The best intentions will fall prey to the unstructured evolution of the idea, creating more complexity and confusion beyond the initial intent, missing the objective, and adding a dose of agitation.
We design a simple process to provide all users with clarity in how we perform a task and insight into much-needed data to enable better management and decision making. However, what begins as simple will likely have someone requesting more fields, then altering for a subset of individuals or situations, and later amending further for supposed simplicity. We soon find we have created a complicated process that does not fulfill the initial goal, is convoluted, and is reluctantly and inconsistently used by the necessary participants.
When we design any new process to help others, let’s be clear of the purpose and outcomes. Then, understand what is essential to attain the goals and include those elements at the forefront of the process. Beyond that, for each component we consider including, let’s ask ourselves, “is this critical, and how will it impact the users or complicate?”
The problem is that the process designers are rarely the users of that same system. So while introducing some creativity from outsiders is useful, let’s be sure that what we design is meaningful and valuable to those who will use it, or else why develop it.
