Definition

One of the hardest parts of design is getting everyone to agree on what the project is going to achieve.

Different stakeholders have different hopes and expectations, and different perspectives on how to get the job done. It’s important to take time early on to get consensus, then get it written down.
 

The Definition phase will include:

• Business objectives: what are the required outcomes in terms of revenue, operational cost reduction or impact on brand perceptions and preference?
• Success criteria: will include the above, but may also include wider measures like project cost, timing and business requirements.
• Roles and responsibilities: who is doing what, both internally within your organisation, and externally across your agencies and suppliers?
• Scope: at this stage it may not be possible to define this in terms of specific features or functionality (which need to be explored with customers later on), but it is important to make high-level calls about what’s in and out of scope.
• Schedule: create a credible timeline which reflects the ambitions and complexity of the project.

We will also encourage you to think about your project in terms of customer value. What’s in it for them? What factors might drive usage and preference?

It’s sensible to create an initial hypothesis about this which can be explored and tested with customers in research later on.