A manual for new product development management

Kick-off Evaluation Trusting Focused Visible Hands-on Guided Involving Project wall
Project wall
Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

Written and designed by Ingvild Sundby

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Part of master thesis

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2007

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Contents

Involving
Introduction p. 4
An overview of the six principles p. 5

Guided
Part 1: The six principles explained p. 9
Involving p. 10
Guided p. 16

Hands-on
Visible p. 22
Hands-on p. 28
Focused p. 34
Trusting p. 40

Visible
Part 2: An evaluation system p. 48

Part 3: Kick-off week p. 53

Focused
Trusting
Evaluation
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Project wall
Involving
Guided

Introduction
Hands-on

This manual outlines and explains six principles for projects in larger R&D departments, as well as an
evaluation system and a guide for a kick-off week involving all project participants. All principles are
complemented with cases from different high-tech companies, and a section with specific tips and
techniques for successful principle implementation. The main purpose of the manual is to provide
Visible

specific tools as well as inspiration for project participants and managers. If made use of properly, the
principles should create a basis for a fun, efficient and quality-conscious development process.
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation
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An overview of the six principles

Involving
Involving

Guided
Focused Hands-on

Hands-on
Trusting
Visible

Visible
Guided

Focused
The purpose of the six principles outlined in this manual and mock-ups can be quite aimless without making the
is giving project managers a tool for creating an effec- effort somewhat Guided. Such dependencies can be
tive and quality-conscious process. The six principles found between all principles, and are easily visualized

are Involving, Hands-on, Trusting, Guided, Visible and
Focused. Each principle is described in detail in the
manual’s first section.
Trusting
in a spiderweb diagram. By measuring the presence
of each principle and plotting these into the spiderweb,
one achieves a quick understanding of the project’s
strengths and weaknesses. How to perform an evalu-

For successful use, the principles have to be worked
with simultaneously. For instance, a Focused project in
the shape of existent milestones and planned deliver-
ables is useless without making it Visible to the project
team. Trusting members to be able to do their work
Evaluation
ation of the project this is explained in the manual’s
second chapter.
The manual will not explain how to conduct a process
from a to z, but is to be used as a help for implementing

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according to plan is difficult without initial Involving, and the principles throughout a project. Figure 1 shows how
following the Hands-on principle by making prototypes the principles can be used practically at each stage of a

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development process. The basis for successful use of evaluation in itself as the source of eventual delay is
Involving

the principles is however mostly laid at the first stages of
the concept development phase when participant num-
ber and complexity increases in the project. Chapter 3
outlines a kick-off week aiming to secure all principles at
this critical project stage.
Guided
quickly discovered. The project wall owner is the project
storyteller whose responsibility is to structure and visual-
ize all necessary information (more about this role on
page 33). The wall should be as visual as possible, all
deliverables should in accordance with the principle of

Hands-on be tangible, and the storyteller needs to docu-

The project wall ment these through photos and drawings. Ideas and
The project wall should be the heart of any project, challenges emerging during the project are mounted so
acting as the hot spot for information, inspiration, com- that non-project members also can contribute with solu-
Hands-on

munication and creativity. All principles are represented
by using the wall proposed on the next page (see
colored lines). The wall should be complemented with
some chairs, making it the natural place for the project
group to meet and hang out. Through visualization of
Visible
tions, thus ensuring knowledge transferal across teams.
The wall is simply made out of large pieces of cardboard
and paper mounted on a wall at a place most project
members walk past each day.

project progression, the wall will also work as a project

Pre-project Concept Feasibility Development

Focused

Involve team man- Involve all stakeholders in a Arrange short workshops with
Involving agers, technical kick-off week. relevant stakeholders when
teams with project needed.
preparation.

Adjust/create guide- Present guidelines at kick-off, Consult guidelines when

Guided lines for project. consult guidelines during evaluating
Trusting

concept evaluations

Crude, fast mock-ups Crude, fast mock-ups Prototype-iterations

Testable models
Hands-on
Evaluation

Find storyteller Make process visible by

Visible through the project wall

Decide market Decide visions and goals Keep vision, goals, mile-
Focused positioning, pricing, based on pre-project stones, deliverables visible to
all project members
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volume. research.

Trust technical Trust technical teams with Trust technical teams with Trust technical teams with
Trusting teams for project separate concept develop- separate feasibility testing separate development
preparation ment

Figure 1: Principles in relation to the development process

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Project wall
The project wall - the heart of the development process

Involving
Guidelines are mounted on the
wall as reminders

The project wall is a living document where anyone can

Principle evaluation is shown
contribute. A pen is therefore mounted to the wall as a
as accessible evaluation of
request for contribution.
the project.

Project name

Guided
- project vision

Project Plan Latest diagram Eco

Hands-on
All activities, deliverables and Pre-project Concept Feasibility Development
milestones are colored in when
done. Milestones

Progress

Visible
Delays are colored red
Specific deliverables for
each technical group at Deliverables Ideas Design
each milestone. Deliver- Mechanics
ables are to be visualized.
Soft ware

Ind.design

Focused
UX
Description
Audio planned
deliverables
Hardware

Approvals

Results delivery delivery delivery Latest summary

Trusting
All results from each phase
are visualized through draw-
ings, photos of prototypes
and short summaries.

Evaluation
Ideas and challenges emerging during the
process are mounted here, and transferred
to the results section if decided on.
The storyteller is responsible for

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documenting the process
All meeting summaried are gathered for easier
access to the decision-making process

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Project wall Involving Guided Hands-on Visible Focused Trusting Evaluation Kick-off
 Part 1:
The 6 principles explained

Kick-off Evaluation Trusting Focused Visible Hands-on Guided Involving Project wall
Project wall
Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

You know you are managing an involving project when..

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..project members feel like they know the reasons behind their work.
..project members have a common understanding of project goals.
..project members know the main user challenges of the product.
..project members know the main development challenges of the previous project.

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Involving
Guided
Involving

Hands-on
Visible
Involving all project members from an early start, including users, manufacturers
and sales personnel, is a common trait of an integrated product development
process. The method, also called concurrent engineering (CE), is inspired by

Focused
the Asian way of working, and gained popularity in the US in the 1980s. Despite
using up to ten times as much time on the early phases, the level of integration
makes the further work run more smoothly and with little miscommunication.

Trusting
Also, getting together early lays the basis for a fun project with a strong element
of ownership.

Evaluation
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What does involving mean?

Involving

‘Involving’ means physically gathering all relevant parties early and throughout the process to work
together with project challenges.

Why involve?
Guided

By establishing a common understanding and coordination of tasks from an early start, the process
will avoid misunderstandings and remodeling in its later phases. This does not only lead to reduced
time to market (Figure 2), but also increased ownership, fun and learning.
Hands-on

Who to involve?
As a project manager, you want to involve as many interests as possible in order to avoid surprises
later on. More specifically:
Visible

Interests Reason
Management Securing management support for further progression
Other project managers Coordination with other projects
Focused

Members of previous project Knowledge transferal

All technical groups Technical feasibility, dedication
Users Revealing ergonomic, cognitive, cultural, technical user issues
Manufacturers Manufacturability from start, avoiding remodeling
Trusting

Sales personnel Facilitating for easy sell

Marketing Facilitating for easy marketing
Evaluation

When and where to involve?

Involving is especially important in the early phases of the project when there are more variables
to take into consideration. Involvement is also important in the later phases, but might not require
the same amount of time. Having a permanent project room makes involvement easier, and can be
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used for spontaneous gatherings throughout the process.

