
drill — what they want is a
1/4 inch hole.”
—Theodore Levitt, marketing professor at Harvard

Does it say who the people who we need to involve,
engage and reach are?
Does it say what the buyer expects the return to be?
Does it say why the buyer is spending resources and
money on this project?

"Delivery plans and requirements
documents are often shopping lists of
features, without any context that explains
why such things are important."
– Gojko Adzic, award–winning strategic software delivery consultant

18V 3 Ah Li-Ion
Rubber grip
Nylon wrist strap
1h recharge time
3,000 RPM electric
motor
Speed chuck
“I don’t care!
Does it make a fr****** hole?”

If so, how can we then build
something that successfully brings
value to our customers using that??

You will leave this room with a method to shift
how you manage projects from requirements-
oriented to results-only,
with happier customers and teams as a result

We need to emphasize
investment and results,
not costs and requirements

Did everyone involved understand what the
intended business results of the project were?
Oh, one person!
In your last project...

Was everyone, buyer and seller, able to
communicate clearly and transparently about
risks and problems that occured?
And another one!

Did everyone feel that the project was something
they could be proud of in terms of achievement,
quality and innovation?
I am not surprised...

Did everyone involved understand the
definition of a successful project and how
success was measured?
And now it’s her turn!

In the end, did the customer get what they
needed to address an actual business problem
or opportunity?
Anyone? :(

A
Story
from
Reality
Fables, myths and
project management

[slide: WidgetCo HQ]
One beautiful spring morning…

[slide: In front of computer]
Susan is researching competitors’ websites.

[slide: Stack of documents]
The requirements stack up.

Bidders call Susan to get the answers they need.

Milestones are set by date and tied to scope.

de·vel·op·er [dih-vel-uh-per] noun: A person that
converts coffee into code

The team is working to exhaustion.

“Where’s the hockey stick?”

Was this a success?
+ The requirements were fulfilled to the letter
- Team worked their a**es off
- The seller made a loss
- The buyer didn't see the results they were hoping for
1 3

Need
Requirements and Design
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation
Let’s consider ﬁve
important phases
in the project

The decision to invest in the the project
originates from a need or opportunity that
has been identified.
✘ Business goals were not communicated making
the project cost-driven.
✘ Being unaware of the business goals made it hard
for the team to react to unforeseen problems.
✘ The project was given a way too small budget.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

A requirement is a capability to which a
project outcome should conform and should
ideally capture more than just easily
observable and measurably aspects.
✘ The requirements focused on the superficial.
✘ The requirements were not relevant to the
business goals.
✘ Requirements were written by someone whose
expertise skewed them towards the easily
definable.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

The competitive bidding process helps
winnow bidders, stimulate competition and
procure services at the lowest possible price.
✘ Relying only on a bidding process often tends to
make the buyer only look to price, ignoring ability
to perform.
✘ Bids rely heavily on software estimation which is
hard, if not near impossible.
✘ Optimistic assumptions and estimates put the
seller in a “knife to the throat” situation.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

Project execution is what usually takes most
time and deals with directing and managing
the project, its assets and its progress.
✘ Designed to make the buyer feel secure, instead it
caused much stress, frustration killing motivation.
✘ The inflexible execution prevented the project
from gaining from ongoing learning.
✘ The soured relationship undermined trust
between parties and chances of project success.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

In the long term, projects aren’t evaluated
based on how well they fulfill the
requirements to the letter but how well they
have the desired result.
✘ Very few members of the project team were aware
of the expected result.
✘ WidgetCo’s project failed to deliver the results the
executive sponsors had been hoping for.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

At companies that aren’t among the
top 25% of technology users, 3 out of 10
IT projects fail on average
http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/6840_f03_papers/frese/
“

Lack of user input
and involvement
User research

Incomplete
requirements
Systematic collection
of requirements
Requirements linked
to goals
Agency involvement

Unrealistic
expectations
Expectations and goals
communicated and
shared
Budget in relation to
expectations

70% of the “successful” projects were
over budget, over time, or defective in
function upon completion
http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/6840_f03_papers/frese/
“

Is it sustainable?
For you?
For your customers?
For our entire business?

