Solution Design

SITUATION

While the iPad has readily found a home in many industries, one of the places it has gained the most ready acceptance is in the medical professions.  The tablet’s portability, intuitive interface, and ready access to a wide range of data sources make the device a unique tool in medical practice.  However, it has been tricky to translate assessments – one of the cornerstones of psychological testing – to electronic devices.  While the iPad seems to offer the capabilities required to make this transition, there are a number of different constraints that make it difficult to replicate the paper-based experience on a tablet PC. 

However, regardless of the inherent challenges, the introduction of the tablet device created a technical opportunity that has never existed before.  One large publisher recognized that if they didn’t move quickly to take advantage of this situation, new entrants could challenge its dominant position.   This company needed an assist from an experienced developer to determine whether translating its paper-based assessments to a digital format would be a successful endeavor. 

SOLUTION

In order to determine whether the challenges of digital transformation were surmountable, Digital Foundry worked with this publishing company and key subject matter experts to create proofs of concept and interactive prototypes.  These prototypes not only validated the project and lay the groundwork for the functional foundation of the assessment suite, they also helped the publisher and Digital Foundry determine the assumptions the project should be based on.  For example, one of these assumptions was that the iPad was the right platform for the project.  The complete set of assumptions would be revisited throughout the course of the project.  Exploring, testing, and documenting assumptions is a feature of discovery based planning, which provides a strong framework for ongoing strategic decision making throughout the life of the project. 

RESULTS

By initiating discovery based planning during the strategy phase, Digital Foundry was able to:

• Validate the goals of the eClick project.  The initial strategic exploration determined that the project could meet the stakeholder’s goals. 
• Create technical proofs.  The working prototypes not only helped validate the project, but also helped facilitate development as the project evolved. 
• Establish the project technical assumptions, limitations, and expectations.  By learning as much as possible about the project early on, Digital Foundry was able to determine exactly what the project would be able to accomplish, and what assumptions proved out in order to reach those goals.