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A story about collaboration in product development

Involving
As a reaction to the increased competition from Japa- Figure 2: Time difference between sequential engineering
nese car manufacturers in the early 80s, American (SE) and Concurrent Engineering (CE)

car manufacturer Ford chose to try out a new method

in their development process of the Ford Taurus. The
SE 3% 27% 45% 15%
method, very much inspired by the Asian holistic think-

Guided
ing, was characterized by the use of cross-functional CE 33% 22% 45% 8%
teams from an early start and geographical collocation.
The result was a highly integrated product which turned
40% time savings
out to be the most sold car of its time in the US, giving Planning Process Design

the manufacturer a much needed financial boost. The
project manager, Lewis C. Veraldi later remarked:
“The auto industry is constructed with “chimneys” — en-
gineering, marketing, suppliers. The prevailing attitude
Hands-on
Design Manufacturing
described by Veraldi). By meeting up early, the teams
gain understanding for each other tasks and the orga-
nization benefits by less suboptimization and increased
efficiency. The method enjoyed wide recognition in both

has been, “Don’t touch my field.” Design would pass its
ideas to manufacturing, then manufacturing would claim
that the design didn’t work. You have to get everything
together working toward a common objective. If you
don’t have teamwork, then the work isn’t devoted to the
Visible
US private and governmental sectors throughout the
90s, the possible most known example being NASA.
Other success stories include:

Focused
good of the product.” (1988) Hewlett Packard: 42% reduction in manufacturing
cost, instrumental division
A study from 1987 by the American Department of
Deere & Co: Apprxm. 30% reduction in develop-
Defence, showed that if handled properly, gathering ment cost for construction equip-

Trusting
people early could reduce time-to-market by up to 40% ment
(see figure 2). It was believed that this was related to the
AT&T: At least 40% reduction in cost of re-
avoidance of the “over-the-wall”-problem characterized pair for new circuit pack production
by time-consuming patching up of previous department’s
Cisco System: Revenue increased from $27 mil-

Evaluation
work in order to fit with the current team’s own tasks -
lion in 1989 to $70 million in 1990
before “throwing it over the wall” to the next group (aptly

Read more!

J. Liker: The Toyota product development system, 2006

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J. Liker: Concurrent Engineering Effectiveness, 1997

Source: S. Skalak, Implementing Concurrent Engineering in Small Companies. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker Inc, 2002

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Sucess factors
Involving

Time is especially important in early involvement. Hasty gatherings do not create a sound basis for
interdepartemental understanding, and should thus be avoided. Also, thorough preparation by the
project manager is decisive for workshop progression and results.
Guided

What involving is NOT

Involving is not the same as informing - that is only consulting groups after decisions affecting their
work are made. This is not involving in its true sense, and will probably only alienate the non-includ-
ed groups, reducing ownership and project dedication.
Hands-on

3 ways to make a project involving

1. Arrange an early workshop with all project members, users, sales, management (see part 3).
Visible

2. Make sure that all decisions involves the ones being affected by them
3. Arrange a trip to a customer or manufacturer for the whole project group
Focused
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Evaluation
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Tips and techniques

Involving
The importance of user involvement
User involvement in the product development process is necessary for ensuring a usable and success-
ful product. User involvement comes in many forms: Ethnographical observations, observations in a
controlled environment, testing of ergonomics and cognitive factors and including the user directly in
the developing process. By observing and testing users, one accomplishes several things:

Guided
1. Retrieving specific facts about user preferences, avoiding time-consuming guessing within the team
2. Gaining mutual understanding of the main user challenges
3. Revealing needs and challenges not visible to the super-users of the project team

Hands-on
User involvement is thus important for both an effective process and a high-quality end result. Letting
the team see and experience the main user challenges for themselves is an effective way of unifying
and focusing the team. The workshop guideline in part 3 of this manual contains a description of how to
arrange for a customer field trip with included user observations.

Visible
For more detailed user issues, like ergonomics and cognitive preferences, one needs to make use of
experts in the form of ethnographers, interaction designers and/or psychologists. These have to be
involved in the pre-project so preliminary user testing on relevant issues can take place in advance

Focused
of project launch. Main findings should be documented and used on the same level as other project
guidelines.

Trusting
Evaluation
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Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

You know you are managing a guided project when..:

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.. there is little time spent on discussing personal preferences.

.. there are no surprises regarding international standards etc. late in the process.
.. there is minimal confusion about required ecological measures.

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Involving
Guided
Guided

Hands-on
Visible
Even though involving groups for mutual discussion is paramount for overall
project efficiency, certain decisions are best left to the few. Especially subjective
issues, like styling, ecology and user preferences, and issues demanding high

Focused
technical knowledge should be included in guidelines from an early start and not
left open for much discussion. If followed, the principle will hinder everlasting
discussions about personal preferences as well as inconvenient surprises in the

Trusting
late phases of the process.

Evaluation
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What does guiding mean?

Involving

A guided project makes use of some well founded guidelines on relevant project issues. These are
to work as landmarks to navigate by for all project participants.

Why guide?
Guided

Having some guidelines in the process is crucial for project progression. Lack of guidelines can
easily throw the process into an aimless landscape of personal preferences and taste, leaving the
process lengthy and frustrating.
Hands-on

What to guide?
There are several issues which the project manager should consider establishing some overall
guidelines for. Involving the right knowledge is crucial for their design, and the creators of the
guidelines should brief the team about them on the first project workshop - in accordance with the
Visible

principles of involving and trusting:

Guidelines What Creators

Focused

Technical Audio, mechanical, hardware, soft- Technical teams

ware standards
Design Product finish, style, looks, packaging Industrial design
User Experience Ergonomics, interface User Experience
Ecological Materials, paint, recycling, manufac- Eco-design responsibles
Trusting

turing, packaging
Evaluation

When and where to guide?

The project guidelines should be presented at the first project meeting and be visible to the whole
team throughout the process.
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Two examples of project guidelines
Apple’s interface guidelines
Apple has created a set of guidelines for developers
designing new applications. The manual is divided
in Application Design Fundamentals, The Macintosh
experience and The Aqua Interface and aims to secure
consistent user experience for all products. The guide-
lines are highly specific, concerning everything from icon
design to number of mouse-clicks to how to perform user
observations.
Extracts from Apple’s manual
Read more!
developer.apple.com
www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/gcreport
Project wall
Hewlett Packard’s eco-guidelines
Hewlett Packard established its Design for Environ-
Involving
ment (DfE) program in 1992. The program includes
a set of guidelines aimed at helping the develop-
ers achieving the company’s goals of reducing the
energy needed to manufacture and use the solu-
tions, reducing the amount of materials used, and
Guided
designing products that are easier to upgrade and/
or recycle. HP’s DfE guidelines include the follow-
ing recommendations:
- Place environmental stewards on every design team to
Hands-on
identify design changes that may
reduce environmental impact
throughout the product’s life
cycle.
- Eliminate the use of polybro-
Visible
minated biphenyl (PBB) and
polybrominated diphenyl ether
(PBDE) flame-retardants where
applicable.
Focused
- Reduce the number and types of materials used, and
standardize on the types of plastic resins used.
- Use moulded-in colours and finishes instead of paint,
coatings or plating whenever possible.
Trusting
- Help customers use resources responsibly by minimiz-
ing the energy consumption of HP’s printing, imaging and
computing products.
- Increase the use of pre-and post-consumer recycled
Evaluation
materials in product packaging.
- Minimize customer waste burdens by using fewer prod-
uct or packaging materials overall.
- Design for disassembly and recyclability by implement-
ing solutions such as the ISO 11469 plastics labelling
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standard, minimizing the number of fasteners and the
number of tools necessary for disassembly.
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Success factors
Involving

It is important that the creators of the guidelines have enough time before project start to investigate
the relevant issues. Some of the guidelines are not project specific, and should be created in a
separate project for the whole product portfolio. Others need more specific handling, such as user
preferences for the current product type. It is also important to make sure the guidelines are fre-
quently updated and adjusted to current situations and needs. Furthermore, the guidelines should
Guided

be to the point, and easily understood for all technical groups.

What guided is NOT:

Hands-on

Treating the guidelines as law is not real guiding. The guidelines are there to help out the project
team when there are uncertainties in the process, but are not supposed to be followed at any cause
at all times.
Visible

5 ways to make a project guided

1. Inform all project members about the existing project guidelines at the very start of the project.
2. Mount the guidelines by on the project wall to ensure visibility throughout the project.
Focused

3. Refer to the guidelines when there are uncertainties or conflicts within the team.
4. Create ownership by involving and trusting technical teams with preparation of project guidelines
5. Make sure guidelines are understandable, practical and specific
Trusting
Evaluation
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Tips and techniques

Involving
The language of guiding

Guidelines are the result of much work, often leading to extensive amounts of data. Even though these
data might make up an interesting read, project members who were not involved in their development

Guided
will probably not make use of them if kept too complex. Briefings and formulations of guidelines should
therefore be conveyed through short, to the point and specific statements. “Think about the user” might
work well as an overall vision, but will most probably be overlooked by members who don’t have com-
petence about user involvement. Guidelines should be more in the direction of:

Hands-on
“All actions are to demand not more than three mouse clicks.”
“No varnish on large surfaces”
“All products in the new product portfolio are to have an element of extruded finish”

Visible
It is important that members know some of the underlying reasons for the guidelines, and these can
be briefed about at the very start of the project. If members need to know more about the issues, the
original data in the shape of manuals should be made easily accessible to the team.