+ Team worked at an effective pace
+ The seller made a profit
+ The buyer saw the results they were hoping for
- The requirements were not fulfilled to the letter
3 1
What if we inverted the scoreboard?

Let’s change how we
view projects

Measurable
success
Results
A four-fold change
➊
➌
➋
➍Learning &
discovery
Investment

A change with amazing consequences
TRUST Parties expect each other to act and deliver to the best of ability
GAIN The project is done on budget, buyer gets value and seller makes a profit
RESPECT Parties respect the competence/experience of each other
PURPOSE Parties feel this project is worth doing
ACHIEVEMENT Parties are proud of being part of the project and achieving its goals

The decision to invest in the the project
originates from a need or opportunity that
has been identified.
✓ The business goals are being communicated from
day one.
✓ The budget is based on the expected return, the
project considered an investment clearly linked to
the business goals.
✓ There are measurable success criteria the team
feels are realistic and which motivate them.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

A requirement is a capability to which a
project outcome should conform and should
ideally capture more than just easily
observable and measurably aspects.
✓ Requirements are focused, sufficiently high level
and relevant to the success criteria.
✓ Requirements are supported by strategic analysis
and user research.
✓ Reliance on requirements as a way to control is
replaced with reliance on project leadership.
✓ There’s working communication and strong
executive support.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

The competitive bidding process helps
winnow bidders, stimulate competition and
procure services at the lowest possible price.
✓ Focus on lowest price is replaced by a wish to find
the company with best ability to deliver.
✓ Software estimates only serve as input for first
stage of planning.
✓ Transparency makes the seller able to offer advice
on how to achieve the desired business result.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

Project execution is what usually takes most
time and deals with directing and managing
the project, its assets and its progress.
✓ It’s understood that things be more difficult or
easier than planned for – learning is expected.
✓ Constant communication helps synchronize
expectations between team and executive
sponsors.
✓ Continual delivery helps establish trust.
✓ Flexibility fosters high morale as well as a creative
atmosphere.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

In the long term, projects aren’t evaluated
based on how well they fulfill the
requirements to the letter but how well they
have the desired result.
✓ The team understands why the website was
designed and built a certain way.
✓ Everyone involved knows what the project’s goals
are and what they’re trying to achieve.
✓ Everyone is eagerly waiting for the first results of
their efforts to materialize, prepared to rethink,
redesign and tweak if necessary.
Need
Bidding
Execution
Evaluation

“Where did all these ideas come from
and do they even work?”
Let’s see what the research says.

Two methods with proven track records
Agile
Impact Mapping
&
Effect Mapping
www.impactmapping.org
scrumshortcuts.com

Agile Methods
Scrum, FDD, XP, Kanban, DSDM…
Some concern projects, some are
sets of practices.

Family of Agile Methods
an inexact timeline
1990 2000 2010
Crystal
Scrum
Pair Programming
XP
Continuous Integration
TDD
Agile Manifesto
Lean SD*
https://corinna.scorpius.uberspace.de/ﬁnding-marbles/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/agile-lean-engineering-timeline1.png
Kanban for SD*
Lean Startup
* Software Development

Do they work?
http://www.infoq.com/news/2012/11/success-agile-projects
– David F. Rico, “The Business Value of Using Agile Project
Management for New Products and Services”.
“An early study of agile project management showed
10% to 20% improvements in revenues, quality, and
cycle time, and 54% reductions in costs…”

Do they work!? Ya bet they do!
http://www.onedesk.com/2013/01/waterfall-vs-agile/
Waterfall Agile
Successful Challenged Failed
“Agile projects are three times more successful
than Waterfall projects.”
14%
57%
29%
42%
49%
9%
– 2011 CHAOS Manifesto from the Standish Group

http://stackoverﬂow.com/questions/3001627/agile-when-does-it-work-well-and-when-doesnt-it
W
aterfall
Agile
Stay out!
Waterfall (predictive)
Technologies and
requirements are known.
Agile (adaptive)
Technologies and requirements
are partially unknown.
Ralph Stacey's complexity matrix

Which is best?
It depends on the type of project.
In my experience, agile is very well
suited for Drupal development.

