Many projects fall prey to obsession with details, poor prioritization and inability to deliver what the client expects – business value. Effect mapping is a complete method that addresses these problems. It is based on the fact that business value is only delivered when and if the site is being used. It shifts focus from requirements to the intended goal of a project, the effect, and how it’s achieved by meeting user needs and client's expectations. At NodeOne, effect mapping is part of every project we undertake.

Effect mapping answers questions like

• How can we motivate spending $< insert amount here > on this?
• Is this site working the way it is intended, and if it’s not – what can we do to fix it?
• Who will be visiting and using this site?
• Why should my < insert role here > bother about visiting our site?
• How can we know whether our site meets the needs of < insert role here >?
• What features does our site need to be successful?

In this session you will learn

• What the effect mapping method is, why it works and how it’s applied in your own projects
• How to measure whether a site meets its objectives and delivers the effect
• Why effect mapping and Scrum were made for each other
• Why focus on requirements leads to failed web projects
• How effect mapping ties corporate strategy to web strategy, and how that strengthens your relationship with your client

I will also introduce the effect map, a document that offers a bird’s eye view of your project, its intended effect, goals, stakeholders and user stories.

Don’t miss: This session comes with a complimentary side order of templates you can use in your own projects – right away.

Background

At previous DrupalCons and DrupalCamps I've talked about early estimates, and ways to make them less difficult to produce, and less error-ridden. Accurate estimates are critical in projects where scope and time are fixed. As we embrace and are able to use an agile development process, figuring everything out in advance isn't imperative.

Honestly, that's a relief. After all, we don't want to estimate – we want to create!

But even as requirements become a guide or an idea, rather than the written law, we still need a roadmap. A way to how to turn client's expectations into a project plan to make a website.

At NodeOne, effect mapping is the tool we use for that.

In this session you will learn about the method and how we apply it to shift focus from reading the fine print on requirements documents to talking to clients about what they need, want and expect. That is almost always: business value. Using this method with an agile approach we can bring that to them.

Intended audience

If you think that most approaches to project management don't really help your client get the most for their buck: you're right. And if you think it even stops you from doing your best, this session is for you

There are approaches to project management that don't suck. This is one of them.

Generally speaking, project managers, managers, developers, interaction designers, web strategists will find this session very rewarding. In fact anyone who finds this topic interesting will find something to take away.

About the speaker

Jakob is a co-founder of NodeOne, a 50 strong Drupal consultancy based in Scandinavia. He specializes in web strategy and usability to help clients succeed and focus on what actually delivers what they need and want. He's been working with Drupal since 2005 and has a background in cognitive science and computer science.

Jakob has previously been speaking at DrupalCons and DrupalCamps on estimating techniques and on NodeOne's platform distribution NodeStream.