Focused
Guide issue

1. Main guideline 1
- Specific action
- Specific action

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2. Main guideline 2
- Specific action
- Specific action

Evaluation
3. Main guideline 3
- Specific action
- Specific action

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Example guideline layout for
project wall

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Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

You know you are managing a Hands-on project when..

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...you are failing sooner rather than later.

..there is understanding of main product challenges across technical fields.
..there are several concept iterations in every phase.

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Involving
Guided
Hands-on

Hands-on
Visible
Hands-on, characterized by small amounts of documents and bureaucracy lay-
ers and high degree of engineery know-how is a typical trait for high-tech R&D
departments. The principle leads to efficient developing and helps reveal prob-

Focused
lems early by the use of early mock-uping and prototyping. As design thinker
Mark Dziersk writes: No one’s life was ever changed by a Power Point presen-
tation.

Trusting
Evaluation
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What does hands-on mean?

Involving

Hands-on means producing models and mock-ups instead of just talking about them. In a wider
context, one can claim that Hands-on is the opposite of bureaucracy because of its fast and flexible
nature.
Guided

Why hands-on?
A Hands-on project is an effective project. Through the use of mock-ups and prototypes, information
is rapidly conveyed in a way that a thousand written words cannot. Making early mock-ups and pro-
totypes help reveal issues that are not visible on a drawing or in someone’s head, and gives project
Hands-on

members from different technical teams a better understanding of the common issues. Also, prod-
uct iterations are dependent on the making of hands-on prototypes. Ideas being kept in people’s
heads and in time-consuming discussions will not be able to go through clear iterations which might
subsequently lead to unfortunate surprises later on in the process.
Visible

What to hands-on?
The Hands-on principle can be applied to a variety of different aspects:
Focused

What Reason How

Looks, finish, size Identifying issues in external Mock-ups with correct size and/or material
layout and finish finish
Technicals Fast alignment between tech- Mock-ups, prototypes made of wood, metal or
Trusting

nical tasks anything else which fits the needs.

User interface Identifying user challenges Paper mock-ups
early
Evaluation

When and where to hands-on?

Mock-ups should be made all through the process. Even though there are remaining decisions to
be made, mock-ups should be created early as this will give the project members insights possibly
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affecting the further process. The principle of Hands-on is related to the principle of Focus since
project managers should make sure that all deliverables throughout the project include physical
models.

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 Project wall
The importance of prototyping
When Apple decided to develop an mp3-player, team leader Anthony Fadell made sure to create a number of

Involving
mock-ups and prototypes. The team made the models out of foam-core boards and used fishing weights for
obtaining just the right feel of their new product. The prototype helped to reveal issues not seen on a drawing
board or on a computer screen. Other famous products with a trail of prototypes behind them include the Dyson
vacuum, the Concorde, the bikini, Mickey Mouse and the Fender guitar.

Guided
Director of strategic design company Prospect outlines five
Cardboard prototype rules about prototyping:
Apple

Hands-on
1. Begin early
The sooner you materialise ideas and get them in front of
people, the richer your final design will be.

2. Beat it up
Make a modifiable prototype so you can easily adopt it, even on

Visible
the spot.

3. Don’t bother with perfection

The prototype exists to get information, not to show how brilliant

Focused
the design is.
Prototype of different
materials, Dyson 4. Do just enough
A little data goes a long way. Figure what you need to test and
focus on getting those answers.

Trusting
5. Record the test
If you don’t have a record, it didn’t happen.

Evaluation
Take-what-you-got prototype
IDEO

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Read more!

Tom Kelley: Art of Innovation, 2001

Tom Kelley: The ten faces of innovation, 2005
Source: Design Council Magazine, Issue 2, 2007

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Success factors
Involving

Early mock-uping is key for succesfull principle use. It might be tempting to create the model
when all decisions are made, but this will most likely only reveal issues leading to remodeling and
possible delay. Another success factor is making a number of mock-ups in each round. This is
important for investigating different alternatives and giving both management and project group a
sense of ownership through active choice. Lastly, knowing which type of prototype to make when is
Guided

important for project progress. A prototype which looks more thought through than what is the case
might create a basis for bad decision-making. More on when to make what type of protoypes on the
next page.
Hands-on

What hands-on is NOT

That a project is hands-on does not mean never documenting anything in written documents. Writ-
ten documents are important for eventual deeper analysis of the processes and can consequently
help creating better projects in a longterm perpective. This information is best handled by the proj-
Visible

ect storyteller (see page 33).

3 ways to make a project hands-On:

Focused

1. Integrate requirements of making several mock-ups in all deliverables

2. Provide all project members with equipment of making fast mock-ups
3. Plan for several iterations in each phase.
Trusting
Evaluation
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Tips and techniques

Which prototype technique when?

Involving
Even though prototypes should be made at all stages of the process, wrong use of techniques can dam-
age the progress. A too fancy prototype at an early stage might give the impression that all aspects are
well thought through - when they really are not. Decisions based on such models can lead to surprises and
delays later in the process. The illustration below gives an idea of prototype complexity at different project

Guided
stages.

Model complexity

Hands-on
Level 4
Working prototype
with right finish and
style.

Visible
Level 3
Testable functional
prototypes.

Focused
Level 2
Testable prototypes of
individual parts

Level 1
Mock-ups made out

Trusting
of paper, cardboard or
anything else at hand.

Evaluation
Project start Project finish

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Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

You know you are managing a visible project when..

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..all project members are fully aware of pre-project research and decision-making.
..all project members are fully aware of guidelines, milestones, deliverables and time-frames.
..there is trong project focus because of transparent task structure.
..sources of eventual delay are early identified and handled.

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Involving
Guided
Visible

Hands-on
Visible
Making the project progression visible is an important factor for understanding
the context one works in, thus making it easier to get the job done. In a small
organization there is automatic visibility as employees easily see what’s going

Focused
on around them. For a bigger company such lucidness is hard to provide natu-
rally. Through certain measures of visibility one can however try to simulate the
transparency and information flow of a smaller company, making the process

Trusting
leaner and more efficient.

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What does visibility mean?

Involving

Visibility is keeping all important aspects of the process known to the project group and manage-
ment; goals, milestones, deliverables, current ideas and challenges, decisions, meeting summaries,
project guidelines and eventual delays.
Guided

Why visibility?
Visibility is decisive for the understanding of the process for project members and consequently for
project progression and efficiency. Project participants who know the context they work in are more
likely to feel ownership towards the project and thus be more dedicated. Visibility makes it also
Hands-on

easier to identify and prevent eventual delay, and gives all involved parties a better chance to fix the
problem before it’s too late.

What to make visible?

Visible

The best way to make process progression visible is gathering all relevant information on one spot
in the building, namely the project wall, complemented with verbal briefings by the storyteller at
each team session.
Focused

What Reason How

Project name and vision Keeping focus Project wall
Project plan Knowing time-frame, milestones Project wall,
and deliverables verbal briefing
Trusting

Project story Easy evaluation of project execu- Project wall,

tion and progress verbal briefing
Current challenges/ideas Cross-functional problem solving Project wall,
Evaluation

verbal briefing
Guidelines Keeping track of guidelines at all Project wall,
process stages verbal briefing
Project evaluation Accessible evaluation Project wall,
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verbal briefing

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The link between physical layout and visibility

Involving
The connection between organizational physical layout and Probability of communicating in a
given time period.
ability to innovate has been known for a long time. Being able
to meet across departmental borders create a flexible and
knowledgeable organization. Thomas Allen, a researcher at

Guided
MIT, has studied the interaction between people in relation to
their physical position. It turns out that if people are more than
10 meters apart, the probability of communicating at least once
a week is only about 8 or 9 percent (versus 25 percent at 5

Hands-on
meters). Figure 3 shows the so-called Allen curve, depicting
strong correlation between distance and communication.

