Digittude Deck Methodology

Digital attitude

The business landscape is forever changing, disruptive technologies and empowered consumers are accelerating market change. That means we must rise to the challenge of evolving and transforming quickly.
Our Methodology is a useful, practical  tool that allows organizations and their people to adapt to this transformation easily and quickly.
A structured step-by-step guide enabling you  to  update capabilities, processes and services according to your business needs.

Digittude enables clients’ teams and operating models to continually adapt to their business needs and improve employee engagement and productivity.

  • Digital Transformation: creating new business solutions anticipating the value delivered
  • Innovation: implementing new technologies and best practices in a culture of autonomy and experimentation
  • Human-Centered Organizations: enhancing human experiences and relationships through continuous interaction and learning

With our methodology, new functionalities are continuously integrated and your company culture reshaped.

Envisioning

Gain an understanding of your user’s needs and frustrations. Define the minimum viable product (MVP) you need for your user to have a memorable experience

Develop

Accelerate time-to-market by using continuous integration, delivery, and automation. Delivered in a fully tested production environment

Operate

Ensure operational excellence with continuous application monitoring, high availability, and fast recovery practices. This speeds up problem identification and resolution

Envisioning

Gain an understanding of your user’s needs and frustrations. Define the minimum viable product (MVP) you need for your user to have a memorable experience

Develop

Accelerate time-to-market by using continuous integration, delivery, and automation. Delivered in a fully tested production environment

Operate

Ensure operational excellence with continuous application monitoring, high availability, and fast recovery practices. This speeds up problem identification and resolution

Digittude Agile Practices

Our Digittude Agile Practices enable us to adapt to the plans and conditions of any project. Flexibility and immediacy are key in adapting the project and its development to specific circumstances, based on Scrum and Kanban practices:

Value Delivery

Continued delivery mitigating the risk of spending too much time creating unnecessary features. The functional product built is the main progression metric 

Team Culture

Create the right working environment, meeting  needs and  building a new culture of empowered teams. Initiating projects based on  motivated and committed individuals

Business Collaboration

Collaboration enables the team to gather critical information for the business (validating or discarding hypotheses), thus allowing product development teams to adjust and adapt their backlog and plans to this new reality instantly

Continuous Learning

The team reflects through retrospective meetings as to how they can be more efficient and adjust their  work and behavior accordingly. The key is accepting change as a regular and ongoing part of the process

Transform your teams and methodology with our Digittude agile practices and workshops in 3 easy steps

Discovery

Delivery

Operate

Discovery

Delivery

Operate

Discovery

Future Expectations:

Teams transport themselves to the future by imagining that their goal has already been achieved. Starting from this goal finding ways on how to get there by exploring their imaginary past, teams then agree on how to work together to reach that goal.

Why?

Future expectations enables a team to envision the challenges and successes as they work towards a common goal. This will empower members to proactively align on drivers contributing to the goal, as well as minimize/mitigate hurdles the team may face along the way.

When?

Ideally, the team should perform the future expectations when the problem and solution has been defined. This will better allow the team to align their working agreements towards goals and objectives

How?
  • Participants: Core team
  • Suggested time: 1-2 hour
  • Suppliers: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • Using the “retrospective format”, start from the goal to find ways on how to get there. Teams transport themselves to the future by imagining that their goal has been reached. By exploring their imaginary past, teams agree how to work together to reach the goal
  • Some Future expectations may have additional sections like risks that could appear. This should be proactively dealt with to further facilitate communication on how to achieve the agreed goal or vision
  • Think about how to mitigate or minimize problems that may arise. Take note of ways they dealt with the problems.
 
Expected Outcome:
At the project kick off, the team now has a list of positive practices and assigned actions to be carried out
Retrospective:

A way to identify how to improve teamwork by reflecting on what worked well, what could be improved, and what is on people’s minds

Why?

For the team to be truly reflective, members must feel confident enough to be self-critical. It is important, therefore, to create the right atmosphere

When?

