Client Type: Product management
A previous employer had a customer asking we add manifest printing to the product.
An elegant use case was written, QR codes designed, and by hairs and whiskers, the use case expanded to multi page forms and other functions. The feature was getting more complex and well beyond what our product did.
What to do
Finally we raised a question — you already have an inventory control system and it’s integrated throughout your shop floor and billing, why are we adding this on?
The problem, as it turned out, was conflict between different departments, with different needs and access to different tools.
The solution
The solution was to offer a workshop on unified requirements management at the firm.
The impact
The workshop served multiple functions, including a diplomatic reality check, and allowed us to facilitate communication between that company’s own departments. With that, the need for a separate manifest system went away.