Physical distance between people

In larger organizations
where not everyone can Figure 3: The Allen curve
sit in the same room, ac-

Visible
tive initiatives for increasing the visibility in the building are needed. Some
companies have tried to meet the challenge by incorporating so-called flex-
ible team workspaces within their buildings, such as The Decker Engineer-
ing Building in New York, the Steelcase Corporate Development Center in

Focused
Michigan and BMW’s Research Center in Germany. Creating hot spots with
project walls, blackboards and perhaps a coffee machine are all important
ingredients of this work.

Trusting
IDEO’s headquarters is
an example of a flexible
workspaces

Evaluation
Read more!

Thomas J. Allen: The Organization and Architecture of Innovation, 2006

Kick-off
Tom Peters: In search of excellence, 1987

31
Source: Tom Peters, In search of excellence, Profile Business, 2004
Project wall

When and where to make visible?

Involving

Visibility is important throughout the project, but possibly more important when members don’t work
together. As the amount of information and complexity increases, it is important that all members
have a clear understanding of decisions, actions and project progression. The storyteller is respon-
sible for ensuring that project members have the relevant information through active use of the
project wall and verbal briefings.
Guided

Success factors
Since visibility does not happen by itself, a principle success factor is appointing a dedicated person
Hands-on

for project visualization, a so-called storyteller. If this is not secured, important documentation, infor-
mation and knowledge transferal might be lost. The storyteller role is more thoroughly explained on
the next page.
Visible

What visible is NOT

Too much information can easily transform into noise, and it is thus important to keep the visible
information to the point and relevant for the project. Cluttering the project wall with all sorts of things
Focused

taking place at different project levels will most probably harm the information flow more than boost
it. Also, important project information made visible only after clicking through 5 web pages is not
visibility in its true sense, and should be avoided. It is the storyteller’s responsibility to decide what
information to make visible, and what to store for later processing.
Trusting

3 ways to make a project visible:

1. Make a project wall (see page 7)
2. Appoint a project storyteller to make all important information visible
Evaluation

3. Brief about previous work at all project gatherings

Kick-off

32
 Project wall
Tips and techniques

Involving
An important ingredient for successful visibility: The storyteller

Ideally, all project members should be present on all meetings, decision-making and research. This
is however hard to accomplish, and that is why all projects should appoint a storyteller with the main
tasks of knowing, documenting and communicating the project story. This is important for securing
consistent and easy information to all project members. Large piles of documents will, like it or not,

Guided
not be read, and the storyteller ensures that everyone still has the relevant information in order to
keep focus and develop a high-quality result. The storyteller should be appointed before project start,
in order to document research and decisions being made in the pre-project phase. The storyteller role
should not be limited to a specific department, but be held by members from all technical teams. This

Hands-on
secures knowledge transferal and help reduce suboptimization within the organization.

Storyteller qualifications:
- Structured
- Interested in project management and processes

Visible
- Good presenter

The storyteller is to:

- Sum up and document all activities done by the project group

Focused
- Sum up and document all activities done before project start
- Sum up and document all decisions made throughout the project
- Document all deliverables by photo, drawing or short summaries

Trusting
Evaluation
Kick-off
33
Project wall
Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

You know you are managing a focused project when..

Kick-off

.. there is little frustration as all members know what they are to deliver at what times.
..project members feel motivated as a result of clear and challenging goals.
.. the project team works towards the same goals.

34
 Project wall
Involving
Guided
Focused

Hands-on
Visible
Focus is as any experienced project manager knows decisive for efficient proj-
ect progression. Time frames, milestones, deliverables and goals are all ingre-
dients of this principle. Even though Focus might be associated with control,

Focused
most people actually enjoy and even need some frames in order to be creative.
Unfocused processes make participants frustrated because they have to spend
time figuring out time frames and deliverables. Establishing a clear focus limits

Trusting
developers’ work to the actual project and even adds some fun in the shape of
performance and challenge.

Evaluation
Kick-off
35
Project wall

What does focus mean?

Involving

The focus ingredients include of all the traditional elements of a project; vision, goals, specifica-
tions, time-frame, milestones, and deliverables. It is the project manager’s task to make sure that
the project team stays focused throughout the process.
Guided

Why focus?
Focus leads to efficiency and quality because it gives project members some specific goals to work
towards. By having clear focus, the members can spend less time figuring out what they are sup-
posed to deliver, and more time on development.
Hands-on

Who decides on focus?

Ownership of focus elements is decisive for compliance. It’s the project manager’s responsibility to
create a focus framework of major milestones and deliverables, and the project team’s responsibil-
Visible

ity to fill the space in between with actions and deliverables. By involving members in the decision-
making process, compliance of the goals through self-justice and ownership is more likely to occur.
Focused

Elements Who decides? Reason

Launch date Project management Launch date should be decided by the ones who have a
+ Team managers clear view of organizational capability.
Vision Project team Creating a project vision is a great exercise for establish-
ing a common understanding of the overall goals for the
Trusting

project team.
Market, tech, Project management Project Team should have a say as these issues, espe-
user goals + Project team cially tech and user, are expertise areas within the team.
Deliverables Project management Project management should have an overall outline of
Evaluation

deliverables at each stage.

Specifications Project team + Project management might have an overall idea about
Project management which competitive spec’s the final product should exceed,
but should always involve the developers in the detailed
description.
Kick-off

Milestones Project management A project team who is involved in deciding what to deliver
+ Project team when is more likely to respect and comply to the demands
at the right time.

36

Boeing’s 9 project rules
Boeing makes some of the most complex products in
the world, thus demanding top project performance in
all tasks. The following nine rules don’t only apply to
the development of new aircrafts, but to all projects
within the organization. Use it as inspiration for your
own project!
A Compelling Challenge
Teams must pursue attainable goals -- end results that
are neither vague nor so far beyond reach that they ap-
pear unattainable. At the same time, a team has to feel
as though it’s being called upon to do something that
takes a stretch. People won’t engage or feel motivated
to excel if they don’t consider a project compelling.
Clear Performance Goals
Everyone on the team -- engineers, designers, suppli-
ers, administrative assistants -- must understand what’s
expected of them. We specify who will do what at all
levels within the team structure before we start a proj-
ect. This prevents people from getting tangled up.
One Plan
Everyone must own a copy of the plan -- the timing, the
expectations, the responsibilities. Each team member
must be able to march through the organization and be-
yond -- to suppliers and to vendors, for example -- and
explain who does what, when, and why.
Everyone Included
We make sure everyone on the team -- from the senior-
most designer to the junior administrative assistant
Read more!
Scott Berkum: The art of project management, 2005
Clark A. Campbell: The one-page project manager, 2006
Project wall
-- knows how he or she fits into the plan, and why each
Involving
person’s contribution is important.
No Secrets
Good news, bad news, whatever -- people need to
know they can and should come forward if they need
Guided
help.
The Data Sets Us Free
If there’s a conflict between team members, we don’t
Hands-on
debate the issue endlessly or let the situation get
personal. Instead, we sit down together with the data. If
you have the right information, it will tell you what to do.
Propose a Plan and Find a Way
A certain amount of frustration is understandable. And
Visible
there’s nothing wrong with venting. We’ll all listen. But
once you’ve vented, it’s time for all of us to find a way
past whatever is bothering you.
Focused
Demonstrate Emotional Resilience
Recognize that you’re under pressure, and that the
people around you are under pressure as well. Try to
be resilient in the face of that pressure.
Trusting
Enjoy the Journey and Each Other
We think we’re lucky because we’re working on excit-
ing, impressive machines. It’s something we take time
to enjoy.
Evaluation
Kick-off
Source: FastCompany, Sept 2000: Boeing’s Rules Take Flight 37
Project wall

When and where to focus?

Involving

Establishing focus early makes it easier to keep it when deadlines are approaching. Goals and
deliverables should furthermore be made visible to all members throughout the project.

Success factors
Guided

Successful focusing is a balancing act between facilitation and ruling. A project manager needs to
know when to focus on goals and time-frames and when to open up for personal initiative and cre-
ativity. A major success factor for keeping focus is involving members when deciding on visions and
goals. This will make the group focus by itself without constant reminders from the project manager.
Hands-on

Ownership is in other words decisive for keeping focus in a project.

