Setting the foundation for interactive prototyping in MS PowerPoint
MS PowerPoint is my personal tool of choice for various design work i.e. creating pitch decks, e-product launch posters, short animations, and interactive prototypes because of the three key reasons:
- Availability — comes pre-installed in most corporate computers, even in strict environments i.e. government, defence, and banking sectors without you having to request for approvals for software cost, etc.
- Flexibility — allows you to embed an interactive prototype into a pitch deck to showcase value to stakeholders
- Portability — allows you to send the design document to various user groups for review, feedback, and collaboration without having the users to download additional tools or learn new…
Five simple steps towards improving product quality and increasing adoption
Why conduct user tests?
Below are three key reasons that I chose to conduct user tests with my users before launching the digital product to the masses:
- Validate: ensures that the product fits the needs and provide value for my target users/groups
- Educate: allows users to gain some familiarity with the product before launch to minimize training and questions regarding product usage
- Advocate: leverage on users’ network to share about the product’s new features and facilitate the adoption of the product
I have consolidated the five steps which I took to conduct a simple user test for my users:
- Establish test objectives
- Select target profiles and…
Important activities and tasks to take note of in preparation for your project transition
What happens after a project ends?
The transition to the post-production/maintenance phase begins. The transition primarily involves tasks and activities that span the following three broad categories:
- People — planning for support teams (L1/L2/L3), educating end-users
- Process — support/escalation workflow structure, service-level agreements, handover/training plans, documentation
- Product — technical documentation, user guides, road maps
The goal is to provide assurance to the client that their business will continue to function after the departure of the project team.
I will delve into further details for each of the categories mentioned above — providing some perspectives from a project manager and client.
People
During the project transition phase, the people-related considerations are centred around these…
Tweak your product design quickly so that developers can ship useful product features fast
A lean design sprint is a scaled-down design approach that involves delivering artefacts quickly in an iterative fashion to obtain user feedback with limited resources.
I have recently completed a design sprint and have found this approach especially useful for product designers/teams that want to build a quick and usable solution to prove value before proceeding with further commitments.
I’ll be sharing briefly on the approach. The lean design sprint consists of four broad steps:
- Prototype: Establish initial sketches of user journeys
- Define: Create a user feedback framework
- Validate: Organise frequent meetings with users
- Build: Align your sprint schedule with the development…
Ensure that vulnerabilities are properly addressed through a security assessment before your application goes live
What is the security assessment about?
Anything can happen when your app gets released to the public. As we don’t know what we don’t know, it’s important to ensure that proper measures are in place to mitigate the risks and application vulnerabilities — through a security assessment and audit.
What does the security assessment and tests cover?
The coverage of the security assessment and tests vary across projects, but they would generally cover the following areas:
- Mobile and web application penetration tests: OWASP Top 10 20XX vulnerabilities
- Infrastructure audit: OS hardening and vulnerability; access controls, auth configurations, security logging
What is the process like?
I will be sharing my experience — at a high level — from an infrastructure engineer’s perspective. …
Five useful components of a user story specification that facilitates the delivery of your solution
Writing a useful user story can make a significant difference in your delivery timeline in the long run.
What is a user story?
In an agile delivery framework, a user story is the smallest unit of work to be delivered. The end deliverable should be able to demonstrate value to the user in the form of addressing the needs of the user specified in the user story; it’s essentially a user requirement that’s focused on the user’s experience.
What makes a good user story?
The way you write the user story would determine the outcome of the deliverable. Hence, it’s important to include the essential components in the form of specifications to the delivery team that will be building the solution based on the story. …
Practical examples to estimate, quantify, and present your digital transformation project benefits to investors
Numbers form the backbone of project proposals to obtain funding from sponsors.
The benefits have to be packaged in a way that’s easily understood by the stakeholders for them to capture the value of your project and make an investment. However, you must also be able to justify the numbers when required.
This article covers a six-step approach to package benefits to potential sponsors:
- Establish and communicate the benefits
- Plan and set targets to achieve the benefits
- Estimate and quantify the overall financial benefits
- Project and quantify the benefits for the individual value sources
- Put things together and ask for the investment…
Set up an operating model that complements your business
A digital factory is a cross-functional unit within an organisation that incorporates a modern style of working and utilises advanced digital platforms to drive transformation throughout the business.
For companies to advance digitally effectively, management has to consider restructuring their organisational structure to embrace digital transformation; this can be done by adopting a suitable operating model that caters to the strategy, constraints, and structure of the company.
I’ll be sharing at a high level on the approach and considerations for setting up a digital factory within your organisation. The three broad steps are:
- Address the pre-requisites
- Ensure a strong foundation
- Consider a suitable digital factory…
Technology is just a part of the larger equation
An effective digital transformation encompasses the entire spectrum of business and technology elements. What I have found surprising after moving from a technology-oriented to a business-oriented environment was the significance of technology in driving digital transformation—it’s much less than I thought, whereas there’s a huge dependency on business and people elements to ensure an effective transformation.
The two worlds: business and technology, are becoming more intertwined together such that it’s difficult to talk about one without talking about the other.
Background
The shift in the environment
I recently moved from dealing primarily with machines to humans. Instead of writing scripts, codes, and managing infrastructure, now I’m writing and designing more proposals, road maps, screen flows, and managing stakeholders. …
An overview of the design thinking approach, methods and tools
Design thinking workshops and approaches have helped me to effectively navigate through today’s VUCA environment, where the “test and learn” approach is often favoured over “plan and implement”.
Background
I attended my first design thinking workshop a couple of years ago while I was working at an internal startup team — it has changed the way I approach problems since. I’ve been applying the concepts in one way or another in my daily work throughout, and have found them useful.
The methods and tools can be applied across many areas of my work ranging from addressing design feedback, crafting new strategies, recruitment approaches, and product development. …
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