Defining a platform vision
By defining a robust platform vision, and clear measures for success you’ll gain the clarity needed to streamline processes, enhance decision-making, and ultimately transform how your team delivers value across the organisation.
In this article, we’ll explain why a clear platform vision is critical to rethinking your digital content strategy and how you can establish one tailored to your organisation's needs.
Without an aligned and clearly communicated platform vision there is a high risk of that your platform and it’s operational model will fall short of expectations and provide insufficient support for strategic goals.
Start with a vision statement
A vision statement outlines the organisation’s long-term goals and aspirations in terms of growth and organisational impact. It can encompass multiple brands, companies or business units in your organisation.
It must be concise (a few paragraphs) but descriptive enough for all parties to recognise how the platform and its operating model will help achieve their goals together and contribute to transforming your business.
Bring all teams together
Make sure that everyone is heard and concerns are actually addressed. Have conversations with all the respective teams that will have anything to do with the new platform and listen to their current pain points and desires for the future.
If you have succeeded in putting a good list of high level requirements on paper (no more than 20), all respective teams should recognise their input and believe in what’s coming next. Divide your requirements in what makes sense for your business. This could be per team, business unit or even more granular, it depends on the scope of your project.
Visualise your vision
Without clear communication, the vision will not be properly understood and adopted. Once the vision statement and requirements are clear, bring the essence of your vision into a visualisation that you are able to communicate towards a wider group of people.
Your visual model should represent the platform, teams and operational model that holds them together. Favour simplicity over completeness, and remember that many details in the vision will be defined and refined as you grow.
Work on use cases together
While a visual representation of your vision is helpful, concepts or models alone may not be enough to convey your message effectively. Your audience needs context and tangible examples to truly grasp what you’re aiming to achieve. That’s why it’s essential to include real-world use cases in your presentation or documentation that demonstrate how various components of your vision can be put into action.
Illustrate how your idea would come together within an operational model. Explain the new way of working, where this new system fits within the organisation, and which market segments you’re targeting, along with the approach. Taking it a step further, consider collaborating with one or more stakeholders when developing these use cases. This not only enriches your examples, but also showcases your vision as the result of collective input and collaboration.
Define success and make it measurable
Ask your stakeholders to describe what success looks like to them, and pick this apart to define tangible measures.
A good Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable, specific, and actionable metric that aligns with your business goals and tracks progress towards them all in light of your platform vision. To implement a KPI effectively, you should first define clear objectives, identify the relevant metrics, and ensure they are realistic, achievable, and time-bound.
Assign ownership of each KPI to specific teams or individuals, and establish a system for collecting data consistently. To monitor performance, use dashboards or reporting tools that provide real-time visibility, and regularly review the KPI data to assess performance trends, make adjustments, and ensure continuous improvement toward the desired outcomes.
KPIs should cover the full scope of operations including:
- Customer Experience (e.g. NPS, engagement)
- Business performance (eg customer conversion)
- Efficiency (e.g. time to market for content changes)
- Agility (e.g. time to market for features)
- Costs (e.g. cost per site, user etc.)
- Quality & Compliance (eg number of bugs, incidents etc.)
