By: Carol Vercellino, CEO & Co-Founder
In our last tutorial, you learned how to conduct the investigation phase of an End-User Needs Assessment. If you haven’t watched parts one through three, pause this one, and click on the link in the description section to watch those videos first.
An end-user needs assessment typically has three phases: the preparation phase, the investigation phase, and the decision phase.
In this video, we’re going to show you how to conduct the final phase, the decision phase.
Let’s recap what you’ve accomplished so far with your End-User Needs Assessment:
- You chose your stakeholders, and as a team, you created a list of your end-user’s problems (Part 2: The Preparation Phase).
- You chose your decision criteria based on budget, time, and impact (Part 2: The Preparation Phase).
- And you gathered all the information you need to make a final decision (Part 2: The Preparation Phase).
- Finally, you evaluated your current system – or what’s currently on the market – and created a list of product features based on what your end-users like, dislike, or desire (Part 3: The Investigation Phase).
What is the decision phase?
The decision phase is where all your hard work comes together. You get to decide on the features your new proposed system or product will have and how you’re going to build it.
To do this, we recommend creating an Impact/Effort Matrix.
What is an Impact/Effort Matrix
An Impact/Effort matrix is a 2×2 grid that will help you decide which system or product features will have the highest impact with the lowest effort.
We explain in more detail what an Impact/Effort matrix is and how to build one in our video on Features Prioritization.
Here’s a quick breakdown:
In an Impact/Effort Matrix, Impact is how well the feature will meet your end-users needs. And Effort is the time and budget that will be required to build that feature.
When you create your Impact/Effort Matrix, we suggest doing it as a team exercise with your stakeholders.
To get started, draw your matrix on a whiteboard.
Take the list of features you created in Part 3 and write each one on a sticky note. Take each sticky note, discuss the feature with your team, and vote on how much effort it will take and the impact it will have on your users based on the decision criteria you chose in Part 2.
- For features that will have a high impact and high effort, place them in the top-right square.
- For features that will have a high impact but low effort, place them in the top-left square.
- For features that will have a low impact and low effort, place them in the bottom-left square.
- And for features that will have a low impact and high effort, place them in the bottom-right square.
Conclusion
Remember, with an end-user needs assessment, your ultimate goal is to ensure you’re meeting your end-user’s current needs and creating new opportunities for your company to upstage the competition and wow your customers.
So, once you’ve narrowed down your features list and decided how you will build your new system or product – CONGRATS! – you can now move into development!
If you need help deciding if – and how – you will outsource development, head to our blog at oakcity.io for more information. You can also schedule a free 30-minute consultation call with us. We can help you decide whether or not your idea is feasible and profitable.