Ideally, a team should have this kind of retrospective on a monthly basis

How?
  • Participants: Core Delivery team
  • Suggested time: 1 hour
  • Suppliers: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • Think about:
    • What went well “I’m glad that”
    • Questions “I’m wondering about”
    • Opportunities “It wasn’t so great that”
  • Give members the opportunity to choose what they feel is most important to discuss
  • Discuss the most important issue in more depth

 

Expected Outcome:
When the core team has a shared understanding of:
The most important things that happened during the week, Sprint, project planning interaction, or the time span available
The challenges they are currently facing
The actionable steps they will take to try and improve on
Interrelation Map:

Help the team understand how the key players interact with others

Why?

This activity helps the team understand who the different groups of users are and their relationships. The more interconnected users there are, the more useful this activity becomes

When?

After the project goals have been mapped the team can then go further in depth

How?
  • Participants: Stakeholder and project team members
  • Suggested time: 30 min
  • Supplies: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • Write down key players, their names and a sentence that describes their goal. Additionally, draw arrows connecting other players that work with them
  • Create a provisional map of a user based on existing knowledge and clarify the relationships, the communication model (formal and informal), channels (teams, face to –face etc) and frequency by using verbs such as “supports”, “reports to”, or “is supported by”.
  • Finally, consolidate the map with the most relevant insights, who interacts with who?
 
Expected Outcome:
The team interacts and has a shared understanding of all the users and their relations with each other

Team Values and Behaviors:

Setting and agreeing on expected values and behaviors defined by the team. Best practices enable team to work together well ensuring the success of the task/project at hand.

Why?

Drawing up agreements holds the team accountable to excellence.
Establishing a correct standard of behavior empowers all team members to focus on improving the product

When?

After kick off but before any core work on the product starts. That way only relevant team members are involved, and agreements are set before bad habits set in.

How?
  • Participants: Core team, Product Manager, Designer, Engineers
  • Suggested time: 1 hour
  • Suppliers: presential/whiteboard
    online/digital whiteboard
Method:
  • Explain to the team that as a group they will co-create and agree on a set of values, behaviors and standards to guide them on how to work together.
  • First ask everyone to think about what is important to them when working in a team. Encourage team to reflect on times they have worked in great teams and what made them great. Then discuss teams that have been challenging, what would they have done differently in hindsight.
  • Write one agreement that they believe will help create a successful team: core values, working hours, meeting schedules, breaks, how and when to give feedback. Finally, write your values and agreements and share with the team.
 
 
Expected Outcome:
The team has a clear set of core values and working agreements defined by them.

Delivery

Value Chain Map:

Visualize the steps an organization takes to create and deliver value to customers in order to help eliminate “waste.” This is a path  to production and product development life cycle.

Why?

To identify how we could deliver user and/or business value faster. Identifying delays, unnecessary features and hand-offs.
To understand the steps and people involved in a process improving collaboration and avoiding potential blockers

When?

This activity can be carried out as soon as concerns about the system or identified problems in product development life cycle arise. Additionally, it can be done whenever the team finds itself bogged down with an inefficient process.

How?
  • Participants: Core team, and subject matter experts.
  • Suggested time: 2 hours
  • Suppliers: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • The workshop starts with the current product development process. Identify the high-level steps that take place from beginning to end in the value chain map, being as detailed as possible. Take note of each step and put it in order
  • Consider the following information about each step; how long does this step take? (process time), how much lead time is required?, what works well or what doesn’t about this step?, how do we know when this step is done?, how long does the whole value chain map take and how does the team feel about it?
  • When the value chain map reflects an accurate visualization of current processes, calculate the total lead time for the whole process and discuss it with the team to find areas that can be improved on
 
 
Expected Outcome:
You have a visual value chain map and the team feels confident it accurately represents the current process.
Priorization:

Prioritize options against 2 potentially contrasting criteria to identify the most important options to focus on  Think about assumptions and identify which are the riskiest. Gather all the insights you discovered from this research

Why?

This will benefit the team by building a shared understanding and alignment among a group of people. Making it easier to determine how best to proceed

When?

