A friend asked me how I'd go about solving a problem from a solution architect perspective. I came up with a few ideas and thought I'd formalise it here.
A) Get a strategic point of reference
1. Establish the relationship baseline. Ask, "What is the level of relationship we have with our end users?" Does the network we have in place allow for welcoming problem-solving and interaction between leadership, front-line employees and customers?
See more here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/03/20/the-myth-of-social-media-tactics-versus-the-reality-of-social-business-strategies/2/#2b70fd4641da
2. Establish the capability baseline. Inventory your assets using IT Service Mangement (formerly ITIL). Inventory can be done simply and quickly using Google Sheets, SharePoint or other tools. More comprehensive systems include http://www.servicenow.com and http://compucom.com.
Learn more about ITSM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBguassbAzo
3. Separate your Development environment from Test, Quality Assurance and Production environments. The development environment allows teams to experiment with ideas, while Test allows them to "show the world". Quality Assurance environment is pre-production - used for end user acceptance. Production optimised for scale, speed and 100% bug-free. With new technologies even the smallest companies can avoid prohibitive costs to having these multiple environments by building them at 9:00 am and tearing them down at 5:00 pm or when they are no longer needed.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/
https://aws.amazon.com/
http://www.softlayer.com/
B) Assess and build feedback mechanisms
1. Establish a user community, allow people to assist you who want to help you with a "give feedback" button. Ask, "How we can improve your experience working with us?"
2. Establish a polling system that interacts with users, "Tell us what brings you here today?" - use this to optimise your menu and search results.
3. Establish online sales and help desk, this can be useful for workflow management as well as quality assurance.
https://freshdesk.com/online-helpdesk
C) Plan for results in weeks and months, not quarters and years
1. Start with the objective, who is the user, what are they trying to accomplish and for what purpose? Get basic black and white before being bogged down with style, colour and pictures. Exercise for the team, each person spend 10 minutes writing "user stories." User story in it's simplest form is a sentence, "As a teacher, I want to take attendance so that I can email homework assignments."
Don't know what a user story is? Here's some helpful context to get you started:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EihBzaOwBjrj_b6A1LQD5fJYTWBCC_X1mPg4jYmf3Vk/template/preview?usp=drive_web#
2. Use low-budget design experiments. First, use paper and pencil and pull tabs to illustrate how something would work. Use it in the real world; you'll discover if it works before going through the trouble of building it as a user interface. Decide on the design elements the team likes. A great tool for this is
https://marvelapp.com/sketchpad/
3. Get feedback on design elements with usability surveys. My number one indispensable tests are the click test, 5-second test and A/B testing. These are quick, painless and highly valuable ways to understand user receptiveness to what you are creating. You can build simple tests send a link asking for feedback from your family, friends and end users.
https://usabilityhub.com
D) Develop a winning culture
1. Run each part of your business with the Capability Maturity Model. Use agile techniques in building a continuous improvement pipeline that includes innovations, enhancements, acquisitions and capability mergers. Always keep a growth mindset which includes cutting out dead weight.
http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/software-engineering-and-development/cmmi/9780132700450
2. Invest in yourself by creating and using online tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google, Messenger, etc. Get to expect what your end users expect.
3. Invest in your team to learn new skills and bring your business to the next level. Educational resources;
https://www.pluralsight.com/
https://www.safaribooksonline.com/
A) Get a strategic point of reference
1. Establish the relationship baseline. Ask, "What is the level of relationship we have with our end users?" Does the network we have in place allow for welcoming problem-solving and interaction between leadership, front-line employees and customers?
See more here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/03/20/the-myth-of-social-media-tactics-versus-the-reality-of-social-business-strategies/2/#2b70fd4641da
2. Establish the capability baseline. Inventory your assets using IT Service Mangement (formerly ITIL). Inventory can be done simply and quickly using Google Sheets, SharePoint or other tools. More comprehensive systems include http://www.servicenow.com and http://compucom.com.
Learn more about ITSM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBguassbAzo
3. Separate your Development environment from Test, Quality Assurance and Production environments. The development environment allows teams to experiment with ideas, while Test allows them to "show the world". Quality Assurance environment is pre-production - used for end user acceptance. Production optimised for scale, speed and 100% bug-free. With new technologies even the smallest companies can avoid prohibitive costs to having these multiple environments by building them at 9:00 am and tearing them down at 5:00 pm or when they are no longer needed.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/
https://aws.amazon.com/
http://www.softlayer.com/
B) Assess and build feedback mechanisms
1. Establish a user community, allow people to assist you who want to help you with a "give feedback" button. Ask, "How we can improve your experience working with us?"
2. Establish a polling system that interacts with users, "Tell us what brings you here today?" - use this to optimise your menu and search results.
3. Establish online sales and help desk, this can be useful for workflow management as well as quality assurance.
https://freshdesk.com/online-helpdesk
C) Plan for results in weeks and months, not quarters and years
1. Start with the objective, who is the user, what are they trying to accomplish and for what purpose? Get basic black and white before being bogged down with style, colour and pictures. Exercise for the team, each person spend 10 minutes writing "user stories." User story in it's simplest form is a sentence, "As a teacher, I want to take attendance so that I can email homework assignments."
Don't know what a user story is? Here's some helpful context to get you started:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EihBzaOwBjrj_b6A1LQD5fJYTWBCC_X1mPg4jYmf3Vk/template/preview?usp=drive_web#
2. Use low-budget design experiments. First, use paper and pencil and pull tabs to illustrate how something would work. Use it in the real world; you'll discover if it works before going through the trouble of building it as a user interface. Decide on the design elements the team likes. A great tool for this is
https://marvelapp.com/sketchpad/
3. Get feedback on design elements with usability surveys. My number one indispensable tests are the click test, 5-second test and A/B testing. These are quick, painless and highly valuable ways to understand user receptiveness to what you are creating. You can build simple tests send a link asking for feedback from your family, friends and end users.
https://usabilityhub.com
D) Develop a winning culture
1. Run each part of your business with the Capability Maturity Model. Use agile techniques in building a continuous improvement pipeline that includes innovations, enhancements, acquisitions and capability mergers. Always keep a growth mindset which includes cutting out dead weight.
http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/software-engineering-and-development/cmmi/9780132700450
2. Invest in yourself by creating and using online tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google, Messenger, etc. Get to expect what your end users expect.
3. Invest in your team to learn new skills and bring your business to the next level. Educational resources;
https://www.pluralsight.com/
https://www.safaribooksonline.com/
