Corporate sign-off

At most of the companies we surveyed, the end of the Define phase is a pivotal point in the design process. It is at this stage that projects are either killed off, or given the budget and approvals to move on to production

In order to make this go/no-go decision sensibly, companies must have a detailed understanding of the likely market for the new design, together with a good idea of the cost and complexity of producing it.

The ability to present a well argued business case alongside a proposed design approach was a key attribute for almost every design team we spoke to in our survey. Yahoo!, for example, says that its project teams, including designers, must be able to explain how their proposals will ‘move the needle’ and produce a dramatic improvement in revenue.

Companies in our survey did vary, however, in how far they allowed or required a design to progress before making the go/no go decisions. At Xerox, the aim is to present one concept that has been thoroughly reviewed and tested. At Yahoo!, the ‘demo or die’ principle necessitates the existence of a working prototype. At Virgin Atlantic Airways, before official sign-off, there has already been an intensive period of collaboration working with external agencies to ‘define’ very closely their business case and employ model makers to create a 3D prototype.

Many companies have formal processes to manage the corporate sign-off process and to ensure that project teams and designers deliver comprehensive and consistent information to those responsible for sign-off. At Yahoo!, when the AGILE methodology is used, a Product Requirements Document is produced by the product and marketing teams and presented to the General Manager of a business unit for approval. This one page document shows the concept, confirms its logic through research and information from internal experts, and demonstrates tie-ins with the overarching corporate objectives. 

At Virgin Atlantic Airways an Opportunity Identifier is presented to the board, followed by the development of a detailed business case to request financial and corporate backing for further development. At LEGO the Foundation Document is used also to bring together all the information needed assess the viability of a project.

Some companies use less formal processes to make the go-ahead decision for design projects. It is not unusual for the final decision about the viability of a project to be made by the CEO. Indeed, a close link to the CEO can have a significant impact on project success. In BSkyB and Alessi, for example, the proximity of the company head to the new product and service development process lends itself to speedy sign-off and wider support.