What focus is NOT

Focus does not mean dictating how developers create their solutions. The individual developer’s
Visible

technical know-how have to be trusted. A project which leaves no room for personal initiative,
flexibility and creativity will most probably lead to lack of team ownership and dedication, possibly
risking delay and loss of innovation opportunities.
Focused

3 ways to keep a project focused:

1. Letting the project group create a project vision and goals for user experience, market
positioning and technological advantage
Trusting

2. Make all deliverables and milestones visible for the project group
3. Create ownership to the deliverables and milestones by involving and trusting project members
in the decision-making process.
Evaluation
Kick-off

38
 Project wall
Tips and techniques

The project vision - a source of focus

Involving
A project vision is a great way for ensuring understandable and consistent focus throughout the process.
The vision is best made by the whole project group and should be based on briefings about market, user
and technology. The project manager ensures direction by deciding what these briefings should focus
on, but involves the project team in creating a vision for the project based on the briefings (see p. 62 for

Guided
suggestion on how to do this). A successful vision is short and to the point and gives the project members
a goal to work towards.

Examples of a vision might be:

Hands-on
‘Project name’ is to become the globally leading telepresence system for board rooms, catering to the
executive user and making use of leading technology within audio and video.
‘Project name’ will be the easiest desktop teleconferencing system to use in the world.
‘Project name’ will become a company flagship of design and functionality.

The vision creates a basis for the creation of goals for each technical group which again should result in

Visible
specific project objectives. These are characterized by SMART, that is Simple, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant and Time-bound, and should be made in collaboration with the relevant groups. Objectives are
delivery-related, and will be more specific in the later phases of feasibility and development than in the
concept phase. Both vision and objectives have to be made visible to all project members throughout the

Focused
process.

low
VISION
Market Technology User

Trusting
Goals for each technical group
Audio Hardware Software UX Mechanics Ind.design

Evaluation
Objectives each technical group per delivery
Degree of detail
Deliverable 1

Deliverable 2

Deliverable 3

Deliverable 4

Kick-off
high

39
Project wall
Involving
Guided
Hands-on
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation

You know you’re managing a trusting project when...

Kick-off

...project members feel like they have influence on the final product.
...project members feel like their competence is valued and respected.
...project members are excited about contributing with their knowledge.

40
 Project wall
Involving
Guided
Trusting

Hands-on
Visible
By establishing trust between management and team and among team mem-
bers, the need for time-consuming monitoring and micro-managing will be
reduced. Members who are trusted with responsibility will not only experience a

Focused
greater sense of ownership, but will probably also contribute to faster and better
decisions in the process, creating a basis for knowledge-based flexibility.

Trusting
Evaluation
Kick-off
41
Project wall

What does trust mean?

Involving

Trust means relying on the project members’ technical competence, decision ability and interest for
contributing positively to the project, plus actually giving them the freedom to do so.

Why trust?
Guided

Trust is one of the main factors for a flexible and fast process. With trust, project members will feel
a greater sense of ownership to the process, thus making the progression fast and open to new
solutions and ideas. Trusting members to work in smaller groups is also beneficiary for project pro-
gression as such sessions lead to higher group activity and consequently more results.
Hands-on

What to trust?
Project members should be trusted on their technical know-how. A project manager can instruct the
developer when and which requirements the solution should fulfill, but not how these are achieved.
As a rule, project focus should always be on deliverables, not actions. Also, trust might include:
Visible

Initiative Reason
User observation Reducing number of information layers
Focused

Guideline preparation Creating ownership to the guidelines

Management briefings Reducing layers between development and
management

When and where to trust?

Trusting

Trust is important throughout the project. In the beginning, trust is important when involving mem-
bers in the preparation of guidelines and briefings, and when working in smaller groups during
workshop sessions. Later, trust is central when members work separately in their own technical
Evaluation

teams.

Success factors
A major factor for successful trusting is early involvement. Without it, trusting members when work-
Kick-off

ing separately is not only difficult, but might also contribute to harmful miscoordination between
tasks. Strong involvement also leads automatically to increased trust within the project group, tear-
ing down misconceived notions about other teams opinions and needs.

42
 Project wall
Trust at Google

Involving
Google is the source for the perhaps most well-known work just as much as what does. In 2001 however,
initiative of trust - the 20% rule. At Google, all develop- the company consisted of a number of management
ers are free to spend one day a week doing what they layers, which according to Wayne Rosing, head of
feel is important, fun or necessary. It might be a whole Google’s engineering ranks, lead to a structure tending

Guided
new product or fixing something in a current project. to tell people “no, you can’t do that”. Google got rid
According to Vice President of User of the managers and replaced them
Experience Marissa Mayer, half of all “There’s faith here in with teams usually consisting of three
new Google products originate from people, with team leadership rotating
the ability of smart,

Hands-on
the initiative, including Gmail, Google among the members. At one point,
News, Orkut and AdSense. well-motivated people Rosing had 160 direct reports, some-
thing which he says worked just fine:
The company also believes that “Great
to do the right thing.” “It worked because the teams knew
people can manage themselves”. The what they had to do. That set a cultural
company goes intentionally after young risk takers bit in people’s heads: You are the boss. Don’t wait to

who are willing to go off the beaten track in search of
something new, as well as stars who have the com-
petence of identifying failures early. Failing fast and
early is a Google mantra, and the company is therefore
Visible
take the hill. Don’t wait to get managed. If you fail, fine.
On to the next idea. There’s faith here in the ability of
smart, well-motivated people to do the right thing.”

Focused
relying on their developers to identifying what doesn’t

Trusting
Evaluation
AdSense, Gmail and Google News are said to originate from the 20% rule

Read more!

Kick-off
T. DeMarco & T. Lister: Peopleware, 1999
D. Vise & M. Malseed: The Google Story, 2006

Source: T. Archibald, How Google grows..and grows..and grows (Fast Company, March 2003)
43
Project wall

What trust is NOT

Involving

Trust is not giving all project members responsibilities without requirements or regular meetings.
Use of 15 minute stand ups is an effective tool for keeping focus and coordination when working
separately.
Guided

5 ways to make a project trusting:

1. Let the project group decide on a project vision and name.

2. Give project members responsibility for researching and briefing the rest of the group on issues
Hands-on

like market situation, environmental aspects and international standards.

3. Give all project members a day to investigate an issue of their choice, with the task of
communicating their findings through a prototype, a story or a film at the end of the day.
Visible

4. Eliminate the number of links from project group to management decision by letting team
members themselves do the briefing.

5. Inform the project group about all financial aspects of the project, and give an open task of
reducing costs in their area of choice.
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation
Kick-off

44
 Project wall
Involving
Guided
Tips and techniques

Hands-on
The standup
In order to give the project members as much developing-time as possible while at the same time en-
suring coordination between tasks, there should be held 15 minute stand-up meetings when members

Visible
work separately. The meeting should be held every day by the project wall. This gives the project team
a tangible reminder of past decisions and future goals and deliverables. The meeting is usually done
(as the name suggests) standing up, but can also take place in an informal sitting group by the project
wall - whatever the team prefers.

Focused
Answers to three questions are to be prepared by all participants:
- What did I accomplish yesterday?
- What will I do today?
- What obstacles are impending my progress?

Trusting
The storyteller documents all answers, while the project manager assesses
the major current project issues originating from the meeting. Some chal-

Evaluation
lenges might be solved on the spot, while others might require management
consulting or a team workshop.

Kick-off
45
Project wall

Principle summary
Involving

What Why Success factor

Involving Physically gathering project mem- Ownership, task-coordination. Enough time, thorough preparation.
bers.
Guided

Guiding Well founded guidelines on relevant Avoiding time-consuming guessing. Thorough guideline preparation,
project issues. updated and to-the-point language.