Whenever the team must decide the most important items to focus on.
When presented with multiple options and contrasting opinions on how to proceed

How?
  • Participants: Core team, stakeholders and relevant experts
  • Suggested time: 1 hour
  • Suppliers: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • As a group, agree on 2 relevant prioritization criteria (Impact vs. Likeliness, Value vs. Complexity, Risk vs. Ease of Mitigation)
  • Create 2 perpendicular intersecting axes and label each axis with one of the chosen criteria. Label the axes such that the top-right quadrant represents the most important/highest-priority. This is a convention that will make it easier when using this practice repeatedly
  • Position it relative to other options on the grid. Each option should be clearly placed in a unique horizontal and vertical position on each axis to avoid any ambiguity. If there are too many priority solutions in the top right quadrant, re-draw the axes within that quadrant to further separate the solutions.
 
Expected Outcome:
Your group has decided on an option (or options) to focus on:

Risk Mitigations:

Surface risks and how the team might mitigate them

Why?

We do this to create an environment where people feel confident sharing fears and concerns .This way we can proactively mitigate issues we think may arise

When?

Early on in the project, normally during kick-off, and again before steering committee

How?
  • Participants: Core team and stakeholders
  • Suggested time: 30-60 min
  • Supplies: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • First, list the different types of risks. Write project risks and obstacles (dependencies and blockers) that the project may face. One risk per category, then group similar risks
  • Choose the top risks that they would like to share out, and ask the teams to brainstorm the mitigation actions for each of their top risks
  • Assess the effort to mitigate the risks in advance and define the mitigation strategy
 
 
Expected Outcome:
A shared understanding of the biggest risks and a list of prioritized action tasks that the team can use to get ahead and mitigate

Design:

Understand the problem from different team perspectives and generate draft solutions. we can align ourselves based on shared goals and avoid any unnecessary or unwanted surprises further down the road

Why?

We discover many more unknowns by encouraging cross-disciplinary roles to think in depth about a problem, because when developers are in the process they understand where the product or service are going and are able to make better decisions

When?

Design studios can help with generating areas to explore and prioritize a range of different problem areas early in the Discovery process. They can also be used to generate a great number of ideas to address more granular user needs later on

How?
  • Participants: Core team and subject matter expert
  • Suggested time: 1 hour per process
  • Suppliers: User journey, scenario (if already available) whiteboard
Method:
  • Considering the user journeys or scenarios your team has made, define what problem you are trying to solve and for whom, what are the biggest pain points?
  • The goal is to create lots of small ideas instead of detailed solutions (generate as many ideas as possible). Encourage the team to write down questions. Make sure everyone gets a turn to share ideas and designs
  • Iterate and converge within the group about common issues the most valuable ones used to fix objectives of the design project
 
 
Expected Outcome:
You have a clear understanding of the ideas each participant has about how best to solve a particular problem. You’ve put those ideas “onto paper”, discussed them as a group, and identified the ones the team feels most likely to create user value, and capture the rationale.
Refine Design:

Provide valuable design feedback to a project team so they can determine if further effort is needed

Why?

It provides valuable design feedback to help the project team refine their solution. It helps the team reach consensus when deciding what actions to take next. It holds the whole team accountable for making design decisions

When?

Integrate design critiques into your workflow by having them regularly or whenever feedback is needed from the team. They are most helpful after a design is created or iterated upon

How?
  • Participants: Core team, stakeholders, other designers
  • Suggested time: 30 min per process
  • Supplies: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • The objective is to help the project team find the challenges with their design, not the solutions; what is the project goal?, who is the final user? what’s the product value props and features?-
  • Think about the design in more depth and experience it themselves, open key topics for discussion, for patterns and areas that have a high number of comments
  • As the group discusses each topic, take note of key actions/tasks before moving onto next topic
 
 
Expected Outcome:
All comments have been reviewed and all problems have been converted into tasks.
Journey Map:

Using customer narratives and data, “map” what they are doing, thinking, feeling and interacting with over a set period of time

Why?

A journey map can help arrange individual data points into chronological order, identifying the point when a proposed solution will be used by a customer

When?

