Design_Strategy_Brief_v4.

docx

Design Strategy
What is a design strategy?

A design strategy is a document that sets out the tone and main goals of a contemplated
intervention or artefact. This is fundamentally a document for sharing and guiding the
early requirements analysis effort. It has the following aims:
v Getting early stakeholders’ consensus on the critical aspects of the system.
v Forming a shared a basis for discussing and negotiating goals, scope and plans.
A design strategy document is expected to generate the following benefits:
v Fostering cross-department and inter-stakeholder communication by:
Ø Showing all goals for all to see.
Ø Documenting any missing items, environmental assumptions or
inconsistencies.
v Giving a clear description of the core problem to be solved and definition of a
good solution (success criteria: how will we know if the problem has been
solved?).
v Communicating positive message to the team and the clients by:
Ø Including others’ views and concerns
Ø Valuing and trusting previous work.
Ø Not inventing the wheel & raising efficiency.

Elements of a Design Strategy:

n Business Goals.

• Usually Specific metrics: Sales, Cost, Brand Recognition, etc.

n Target Users.

• Primary users whose needs must be met by the design, no priorities yet!
n Stakeholders

• The people, parties, organizations etc. who have an interest in the system or will
be in someway be affected by it or are able to affect it.
n General Tasks (“use the design to…”).
• Tasks the users are expected to accomplish with the design.
n Technological (or other) Constraints.

Page 1 of 2
 Design_Strategy_Brief_v4.docx

• What is possible given current DB, architectures, platforms, standards, etc?

What legal or compliance constraints?
n Marketing/ Branding Goals.
• The values and personality the interface must project, or adjectives the design
should invoke.
n Critical Success Factors (CSF).
• Key outcomes that must be met for the design to succeed.

n Risks
• The salient risks identified (should be kept in a risk register).

Example a Design Strategy for an e-Government system:

n Business Goals.
• Increase transactions.
• Reduce need for face-to-face dealings.
n Target Users.
• Private citizens.
• Small businesses
n Stakeholders
• Relevant government bureaus.
• Users.
n General Tasks (“use the design to…”).
• Discover, Select, Transact.
n Technological (or other) Constraints.
• Multiple browsers on desktop/ laptop machines.
n Marketing/ Branding Goals.
• Efficient, Secure, Citizen-oriented.
n Critical Success Factors (CSF).
• 80% of site visitors complete a transaction.
n Risks
• Empathetic public.
• Poor Internet access infrastructure.

Prof. Dr. G. H. Galal-Edeen, PhD, MBCS CITP, CT/HRDC, CIMT, CUA

October 2021.

Page 2 of 2