Business stakeholder interview best practices

Article Idea:

suggested by Michael Beavers on 2006/10/27

I’m not sure if I’m asking for someone to write this or if I’m offering to do so.

It occurs to me that what is often missing from Web strategy, user research, and attendent IA and UxD is an effective intake of foundational information from business stakeholders: people who are either big-picture or on-the-ground departmental practitioners who rely heavily on corporate marketing departments to “find a place” for their content and functional suggestions.

The result oftentimes is non-technical marketers having to answer to squeeky wheels, prioritize content additions and new functionality on the fly, and build—with some degree of horror—new content and features that they’re not sure users want or need.

I’ve performed more than my fair share of stakeholder interviews and been asked by clients to help build alignment to a strategic vision, manage expectations, and help the company keep their eye on the user experience ball.

I have some best practices I’d love to share, but would enjoy writing or collaborating on an article that shares others’ experiences—and helps B&A readers find that hallowed middle ground where business goals and user goals can get together, shake hands, and get down to business.

Want to see this idea turned into a story?

4 people said yes. | 0 people said no.

Christina Wodtke

540 Reputation points

Posted 2006/10/31 @ 13:38PM with

Well, I’d like to see this too! Let’s see if someone steps up to coauthor!

Masood Nasser

70 Reputation points

Posted 2006/10/31 @ 23:12PM with

Business stakeholder interview are an art in itself and I often wonder why it is neglected by IA/ UX practitioners. The most important aspect is understanding the actual business imperative behind the complete exercise which cannot come from a single canned interview!

The key here is to understand what the objectives behind many of the decisions taken are and whether IT enabling could be really beneficial for the business. I do a lot of research on the industry and try to familiarize myself with business terms and the industry in general. When you talk to the CEO/ decision makers in their language it really helps.

I will give one example here. A couple of discussions with the MD of a niche recruitment firm on promoting his business. The real reason for the “lack of numbers” was that the firm did not have a database of really senior high net worth professionals. And an online system would not have helped, because these professionals would never have uploaded their resumes anyways. What I recommended was a networking strategy of meeting these professionals. ONline systems would just be a part of this exercise.

Business stakeholders and decisions makers become very receptive when your questions show a lot of research done from your side. Of course there a lot of other issues too like org culture, organizational dynamics et al, but one can generally start reading all this with time spent with stakeholders.

I would love to co-author this piece!

James Dean Waryk

1 Reputation points

Posted 2006/11/03 @ 09:03AM with

November 3rd, 2006

I am the business executive that people like Mr. Michael Beavers would interview. One of my main functions is to set strategic missions for people and groups of people and therefore I am here at this Boxes and Arrows website in order to get a better understanding of how all people communicate.

My objective is to promote effective communication amongst individuals, teams, organizations, and their unique cultures.

SOA and Web Portals are now mission-critical tools for organizations wishing to effectively compete in this rapidly changing global environment (the “Flat World” concept).

I would be delighted to contribute to this article by providing feedback, insight and comments.

Sincerely,

James Dean Waryk

Michael Beavers

69 Reputation points

Posted 2006/11/06 @ 09:44AM with

Very good—I’m glad there’s some interest here!

Let’s see if over the next couple of week more folks respond with additional ideas and suggestions and best practices that fit into this topic. I think the best approach would be for me to write the piece, incorporating ideas from other B&A users and I’ll cite their contributions accordingly.

Christina, obviously you should have final review and I assume that’s how it usually works. I’d love to have your opinion, too, Mr. Waryk, once it is complete and before we publish—assuming it meets with B&A’s approbation.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be quite busy—interestingly enough—consolidating and presenting findings to two different clients from their rounds of stakeholder interviews. These interview findings always provide a great deal of context to consumer research they can provide, or user research we build into the scope of a complete interactive strategy. I’m sure there will be plenty of feedback and grist for the article, of which I’ll plan on making a holiday project.

If anything, the challenge will be paring it down to a readable length!

Thanks for everyone’s comments so far.