Circumstances for software development projects have changed tremendously during the past years. On the one hand, software is expected to solve increasingly complex problems within an ever growing number of domains. On the other hand, the advent of practices like continuous deployment allow for incredibly short release and feedback cycles. How do we deal with these challenges from a software customer's or product owner's point of view when traditional methods of requirements analysis - possibly even the traditional definition of the term "requirement" itself - fall short? In this session, I want to show how Impact Mapping, a technique developed by Gojko Adzic, can help us establish a view on requirements that is better suited to today's problems. By means of a concrete example I'll explain how to use this method and give some helpful advice for future practitioners.

1. SOFTWARE THAT MATTERS
Agile Product Management with Impact
Mapping

2. Nils Wloka
Consultant and Coach
codecentric AG
@nilswloka

3. Software development is at
the height of efficiency!

4. There is nothing so useless as
doing efficiently that which
should not be done at all.
Peter F. Drucker

5. What‘s your greatest
challenge when developing
a software product?

6. Software products are quickly
conquering new domains,
solving complex problems.

7. In complex systems,
causality can only be
determined retrospectively.

8. Our concept of software
requirements has originated
in another age.

9. The better requirements engineering
and requirements management are
conducted within the project, the
less expensive errors occur during
development, ...
www.ireb.org

10. Completeness
Unambiguity
Consistency
Correctness

11. What meaning do
these terms have in
a complex system?

12. The goal is to continuously
learn more about the problem
and possible solutions.

13. There is a domain
that deals with
continuous learning...
Science

14. A method or procedure [...], consisting
in systematic observation,
measurement, and experiment, and
the formulation, testing, and
modification of hypotheses.
Oxford English Dictionary

15. Wanted:
Fast
Cheap
Fault tolerant
Scientific

16. Raise the curtain for
Impact Mapping

17. Example:
I‘m responsible for the
customer support division of a
telecommunication company
and need to cut costs.

18. 1. Why do we want to invest
in our product?

19. Reduce call center costs
for 1st level support by
€250K per year

20. 2. Who can help us
and who can keep us from
reaching our goal?

21. Consumers who want to or
already have reported a
service disruption

22. 3. How do we want their
behavior to change?

23. ... no longer call to
inquire about their
support ticket‘s status

24. 4. What can we do to
facilitate this change?

25. Consumers are notified
when the status of their
support ticket changes.

26. The Impact Map visualizes
hypotheses and shows
possible experiments.

27. Reduce call center costs
for 1st level support by
€250K per year
Consumers who want to
or already have reported
a service disruption
... don‘t call in case of
area outages.
Affected customers
are actively notified
about the occurrence
and rectification of area
outages
... no longer call to
inquire about their
support ticket‘s status.
Consumers are notified
when the status of their
support ticket changes.
Customers can see the
status of their support
tickets.
... create sufficiently
detailed support inquiries
without help from
the call-center.
Customers are informed
about the option of
creating support tickets
by themselves.
Customers receive
guidance while creating
support tickets.
Resellers with
technical personnel
... can initiate
interference elimination
by themselves.
Resellers can initiate
interference tests by
themselves.
Resellers can initiate port
resets by themselves.

28. We start small.

29. Identify and quantify
goals
Create an Impact
Map based on your
„wish list“
Diversify

30. It‘s the purpose of maps to
help us find the shortest
path to our destination.

31. Reduce call center costs
for 1st level support by
€250K per year
Consumers who want to
or already have reported
a service disruption
... don‘t call in case of
area outages.
Affected customers
are actively notified
about the occurrence
and rectification of area
outages
... no longer call to
inquire about their
support ticket‘s status.
Consumers are notified
when the status of their
support ticket changes.
Customers can see the
status of their support
tickets.
... create sufficiently
detailed support inquiries
without help from
the call-center.
Customers are informed
about the option of
creating support tickets
by themselves.
Customers receive
guidance while creating
support tickets.
Resellers with
technical personnel
... can initiate
interference elimination
by themselves.
Resellers can initiate
interference tests by
themselves.
Resellers can initiate port
resets by themselves.

32. Software that matters:
systematic observation,
measurement and experiment.

33. Prioritize
Deploy minimal
solution
Measure
Adjust
Impact Map

34. Earn or learn!

35. Do you have any questions?
nils.wloka@codecentric.de
@nilswloka

36. Sometimes it‘s not that easy...

37. There are too many goals.

38. Quantification is difficult.

39. There is no real goal.

40. More on this topic:
http://www.impactmapping.org

41. I‘d be glad to share
experiences with you.
Thank you!