Why is Impact Delivery used?
Impact delivery ensures that we are fully prepared with the implementation plan, challenges, maintenance, and sustainability of our ecosystem. It is the 7th and final stage of the design thinking process. We prepare for the various challenges and changes and look at them from various perspectives. Our product is like a living organism that needs to be taken care of to sustain in the current environment.
We have to ensure that our final product not just survives but also doesn’t disturb the current utilities. Assessment of how the user experience will change after the implementation of the solution is done in this step. Moreover, we ensure that the business goals and objectives are met. For this, we make our goals measurable using Key Performance Indicators and use a continuous monitoring system to ensure we reach out metrics.
Breakdown of the process
Due to the criticality of this step, we bring in the design team and the executive teams together here. All the risk factors and the quality assurance is put in place. An additional KPI layer is used to measure the achievement of our business goals. We formulate a proper business strategy for the implementation and maintenance of the project, along with the impending impact. We use a tool called To-be Experience Maps that clearly state our future objectives as we prepare for impact delivery.
To-Be Experience Maps
On the X-axis, we mention all the features of our product. Then we calibrate these features, according to the following parameters
- Business goals: We take the business goals that we defined using the SMART framework. We check how each of our activity affects our business goals. We can mark from -3(huge negative impact) to 0(no impact) to +3(huge positive impact) to see the impact on the goals
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): For our business activity, we need to define the business KPIs. These KPIs are metrics that define our performance. We can use these indicators to set our goals and benchmark our growth. Like Peter Drucker said, “If you can’t measure it, you cannot improve it.”
- Risks: We need to identify and mitigate the risks in the operations and maintenance of our products. We often use the ERIC framework for risk management. ERIC is an acronym where E stands for Elimination, R for reduction, I for informing the stakeholders, and C for risk control.
- Change Management: In this final stage, we also need to adapt to the changes in terms of human constraints, organizational constraints, and physical constraints. We define these constraints for each activity in the To-Be experience Map. This helps us better prepare for the impact.
Takeaways from Impact Delivery
We carefully assessed the impact of our solutions and are prepared for delivery. Additionally, we have identified the risks and managed them using the ERIC framework. Now the implementation can be put through with ease and can be thoroughly monitored.
Our Human-Centered Design(HCD) approach will ensure that our solutions affect lives and bring tangible results. With the design thinking process, we can solve our problems more efficiently and innovatively. This powerful tool will help us build solutions critical to our product’s success.