“Impact mapping brings usability and speed to proven product and
project management strategies, helping them fit better into modern
software delivery constraints, and at the same time applying some
great ideas from other industries to software delivery”
– impactmapping.org
Impact Mapping

✓ Facilitate strategic planning to create a big-picture view
focused on key business objectives
✓ Facilitate learning through delivery
✓ Help us manage project roadmaps
✓ Represent delivery scope in a way that is easy to evolve to
react to changed market opportunities or new knowledge
Impact Maps

Impact Maps
“An impact map is a visualisation of scope and
underlying assumptions, created collaboratively
by senior technical and business people.”
Why?
Who?
Who?
How?
How?
How?
How?
What?
What?
What?
What?
– Gojko Adzic
What?
What?

Impact Maps
Why?
Who?
Who?
How?
How?
How?
How?
What?
What?
What?
What?
What?
What?
Business goal Deliverables

Eﬀect Maps
Eﬀect
User
Group
User
Group
User Need
User Need
User Need
User Need
Feature
Feature
Feature?
Feature
Feature
Feature
Effect Features

Eﬀect Maps vs Impact Maps
Effect Maps Impact Maps
Based on user research, a
structured map of goals, end
users and their needs, used in
interaction design
Created in a strategic meeting,
a roadmap focusing on
impact, used to make
decisions regarding scope
Helps interaction designers
design for end users based on
business goals
Helps the project focus on the
right deliverables to achieve
the business goals

You’ll do right to learn about both.

Usability Testing
User Group
User Need
Feature
Persona
Wireframe
Prototype
Who are our users and what do
they need?

Assumptions
SMART
Goals
Impacts
Learn
What are our assumptions and what do we
need to do to achieve our goals?
Why?
Who?
How?
What?
What?
Actors
Build
Measure

"But without price bidding, sellers have
no incentive to be cost effective"

"But the buyer needs to set up
clear milestones, otherwise the
project will fail"

"Customers don't always know their
business needs/goals"

Things can be done very
diﬀerently from how
they’re often done

Meanwhile, somewhere in Universe
“A.k.a ‘the nice
universe’”

A
Much Better Story
from
Universe
Fables, myths and
project management
2

Realistic yet ambitious goals were set that day…

…measurable goals tied to timeframes – SMART.

IT guy Mark was eager to help.

[slide: interview of a person]
WidgetCo makes pet products, did I mention that?

[slide: wireframes]
Wireframes were drawn.

[slide: presentation]
The agencies made impressive pitches.

[slide: happy team]
The agency seemed to love what they did.

[slide: enthusiastic person]
Susan’s enthusiasm was also ehm... strong.

[slide: person thinking hard]
Analyzing the requirements took some deep thinking.

[slide: meeting]
The team had continuous meetings.

[slide: eﬀective team]
Finding the requirements that contributed most to
impact took time.

[slide: champagne, party]
The end result was what everyone had been hoping for.

Life in Universe
Stronger buyer-seller relationship
Better use of money and higher success rate
Higher satisfaction for all parties involved

Which universe do you want to live in?

Four principles
1. We view the project as intended to create results
2. There’s agreement on how to measure and define
success
3. The project is considered an investment
4. It will be a learning experience for all parties
➊
➌
➋
➍

“We need a
better website!”
“It’s really hard to ﬁnd
out who we are and
there’s no way to post
comments and feel
involved!”
“A big share of our
customers want to
feel involved.”
“We need to reach those
customers in order to
channel more sales
through our site.”
KAA-
POW!
We view the project as
intended to create results
➊
$€£

“We need to reach those customers
in order to channel more sales
through our site.”
“How many?”
SCALE Number of orders per month
METER Order list on e-commerce site.
BENCHMARK 3,000 “We’re seeing 3,000 per month now”
CONSTRAINT 5,000 “We need at least 5,000 to break even”
TARGET 7,000 “We want to reach 5,000”
We are in agreement on how to
measure and define success➋

