Stakeholder mapping

Summary

A network diagram of the people involved with (or impacted by) a given system design. A stakeholder meeting is a strategic way to derive usability objectives from business objectives, and to gain commitment to usability. It also collects information about the purpose of the system and its overall context of use.

Definition

Stakeholder mapping in conflict resolution, project management, and business administration, is the process of identifying the individuals or groups that are likely to affect or be affected by a proposed action, and sorting them according to their impact on the action and the impact the action will have on them. This information is used to assess how the interests of those stakeholders should be addressed in a project plan, policy, program, or other action. Stakeholder analysis is a key part of stakeholder management.

Benefits

Ensures that all factors that relate to use of the system are identified before design work starts.
Bring together all the people relevant to the development, to create a common vision.

Method

Planning

Arrange a half-day meeting. Invite stakeholders who have knowledge about the business objectives, the intended users and usage. This may include:

business manager
project manager
user representative(s)
marketing
developer(s)
training
support

The first three are key areas. You will also need a facilitator and a person to record the information provided during the stakeholder meeting.

Before the meeting

At the meeting

Briefly discuss the following topics:

Why is the system being developed? What are the overall objectives? How will it be judged as a success?
Who are the intended users and what are their tasks? (Why will they use the system? What is their experience and expertise?)
Who are the other stakeholders and how might they be impacted by the consequences of a usable or unusable system?
What are the stakeholder and organisational requirements?
What are the technical and environmental constraints? (What types of hardware will be used in what environments?)
What key functionality is needed to support the user needs?
How will the system be used? What is the overall workflow (e.g. from deciding to use the system, through operating it to obtaining results)? What are typical scenarios of what the users can achieve?
What are the usability goals? (e.g. How important is ease of use and ease of learning? *How long should it take users to complete their tasks? Is it important to minimise user errors? What GUI style guide should be used?)
How will users obtain assistance?
Are there any initial design concepts?
Is there an existing or competitor system?

Try to obtain consensus where there is uncertainty or disagreement. If information is missing, agree how this can be obtained. Avoid prolonged discussion of minor issues.

After the meeting

Obtain any missing information. If the information is not easily available, arrange a field study to observe users in their work environment.

Circulate to all participants a summary of the conclusions.

Who does it

The whole project team.

Why to do it

Establish shared ideas about stakeholders.
Help team focus on people, not technology.
Guide plans for user research.
Document research activities.

Usage

 At Research and Analysis