After a few rounds of user research, when synthesizing data into insights. Alternatively, Journey Maps can be used to align the stakeholder’s vision of a Customer Journey, before starting User Research

How?
  • Participants: Core team and subject matter expert
  • Suggested time: 30 min per Journey
  • Supplies: presential/whiteboard
    online/virtual whiteboard
Method:
  • Identify which users journey the team is mapping. Have each person create a user journey, separating each step.
  • Share individual journeys with the team. One at a time, each person shares their timeline. After questions, everyone votes on steps they think are interesting or important
  • Consolidate into one big story, mark customers emotions and pain points and identify opportunities along the journey
 
 
Expected Outcome:
The team will have a shared holistic view. The process reveals opportunities to address user pain points and prevents misalignment

Iteration Planning Meeting:

A regular meeting for the core team to understand and align on work to be done

Why?

Regular planning meetings helps ensure the product backlog is well-understood by all team members and always reflects the current priorities. By discussing and sizing product backlog items, the team may align on the delivery impact of the work to be done

When?

Iteration Planning Meetings should generally follow the cadence of meetings iterations (e.g. weekly). Should be held as needed to maintain a well-sized and well-understood product backlog.

How?
  • Participants: Core team, stakeholders, and designers
  • Product backlog: A prepared set of prioritized user stories to be reviewed and potentially incorporated to the product backlog
Method:
  • Help to set overall project context as needed by briefly recapping on recently accepted and in-progress stories or the current state of the newest, to get everyone aligned on where things currently stand as you enter this next iteration. Review the new user stories by outlining what they will add to the product. Present user interface mockups, if available
  • Read through the first user story to explain the business value, the user value, and the acceptance criteria. Allow participants to ask questions, providing clarifications as needed to provide an estimation that they feel comfortable with
  • After reviewing and discussing the priorities of product backlog items, close the prioritization and plan
 
 
Expected Outcome:
A shared understanding of the scope and relative complexity of the product backlog items that were discussed, and items added to the product backlog, which remains sorted according to current priorities.
Usability Testing:

A way to validate if your design is intuitive, so that you can identify key problems in the existing design, discover areas for improvement, and learn more about the target user(s) behavior

Why?

Usability testing helps ensure that we are building a user-centered design that will be impactful to the users and their needs. To create value to the user, we need to make sure that we are solving a problem in a way that makes sense to them.

When?

Given the importance of research early on in the project, usability tests are typically done when you need to validate the design of a feature or flow before it is developed.

How?
  • Participants: Core team and relevant experts
  • Product backlog: A set of prototypes to be reviewed
Method:
  • Select the use case in the prototype and provide each task to the user; then observe and listen while they attempt to execute that task in their own way
  • Create a pass/fail table to quickly see which aspects of the design worked and which did not. Synthesize research findings (after all usability tests have been conducted), identify patterns across user feedback and actions
  • Compile and visualize findings in a presentation to sum up the positive and negative experiences of each step of the process
 
Expected Outcome:
Team feels confident that the results gathered from the usability tests allows them to adjust the design effectively and begin development, depending on which interaction they are in.
Breakdown Event:

Divide complex services into microservices to reveal technical trouble spots and starting points for rearchitecting the system and optimizing the flow

Why?

Breakdown event enables us to divide the process into microservices. It allows for modeling new flows and ideas, synthesizing knowledge. It facilitates active group participation in order to ideate the next generation of a system

When?

If the process and user experience is complex, if there is high functional and technical dependency, if there is no end-to-end vision of the process. The resolution of incidents is costly and laborious

How?
  • Participants: Business Analyst, developers and architects
  • Suggested time: 1-2 hour (multiple runs may be needed)
  • Supplies: presential/whiteboard
    online/digital whiteboard
Method:
  • Share all the process ‘scope, identify the beginning and end of the event in order to create a clear sequence with the description of tasks, services, and pain points, to explain in simple terms
  • Mark trouble spots, highlight external systems in color and put them near the actions/events they trigger. Represent parallel processing using vertical space, highlight anything caused by a set time period (like batch processes in different color) and again put them next to triggers.
  • Find groupings of events to see what they are acting on and transferring to the next microservice. With arrows draw boundaries and lines to show flow on the modeling and the direction of events. Clarify responsibilities and accountability.
 
