Leverage Mock-ups The Smart Way
Whether you are finally going to have that application built for you, or that report designed for you, the opportunity typically comes with a familiar ask: do you have a current spreadsheet you are using and which you can share with me, so that I can better understand what you are looking for?
In many cases the exact same spreadsheet that is frustrating you today is what’s shared. And that is fair, for many reasons that stand out in your mind: I just need to get to this data faster; I just need to get this report to refresh without me having to dump data out of the system(s); I would be SO much more productive if I could share this information reliably with several other people without fearing them breaking my spreadsheet or corrupting my form file. All fair.
In many other cases, the gap between what’s currently used and what one hopes to get out of the system is so significant, that a quick mock-up is done in a spreadsheet, drawn out electronically, on a white board, or even on a napkin (don’t laugh, I’ve seen it!)
In all of the above, with collaboration between the developer and the recipient, the immediate goal of systemizing that app or report is achieved.
However, consider this:Since you are moving from a manual, tedious, error-prone, non-scalable, often inflexible solution, to virtually the opposite end of the scale, why limit yourself to just replicating, as if on auto-pilot, what you’ve always done?
Systemizing anything should always prompt you to consider a few basic questions such as:
- What could I do better?
- What changes would provide a clearer message or make everything more user-friendly?
- What information would complement the current data?
- Who else in the organization could benefit from this?
- What is the potential for use/reuse of what is being built?
- What processes should be corrected before they end up embedded into new tools?
Think about the possible scenarios and discuss with others in the organization. Not only may you end up simplifying others’ work, but you may be contributing to the building of a foundational item that is referenced by a multitude of users. And the more use of a single source, the less chance of differing data across user groups.
So don’t just replicate what you have today, and gain nothing but a prettier cover. Take advantage of the mock-up building process, and always look to improve what’s there today.