Hands-on Producing models, mock-ups at all Failing fast and early, rather than Making and sharing the mock-up
Hands-on

project stages. slow and late despite not knowing the solutions
to all issues. Not making too fancy
prototypes early in the process.
Visible

Visible Making all important project as- Project member understanding A dedicated storyteller for structur-
pects known to all participants. of project and decision-making ing and documenting important
process, identification of source of information and keeping the project
delays. wall alive.
Focused

Focused Milestones, deliverables, goals, Reduces frustration and increases A project manager who knows
vision efficiency as all members get com- when to instruct and when to trust.
mon goals to work towards.
Trusting

Trusting Relying on the project members’ Creates a flexible and efficient Early involvement, frequent
technical competence for making process. standup-meetings.
sound decisions on how best to
reach project goals.
Evaluation
Kick-off

46
 Part 2:
Evaluation tool for your project

47

Kick-off Evaluation Trusting Focused Visible Hands-on Guided Involving Project wall
Project wall

A dual evaluation method

Involving

Performing a project evaluation is a good way of
detecting any principle weak points (and strong ones!),
and thus be able to improve. Some principles are less
tangible than others and might therefore be harder
Guided
spiderweb-diagram. The spiderweb diagram can be
mounted on the project wall in accordance with the
principle of visibility.

to identify in the project. This is why the evaluation
tool described in this chapter consists of two parts: a
check-list for the tangible elements, like the project
wall and use of storyteller, and a questionnaire for the
Hands-on
Arranging a project meeting with everyone involved
to go through the evaluation is advisable. The group
is then free to come with suggestions of improvement
and discuss openly if there are any grave project

somewhat more intangible issues, like if members feel
trusted in the project.
Questionnaires and check-lists are downloadable from
Sharepoint, as well as the evaluation spread sheet
Visible
problems. Such talks might be hard to achieve in other
project fora where there is stronger focus on develop-
ment. Even though such a meeting can seem a bit
daunting at first, it is a sometimes necessary for further
project progression.

which combines and calculates the answers into a

Focused
Trusting
Evaluation
Kick-off

48
 Project wall
Involving
Check list Questionnaire

Involving Preparing team leader meeting “I was satisfactory involved in the project from an early start”

Kick-off week “I feel a strong sense of ownership to the project”

Product owner

Guided
Product management
Industrial design
Mechanics

Hands-on
User Experience
Hardware
Software
Approvals
Operations

Visible
User
Non-user
PM of former/similar project

Focused
Sales
Marketing

Guided Guidelines “I am full aware of the project guidelines of ecology, design and...”
“The guidelines help the process stay focused and effective.”

Trusting
Mechanics
Audio
Hardware
Software

Evaluation
Ind. Design
User Experience
Ecological

Kick-off
49
Project wall
Involving

Hands-on Prototypes in all deliverables “The project makes use of prototypes at all stages”
Clear iterations in all phases “The project is good at detecting product problems early”
Guided

Visible Storyteller “I am full aware of all project milestones and time frames”
“I have a clear understanding of all decisions made regarding the
Hands-on

Project wall
Project plan project”

Milestones
Project guidelines
Delays
Visible

Project story
Summaries
Focused

Focused Project vision “I think there is strong focus in the project”

Project goals “I know what the overall goals (market, user, technology) of the
- Market project are”

- Technology
Trusting

- User

Trusting Project members trusted with: “My suggestions and knowledge are respected and implemented
- User observation in the project”
Evaluation

- Management briefings “I think I have strong influence on the resulting product.”

- Defining project goals, name
and vision
Kick-off

50
 Project wall
Examples of project evaluations

Involving
Below are examples of possible evaluation results of three different projects.

Involving
Guided suboptimization
This project is characterized by strong guiding and focus, but little in-

Guided
volvement, visibility, trust and hands-on. The result is probably a project
Hands-on

where tasks are not coordinated sufficiently, leading to unfortunate

Focused

suboptimization. When not involved, members will also most likely feel
less ownership, which affects project dedication and participation.

Hands-on
Trusting
Visible

Guided

Involved guessing

Visible
Involving

This project has a strong presence of involvement, trust and visibility,

Focused Hands-on
but lacks focus, guiding and elements of hands-on. The result might be
a lot of time-consuming guessing - both about deliverables and time

Focused
frames as well as product related issues like ecology, style, ergonomics
and international standards. This project might also suffer from miscoor-
Trusting
Visible

dination as members are not informed about what to focus on when.

Guided

Trusting
Involving
Balanced creativity
This project is characterized by a balance between all principles, creat-

Evaluation
ing a strong basis for coordination and ownership within the project
Hands-on

team.
Focused

Trusting
Visible

Kick-off
Guided

51
 52
Project wall Involving Guided Hands-on Visible Focused Trusting Evaluation Kick-off
 Part 3:
Kick-off week - a guide

53

Kick-off Evaluation Trusting Focused Visible Hands-on Guided Involving Project wall
Project wall

A kick-off week of fun and focus

Involving
Guided

The perhaps most critical time for implementing good
project culture is in the early stages of the concept
phase when all project participants are introduced to
scope and pre-project research. Ownership, project
progress and final product quality are all dependent
Hands-on
possible, as long as one understands the need for
increased efforts to keep focus and dedication when
project members work separately. One week might
seem tight for creating a full product concept, but
research shows that people work better and faster

on how this stage is handled by the project manager.
The following section aims to give some help with the
facilitation of a kick-off week which main purpose is to
establish a solid foundation for further project progres-
sion, as well as the first specific product iteration. As
Visible
when put under a challenging time frame. By involving
all stakeholders in active participation, one achieves
efficient task coordination, fun through challenge and
a strong element of ownership and project dedication.
Trust in project members and their ability to deliver is

seen from the case from Ford on page 13, investing in decisive for a successful kick-off week.
early involvement gives plenty back in time and quality.

The project manager is of course free to adapt the

Focused

suggestion to his or her current project, like choos-

ing to make use of certain elements and drop others.
Spreading the days over a longer time period is also
Trusting

Kick-off week
Evaluation

Pre-project Concept Feasibility Development

Kick-off

Kick-off week takes place at the early stages of the concept phase.

54
 Project wall
Description Goals/deliverables
People
Preparation

Involving
Project manager invites kick-off partici- Guidelines
pants, prepares briefings, chooses a story- Project time frame
teller and fixes practical issues. Project wall

Guided
This day is dedicated to securing project Day 1
team dedication and ownership. The group Ownership
is informed about all relevant issues, and Unification Project specifications and goals
Project name and vision
is involved in creating goals, vision and a
name for the project. Common understanding of project goals

Hands-on
The project group identifies the main
Day 2

User Need
needs through observations and interview- Common understanding of user needs
ing of users, and produces ideas based on Ideas for meeting needs
Kick-off week
these.

Visible
Technical ideas related to project goals Day 3
Ideas
are explored. Technical challenges of all
teams are identified and given as sepa- Ideas related to technical issues in rela-
rate tasks for all members for next day. tion to project goals

Focused
Members work separately with defined Day 4
technical tasks. Presentation at the end
of the day. Solutions Suggested technical solutions

Trusting
Project management merges solu- Day 5
tions into three concepts, of which they
recommend one. Presentation to all Concept

Evaluation
One recommended concept
stakeholders at the end of the day.

Project manager is responsible for securing Continued project dedication

fast conclusions from product owner and

Kick-off
product management on what to take fur-
ther from the kick-off week. Regular stand Follow-up
ups and new workshops are arranged
accordingly.

55
Project wall

Preparation
Involving
Guided

Deliverables:
- People
- Guidelines
- Project time frame
Hands-on

- Project wall

Thorough preparation is one of the major success factors for a well executed workshop. The workload on the
project manager might seem heavy, but is repaid in better results.
Visible

Pre-decisions
Some decisions are to be made before the start of kick-off week and presented on the first day:
- Market positioning
- Concept phase time frame
Focused

- Price and volume

Other issues, like technological solutions and final launch date should be decided on after involving the project
team who is best qualified for assessing these issues.

Participants
Involving all relevant parties is important in order to coordinate tasks and establish common goals and under-
Trusting

standing (see Involving). There are different ways of ensuring the participation of different groups:
Evaluation
Kick-off

56
 Project wall
Participants How to ensure participation

Involving
Project group
Mechanics All technical groups should be secured by consulting the team managers
who have control over the team’s resources. Meet with team managers
Industrial design
separately or together in a meeting to prepare for full developer coverage
Audio throughout the process
Hardware

Guided
Approvals
Software
User Experience

Hands-on
Operations
Others
Product owner Talk directly to product owner
Product management Talk directly to PM
Sales personnel Contact Sales department

A user
Developer from former simi-
lar project
An in-house non-developer
Visible
Contact User Experience for an eligible user
Identify the project which resembles the current project the most, contact
the project manager for names and talk to the individual’s team manager.
Contact reception or training department

Focused
A re seller Contact Sales
Manufacturer Contact Operations

The project manager should have consulted all team managers before sending invitations, which should take
place at least two weeks ahead of kick-off week.