Expected Outcome:
You have identified microservices. Mapped each context/subdomain as a service in the target architecture, defined responsibilities and end to end vision

Operate

DSDM Agile Project Framework:

the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) framework is one of the primary and most robust frameworks for agile project management, focused on the entire project lifecycle, adding more governance and discipline to the Rapid Application Development model (RAD).

Why?

Learn the fundamentals and principles of the Agile Project Management Framework, optimizes time-to-market and improves the success rate of initiatives

When?

The current environment of uncertainty requires deploying projects with a higher degree of flexibility, with a collaborative approach with users/clients that allows for early verification of results

How?
  • Participants: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Ingenieros de Soluciones, Diseñadores de Experiencia de Usuario
Method:
  • 1. Implement the key principles and practices of the model (prioritization and timeboxing) along with the rest of the enabling practices – workshops, modeling, and iterative development.
  • 2. Define the user stories that will form the Product Backlog by breaking them down into Product Backlog Items (PBIs) when the functionality is too large, in order to proceed with their prioritization (must / should / could / won’t) and estimation through “function points” or “T-shirt sizes” techniques.
  • 3. Develop iteratively and incrementally with regular sprints to gradually achieve the target value with incremental MVPs (releases) that allows for review and verification of the value obtained and early adjustment of development lines.
 
Expected Outocome:

Project Management Model aligned with strategic objectives and focused on delivering real value quickly, covering the entire project life cycle, providing best practices delivered on time and with quality

Data Driven Mindset:

Iterative process that uses a set of techniques to help generate, develop, and test innovative ideas for new products and services that provide value to the customer by solving their real needs.

Why?

To develop value opportunities, it is key to be creative and successfully apply innovation in product development -as well as in problem-solving for your customers-

When?

When starting the analysis and design processes, instead of focusing on technological solutions or economic feasibility, begin by trying to learn what the customer really requires and needs

How?
  • Participants: Product Manager, User Experience Designer, Solutions Architect, DevSecOps Engineer
Method:
  • 1. Discover: Put yourself in the user or customer’s shoes and empathize with them through observation and immersion to understand what motivates them.
  • 2. Define: Deepen your knowledge in lateral thinking techniques and ideation techniques; searching for alternatives and investigating to get to the core of the problem and challenge.
  • 3. Develop: Conduct a brainstorming session to define a more comprehensive idea at the intersection point of desirability, feasibility, and viability.

Expected Outocome:
Deploy a framework to experiment with solutions and create new products and services inspired by what customers and users truly value. By selecting and prioritizing ideas, defining, measuring, and validating hypotheses, getting ideas and allowing for fast failure
Big Data:

Data-driven decision making is a key lever in the digital transformation of businesses. In this context, it is essential to develop analytical capabilities as well as optimal exploitation of information.

Why?

The world of Big Data requires the development of practical data-based competencies that enable immediate applicability in the workplace, converting information into value propositions

When?

New technologies allow us to work with large volumes of data today, organizing and developing projects based on low-cost cloud solutions

How?
  • Participants: Data Solutions Architect, Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Data Analyst
Method:
  • 1. We introduce you to the science of data; the foundations of Machine Learning and to the basic algorithms of classification, regression, and clustering, as well as the fundamentals of Text Mining.
  • 2. We design and implement solutions with graphical user interface programs to obtain data models and extract business value conclusions (from text to knowledge).
  • 3. We provide training in the administration of the application lifecycle of analysis solutions, to integrate cloud infrastructure with visualization analysis solutions (Power BI).

Expected Outocome:
Ability to govern, model, and exploit a data analysis environment, implementing and managing new technological solutions; together with advanced large-scale data exploration practices, this turns business information into value propositions
Artificial Intelligence of it Operations (AIOPS):

Move towards an agile, intelligent, software-defined, and automated infrastructure. This provides secure self-service platforms and valuable products in a resilient, flexible, and efficient manner for the new digital business context.

Why?

Collect and analyze data continuously to identify and correct problems before they impact. This improves operational efficiency by minimizing delays and saving time and resources

When?