“We need to reach those customers in order to
channel more sales through our site.”
“By when?”
MILESTONE 1 – more purchasesMILESTONE 1 – more purchasesMILESTONE 1 – more purchases
SCALE Number of orders per month in six monthsNumber of orders per month in six months
METER Order list on e-commerce site.Order list on e-commerce site.
BENCHMARK 3,000
CONSTRAINT 5,000
TARGET 7,000

“We can tolerate higher costs for a
short while.”
MILESTONE 1 – more purchases, higher IT costsMILESTONE 1 – more purchases, higher IT costsMILESTONE 1 – more purchases, higher IT costs
More orders Operational costs
SCALE
Number of orders per month in six
months
Hosting costs + IT staff salaries
METER Order list on e-commerce site. Financial accounts
BENCHMARK 3,000 €80,000
CONSTRAINT 5,000 €120,000
TARGET 7,000 €80,000

“But we want to reduce them as
soon as we see results.”
MILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costs
SCALE
Number of orders per month in six
months
BENCHMARK
TARGET 7,000 €50,000

MILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costsMILESTONE 2 – same number of orders, lower IT costs
SCALE Number of orders per month in six
months
“What are these results worth to you?”
“Let me think. The answer to that
determines the budget.”
SCALE Number of orders per month in six months Hosting costs + IT staff salaries
The project is an investment➌

7,000 orders
per month
Customers
Place orders
Product
recommendations
Why are we doing it?
Who will help us?
How will they
help?
What are we
doing?

7,000 orders
per month
Customers
Place orders
Facebook
integration
Why are we doing it?
Who will help us?
How will they
help?
What are we
doing?
What else could those guys do for us?
Who else can help? How?
Who can obstruct us?

7,000 orders
per month
Customers
What else could those guys do for us?
Who else can help? How?
Who can obstruct us?
Friends of
customers
Repeat
customers

7,000 orders
per month
Customers
What else can they do?
Place orders
Tell friends

Place orders
Tell friends
7,000 orders
per month
Customers
Which ones to try ﬁrst?
Is there a high-value low-hanging-fruit
impact somewhere?

Place orders
Tell friends
Customers
What are the deliverables?
Could we test it without software?
Could we start earning with a partly
manual process?
Product
recommendations
Facebook like/
share

Impact maps visualize
deliverables and assumptions
and link them to business goals.
This helps us justify every
feature we build or test.

SCALE Number of orders per month in six
months
BENCHMARK 3,000 €80,000
TARGET 7,000 €80,000
Place orders
Tell friends
Customers
Product
recommendations
Facebook like/
share
7,000 orders
per month
Friends of
customers
Repeat
customers
A simpliﬁed
impact map
with milestones
attached

Are we achieving key targets?
Milestone 1
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3
Milestone 2
Hmm, no. Let’s rethink our strategy!
Milestone 3
More ordersMore orders
SCALE Number of orders per month in six months
METER Order list on e-commerce site.
BENCHMARK 3,000
CONSTRAINT 5,000
TARGET 7,000
The project will be a learning
experience for all parties
➍

๏ Why invest in this project?
๏ Who needs to act for the goals to be achieved?
๏ How will actors’ actions contribute to the goal?
๏ What will the actors do to create impact?
Goals, Milestones, Investment, Results
Actors, Personas
Impacts, Needs
Deliverables, Features
So next time you’re starting a
new project, ask:

Background:http://jasonbleinel.deviantart.com/art/Carbon-Fibre-Texture-114032735
Resources, books, links and more:
www.jakob-persson.com/rowi
Results Only
Web Investments

Results Only
Web Investments
You’ve just been part of
A production by
Presented by Jakob Persson, Founder and CEO
jakobper
www.jakob-persson.com
lifeissveyt
www.sveyt.com
Background:http://jasonbleinel.deviantart.com/art/Carbon-Fibre-Texture-114032735

Results-Only Web Investments

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