Trusting
Storyteller
The project manager is responsible for finding a storyteller to structure, document and communicate the project

Evaluation
story on the project wall.

Briefing points
On the first day of kick-off week, there are several issues that the project group has to be briefed about. This is
important for ensuring early understanding of the basis for the project, thus securing a strong common basis for
further work. Involving the relevant parties in the preparation creates dedication and is in accordance with the

Kick-off
principle of Involving.

57
Project wall

Pre-project
Involving

The pre-project group should brief the new participants about the work which has been done. This might include
user perspectives and market situation.

Project guidelines
Ideally, guidelines about design, ecology and technical standards should exist within the organization at the start
Guided

of the project. If these do not exist, the project manager should involve the designers, the ecology-committee and
the relevant technical teams to identify some key issues for each of the subjects. If guidelines do exist, they would
still probably need adjustment to fit with the current project. The project manager should involve the appropriate
groups to prepare a summary of the most important points to present at the first workshop day. The points should
be concisely communicated on posters throughout the project in accordance with the principle of visibility.
Hands-on

Market
The market situation might be covered in the pre-project briefing, but if not, it is still important to inform the project
about the overall market situation the product is to fit into. The briefing should be made by management, market
or sales, and focus on sales numbers of existing products, competitive products and emerging trends.
Visible

User issues
User Experience needs time to prepare, arrange and analyze user tests before project start. If this is not secured
in a pre-project, the project manager needs to inform the team well ahead of time about the issues he/she wants
Focused

to focus on in the project. Even though there is great chance of new user issues during the project, it is important
to create a basis to work with from the very start. This might include ergonomics and interface needs. The findings
should be summarized in some concise points and used on the same level as the defined guidelines.

Former project
It might be beneficial to involve a member from a former project to inform about the main challenges and learning
Trusting

points. Ask the project member to hold a short briefing at the first day of the week.

Practicalities
Evaluation

A number of practicalities have to be prepared beforehand kick-off week, like a detailed itinerary, room reserva-
tion, technical setup, flip overs, cameras and writing utensils.
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Preparation check-list

Involving
Pre-decisions Guidelines

Guided
Concept phase time frame Design
Market positioning Ecology
Price and volume International standards

Hands-on
Participants Briefings
Storyteller Pre-project
Mechanics Market

Visible
Industrial design User issues
Audio Former project
Hardware

Focused
Approvals Practicalities
Software Invitations
User Experience Itinerary
Operations Room reservation

Trusting
Product owner Technical setup
Product management Mock-up material

Evaluation
Sales personnel Flip overs
A user Cameras
Developer from former similar project Writing utensils
An in-house non-developer

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A re seller
Manufacturer

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Day 1: Unification
Involving
Guided

Deliverables:
- Project specification and goals
- Ownership
- Project name and vision
Hands-on

- Common understanding of market, user and technological issues

Visible

The goal of the first day of kick-off week is to establish a common basis for further work by including all project
members in previous decisions and research. Knowing the reasons behind the project is decisive for ownership
and dedication to one’s tasks. It is important to secure this as soon as possible since involvement will be increas-
Focused

ingly costly and time-consuming as the project progresses. The principles of Focus, Guiding and Involving are at
the center of this day.
Trusting
Evaluation
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 Project wall
ITINERARY DAY 1

Involving
Time What Who How Preparation Follow-up Principles

1. Introduction

Guided
09:00-09:05 Welcome Project
manager
09:05-09:15 Presentation All Everyone says who they are, Name tags Storyteller notes

Hands-on
what their role is attendance

2. Project frame

09:15-10:00 Project plan Project Presentation of project wall, Project Wall

Visible
manager what is decided, what needs to Storyteller
be researched further? Presen-
tation of storyteller

3. Project Story

Focused
10:00-10:15 Market Product Market research Power point Main points
management Former product performance Flip over mounted on project
wall
10:15-10:30 Pre-project experi- Pre-manager Main learning points from last

Trusting
ence time
10:30-10:45 Ecology Eco- Presentation guidelines Guidelines
responsible

10:45-12:00 Technical All tech teams Presentation all tech guidelines Guidelines

Evaluation
guidelines
Design Ind.design All groups present their respec- Guidelines
tive guidelines with emphasis on
Audio Audio relevant issues for the current
User Experience UX project.

Hardware Hardware

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Software Software

12.00-12:30 LUNCH

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Project wall
Involving

Time What Who How Preparation Follow-up Principles

4. Project specification
Guided

12:30-13:15 Group session: All Small groups, one note taker Rooms, flip overs, Suggestions are re-
What should the pens corded and evalu-
project goals (tech, ated by project
user, market) be? management. Final
goals have to be
13:15-13:45 Presentation of All groups directly originating
ideas from suggestions!
Hands-on

Decided goals are

13:45-14:00 Voting All All ideas on the wall, members Stickers presented on day 3.
vote by putting stickers on their
favorite ideas
Visible

5. Vision and Name

14:00-14:10 Summary and Storyteller What are the preliminary conclu- Summary
Focused

briefing sions regarding project goals?

What happens next?
14:10-14:20 Break Storyteller makes quick notes of Goal templates;
main conclusions regarding user, user, market, tech
market and tech for hand-out to
all groups.
Trusting

14:20-15:00 Group session: All Based on spec, what would the Rooms, flip overs, Summary
Create a name best name and vision be? pens
and vision for the
project
15:00-15:15 Presentation All groups 2 minutes each, what and why?
Evaluation

15:15-15:30 Voting All All ideas on the wall, members Stickers Name and vision
vote by putting stickers on their is written on top of
favorite ideas project wall.
15:30-16:00 Name and vision All Direct voting: Most votes wins!

16:00 Wrap up All Applause

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 Project wall
Day 2: Need

Involving
Guided
Deliverables:
- Common understanding of the user’s needs
- Ideas for meeting needs

Hands-on
Meeting the user is a very efficient way of ensuring a common understanding of the issues at hand. By seeing
oneself what the user struggles with, the group will gain a deeper understanding which no power point presenta-
tion is able to provide. Important principles of the day are Involving, Trusting and Hands-on.

Visible
In order to getting the most out of the day, it is important to try focusing on the actual needs without heading
straight for technical solutions. This might be hard for problem-solving engineers, and it might be wise to put a
member from User Experience or Industrial Design in charge of the field trips and group work as they have broad
experience of user testing and observation. At this stage, the team should be encouraged to open up for ideas

Focused
which might seem far-fetched at first, but which can be built into actual solutions later.

Trusting
Evaluation
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Project wall

ITINERARY DAY 2
Involving

Time What Who How Preparation Follow-up Principles

1. Field trip
Guided

09:00-09:15 Briefing Project Verbal briefing: Main tasks for Main group tasks See part 2.
manager the day, tips, time frame, goals

09:15-12:00 Group field trip to All project Project members divided in Make customer ap-
Hands-on

customers members, one four groups, each visiting one pointments

designer or customer.All groups talk to and Involve UX, ID
UX leads each observe users at the customer. Transportation
group. (See guide on p.62) Cameras, note
pads, interviewing
guide
12:00-12:30 LUNCH
Visible

2. Group work

12:30-14:30 Group work Groups All groups work with defined Rooms, pens, Storyteller and
Focused

tasks: mock-up materials product manager

- Define three main user needs documents all ac-
- Create a product meeting these tivities, ideas and
needs using mock-up techniques solutions through
photos and notes.
14:30-15:30 Briefing Groups All groups present their findings Main conclusions
and proposed product. are posted on
Trusting

15:30 Finish All Summary, applause project wall. New

insights can surface
which interferes
with the previous
day’s conclusions.
That is ok - inform
Evaluation

the group if chang-

es are made!
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A guide for the field trip

Involving
Preparation
- Involve User Experience, Industrial Design and Sales in finding and preparing a trip to 3-4 customers.
- Appoint people from User Experience and Industrial Design to work as managers for each group

Guided
- Provide a list of wanted deliverables for the trip, leave the rest to the group managers.