The rapid growth in data volumes and the pace of change driven by digital transformation makes human processing impossible, transitioning from reactive to proactive response

How?
  • Participants: Machine Learning Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, Security Specialist
Method:
  • 1. Start by combining big data and machine learning to automate IT operation processes, including event correlation, anomaly detection, and causality determination.
  • 2. Improve productivity by performing administration and monitoring tasks automatically, allowing you to focus on critical and higher value activities.
  • 3. Detecting threats in real-time by identifying and blocking them before they cause real damage helps to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of company information.

Expected Outocome:
AIOPS capabilities for prevention, prediction, and self-healing that allow the reduction of incidents, unnecessary issues, and improving recovery times. Additionally, providing the necessary observability to customers, DevSecOps teams with delegated operation, and integrated information
iPaas:

Define integration platform as a vendor-management cloud service to enable end user to implement integrations among a variety of applications, services and data sources.

Why?

Integration Platform as a service enables faster time to value and reduce operational challenges for numerous integration use case

When?

You need to connect diverse applications, services and data sources to enable information to flow between them for end user

How?
  • Participants: Solution architect, Operations Specialist, Data Specialist (Ensure data quality and integrity)
Method:
 
  • 1. Deploy the main capabilities of iPaaS services:
  • Cloud service, fully managed by the vendor for all software patches and updates
    .
  • A low code user experience (UX) for building user interfaces and forms
    .
  • Task and process mining
    .
  • 2. Provide:
  • Developer tooling to enable end user to implement integration use cases.
  • Software development life cycle tooling to enable management –including versioning, testing and deployment-
    .
  • Operational tools to ensure operational monitoring, alerting, reporting and auditing
    .
  • 3. Review and optimize the three main uses of integration technology:
  • Data consistency to ensure applications are operating with the right information
    .
  • Multistep process to automate business processes and workflows
    .
  • Composite services to create services exposed as APIs or events
Expected Outocome:
Enable user to find packaged integration processes as well as updates to its electronic data interchange services (EDI), API services, flow and data catalog
cycle
DevOps Practices:

Along with other technologies we can help transform your organization and deliver better software faster. We can give you the ability to roll out improved business capabilities continuously

Why?

Application delivery has shifted from large-scale, project-based implementations to a continuous evolution. The ability to roll out improved business capabilities continuously has become essential in today’s digital world

When?

At any time, organizations are streamlining software development, increasing developer productivity, and enhancing continuous delivery workflows to deliver better software faster

How?
  • Participants: Business Analyst, Developers, Architects
Method:
  • Define a strategy with our Digittude wide approach and discover the benefits from technology advances that drive continuous delivery. Start with a maturity assessment and a strategic roadmap
  • Implement the stages and run the tools necessary for supporting Continuous Delivery Practices:
  • Implement a training program to provide you with in-depth knowledge of various DevOps tools

Expected Outocome:
Become a certified practitioner through best practices in continuous development, configuration management, continuous integration, and finally, continuous monitoring of software throughout its development life cycle
CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE:

Support to help you implement remediation recommendations, helping you return to business as usual faster and reducing the risk of future compromise

Why?

Speed of response and analysis is critical to containing an incident and limiting damage. Our incident responders can be up and running within hours, to analyze your networks for malicious activity and help you return to business as usual.

When?

At any time, from cyber espionage to crippling network attacks, you need a quick response to identify what was compromised, assess the pathway to remediate the breach, so you can resume regular business activities.

How?
  • Participants: Chief Security Officer, Internal hacker, Security analysts and architects
Method:
  • Define a company cybersecurity strategy and policies to assess, reduce and manage your security risk; connecting policies, analytics and controls across your entire business.
  • Establish basic security practices for employees, such as requiring strong passwords, and establish appropriate internet use guidelines. Provide firewall security for your Internet connection and protect information, computers, and networks.
  • Predefine alerts and run continuous monitoring, conduct regular cybersecurity audits

EXPECTED OUTCOME:
You have a strategy and resilience plan to govern and protect your business, data, users and assets; operational capacity to prevent, deter and respond to incidents.