Learn Two Top Tools to Apply Strategic Mindset in Our Holistic Design

It All Starts with a Brief - and a Proper Debrief

We approach every project from a strategic thinking mindset, which usually starts by adopting a business perspective. Through what we call a “Brief Debrief,” we take the time to properly debrief the client to ensure we understand the scope of work asked of us while tapping on their key goals.

A smart way of identifying the client needs is by defining 3 levels of business objectives. In the first tool from our course, Holistic Design for digital products, you will see how we funnel each level.

Level 1: Business requirements. These high-level objectives are used to capture the core business needs and what’s critical to organizational success.
Level 2: KPIs. Outcome-based statements to track how these high-level objectives are regularly progressing. A KPI is always connected with a critical business objective.
Level 3: Product Metrics. Quantifiable measurements to track specific business/product activities that support the KPIs. Tracked on a minute/daily/weekly basis within the digital product.

By trickling down from high-level requirements to specific metrics, we can narrow down our scope of work, while also understanding which future goals are broader than our project and may impact the whole business. These larger goals will most likely coexist with what we need to achieve in the short term within our product. You can download the worksheet to walk through each level in your own projects.

Identify Key Stakeholders for Active Collaboration

As a next step in our Brief-Debrief, we advise setting up meetings with the right team and involving your client to participate in completing the three levels described above. As a designer at the start of a project, it’s very possible that you don't have all the business insights required at your disposal to complete each bucket —and it’s best not to work from assumptions, either. For example, top management will most likely be able to answer Level 1 Business Requirements, while a project manager can help identify Level 3 Product Metrics.

To know who to invite to each meetings and distinguish between stakeholders, use the stakeholder map from our course. This tool takes a matrix format, where the X axes focus on interest and availability, and the Y axes focus on power and influence. These axes guide us toward the right people to collaborate with at different levels throughout the project. When completing the matrix, be sure to include the stakeholder’s full name, precise job title and contact details.

During the Brief-Debrief stage, we suggest you focus on the Promoters quadrant. These are individuals who actively engage with significant decision-making authority. Set up meetings with Promoters on a consistent basis (i.e. weekly meetings), leveraging their high level of influence for first escalation and understatement of the business objectives.

Next, Shift Focus Towards User-Centered Strategy

As you will learn throughout the Holistic Design course, this strategic approach extends across every part of the design process. So after you have debriefed your project scope and covered your 3 Levels of Business Objectives and identified your key stakeholders, the next step is to look at your audience and make sure you’re generating user-centered solutions. Explore the course further here, including more tools you can use to design experiences built for your client’s goals as well as your user needs.