Deliverables:

Hands-on
- User needs independent of existing products
- User challenges with existing products
Documentation: Photos, notes, video

The managers should be able to figure out how to meet these demands themselves, but might be

Visible
shown a list of examples they can work from:
- One observation of use of a company product
- Two single interviews with users:

Focused
- What sort of communication needs do they have?
- What would be the perfect product?
- Any major challenges with existing products?
- One group meeting with several users

Trusting
It is important to note that the trip is not meant to work as strict user testing, but as a way to get an
impression of some of the overall user needs and challenges. Detailed issues with ergonomics and

Evaluation
interface are better left to the User Experience team.

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Project wall

Day 3: Ideas
Involving

Deliverables:
Guided

- Technical ideas in relation to project goals

Hands-on

After focusing solely on the specifications and needs, it is finally time to get down to the technicalities. Stay
focused by reminding everyone of the main goals of the project and building on the findings from the previous day.

The project manager needs to define 4-8 technical issues the team is to focus on in the cross-functional sessions.
These issues are related to the product at hand (see page 70 for examples), and are to be looked at in relation to
Visible

earlier defined goals, like the user’s perspective, market goals, price, ecology or looks. If there have emerged new
radical ideas during the days, these should also be integrated into this work. The team is divided in four groups
with one issue to focus on each. For the ecology group, a technical issue of cabling might result in ideas of limiting
the amount of materials used. The guidelines are not necessarily needed at this stage, but should be reminded of
Focused

when voting later on.

At the end of the group session, there will hopefully be a large number of new ideas. In accordance with Trust, the
team should now vote on their favorite ideas - a quick way of structuring and evaluating the results. The ideas will
Trusting

create a range of different issues to investigate further for each of the technical groups represented. The project
manager together with the storyteller choose the technical issues for each member to focus on. The developers
should however to be free to suggest new solutions in accordance with the defined specifications. Where pos-
sible, solutions should be showed by tangible models, in accordance with the principle of Hands-on.
Evaluation
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 Project wall
ITINERARY DAY 3

Involving
Time What Who How Preparation Follow-up Principles

Guided
1. Summary

09:00-09:15 Presentation of main Project Photos, drawings Decision on user, Summary for project
project goals based manager market and tech wall

Hands-on
on last days work goals.

2. Problem solving

09:10-11:00 Cross-functional All 4 groups, each focusing on user, Defining 4-8 spe- All ideas recorded

Visible
group session market, price or ecology (or other cific technical tasks and analyzed in
important goals) in relation to to focus on. relation to each
defined specific technical task. Rooms, flip overs, technical group.
One notetaker pens, mock-up
materials
11:15-11:45 Presentation All groups Note taker presents ideas

Focused
11:45-12:00 Voting All All ideas on the wall, members Stickers
vote by putting stickers on their
favorite ideas
12:00-12:30 LUNCH Project manager and storyteller Template (see page
defines technical issues for each 68)

Trusting
team to focus on for the next two
days.

3. Technical

Evaluation
12:30-13:00 Briefing Project Verbal: What are the main issues See ‘LUNCH’
manager for each technical group?

13:00-15:00 Separate work All All members work separately on

ideas based on the work

Kick-off
15:00-16:00 Presentation All All present their work so far Work is recorded,
structured and docu-
mented on project
wall.

67
Project wall
Checklist group session
Project team is divided in four groups, each to focus on either user, market, price or ecology issues in relation to a
set of defined technical tasks. The storyteller is to record all suggestions in a scheme similar to the one presented
Involving

here.

Useability group Market group Price group Ecology group

Technical issue 1
Guided

Technical issue 2
Hands-on

Technical issue 3
Visible

Technical issue 4
Focused

Technical issue 5
Trusting

Technical issue 6
Evaluation

Technical issue 7
Kick-off

Technical issue 8

68
 Project wall
Tasks technical groups
After the smaller group session, project manager and storyteller need to sit down and figure out which solutions
should be explored further by the represented technical teams. Each representative might be given up to three

Involving
issues to research and produce solutions for within the next two days. All solutions should be encouraged to be
communicated through mock-ups and/or physical prototypes (see page 25 for examples).

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3

Mechanics

Guided
Industrial design

Hands-on
Audio

Visible
Hardware

Focused
Operations

Trusting
Software

Evaluation
User Experience

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Project wall

Day 4: Solutions
Involving
Guided

Deliverables:
- Suggested technical solutions from all teams
Hands-on

All members get half the day to keep exploring their task from the previous day, before presenting their recom-
mendations after lunch. The goal of the day is to produce several technical solutions for different product issues,
giving the project manager a range of ideas to merge into three suggested concepts.
Visible
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation
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70
 Project wall
ITINERARY DAY 4

Involving
Time What Who How Preparation Follow-up Principles

1. Stand up

Guided
09:00-09:15 Stand up Project groups 15 minutes meeting: Summary of last All issues are
- What has been done? days work recorded, structured
- What’s today’s plan? and documented on
- Main challenges the project wall by
storyteller.

Hands-on
2. Separate work

09:15-13:15 All technical groups All participants As people see best Project manager
work separately walks by all teams
for coordination

Visible
and identification of
potential problems.

3. Presentation of solutions

Focused
13:30-15:30 Presentation All technical All representatives present their Mock-ups, drawings All solutions are
representa- solutions, 15 minutes each, recorded, structured
tives some room for comments and and documented by
deliberation. storyteller.
15:30-16:00 Voting All Members vote on their favorite Stickers Project manage-

Trusting
solutions, to be used as help for ment evaluates all
project management’s further solutions, makes
work. selection for final
presentation.

Evaluation
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Project wall

Day 5: Concept
Involving
Guided

Deliverables:
- Three suggested concepts, one recommendation
Hands-on

In order to get quick feedback of the work done, there should be made a decision at the end of the week concern-
ing what to move forward with. There should be as few links from developers to management decision so that no
information gets lost along the way. The whole group should thus be present at the concept presentation, securing
Visible

ownership, transparency and a common basis for understanding of the decision-making process. Having involved
a representative from management throughout the week is extremely important for establishing trust with the final
decision-makers.
Focused
Trusting
Evaluation
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72
 Project wall
ITINERARY DAY 5

Involving
Time What Who How Preparation Follow-up Principles

1. Stand up

Guided
09:00-09:15 Stand up All 15 minutes meeting, project man- Summary last days Meeting summary
ager informs about plan for the work
day. New ideas are welcome.

Hands-on
2. Preparation

09:15-12:30 Structuring of last Project man- Taking all solutions, merging into Room reservation Documenting on
days work ager, storyteller a limited number of complete project wall.
concepts, evaluating against de-
fined project goals. Drop-ins by

Visible
project members are welcome!

3. Presentation

Focused
12:30-13:30 Presentation Project - Project story so far Room reservation, Product owner
manager and - Project goals technical setup should
storyteller to - Project vision
project team, - Last days actions
product owner - Main concepts
and product - Evaluation of main concepts

Trusting
management. - Recommendation of one
concept

Comments and suggestions are

welcome.

Evaluation
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Project wall

Follow-up
Involving
Guided

Deliverables:
- Continued project dedication
Hands-on

Follow-up is important for securing lasting dedication to the project. If the project members don’t hear anything
after kick-off week, it might be difficult to keep consistent focus and ownership within the group.

A follow-up meeting should be held about a week after the workshop. This should contain a summary of the
conclusions from kick-off week, as well as briefings from everyone on the last week’s actions. People might have
Visible

come up with new ideas as a result of the individual working, and these should be welcomed at this stage when
remodeling still is not too costly.

Probably the most important principle after the kick-off week is the one of visibility. When people work separately,
Focused

the storyteller has to make sure that all work and decisions are documented on the project wall, and the project
manager has to arrange short and frequent stand-ups to inform all involved parties about developments. Shorter
workshops should also be arranged for in order to deal with emerging issues during the process. The goal is to
quickly identify problems and secure lasting ownership and dedication.
Trusting
Evaluation
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75

Kick-off Evaluation Trusting Focused Visible Hands-on Guided Involving Project wall
 76
Project wall Involving Guided Hands-on Visible Focused Trusting Evaluation Kick-off