Double-Diamond Design: Shaping Business Intelligence Products

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to make data-driven decisions is paramount. Business Intelligence (BI) products play a critical role in providing actionable insights that guide strategic decisions.

However, developing BI products that are both powerful and user-friendly requires a thoughtful approach.

Enter the double-diamond design model, a framework that blends creativity with systematic thinking. This model can support the development of BI products, ensuring they meet the needs of both businesses and end-users.

Understanding the Double-Diamond Design

The double-diamond design model is a visual representation of the design process.

The Design Council’s Framework for Innovation

The model was introduced by the British Design Council in as a framework to illustrate the design process. Originating from an in-depth study of the design processes in eleven global companies, it aimed to highlight the distinct yet interconnected phases of exploring an issue broadly and then refining solutions.

The double-diamond design model consists of four phases:

1. Discover: A phase focused on understanding the problem space. It involves researching the market, identifying user needs, and exploring potential challenges and opportunities.

2. Define: In this phase, the broad insights from the discovery phase are narrowed down to a clear and specific problem statement. It sets the direction for the solution.

3. Develop: This is where creative ideation occurs. Through brainstorming, sketching, and prototyping, a wide range of possible solutions is generated.

4. Deliver: The final phase involves refining and implementing the chosen solution, incorporating feedback, and ensuring alignment with user needs and business goals.

The model emphasizes a balance between divergent thinking (exploring widely) and convergent thinking (focusing and synthesizing), symbolized by the two diamond shapes.

The double-diamond model echoes the principles of design thinking. Both concepts prioritize human-centered design, fostering empathy, collaboration, and experimentation. They encourage a culture where failure is an opportunity to learn and where iterative development leads to more refined and targeted solutions.

The Importance of Design in BI Products

BI products transform raw data into meaningful information. They enable organizations to analyze their operations, understand their customers, and make informed strategic decisions. From reporting tools to data dashboards, these products serve as the eyes and ears of a data-driven organization.

A well-designed BI product does more than merely present data; it makes data actionable. A BI product must be intuitive, engaging, and tailored to the users' specific needs and goals. Achieving this balance between functionality and usability can be challenging.

Developing BI products involves complex considerations such as data quality, integration with existing systems, user accessibility, and more. Traditional development approaches (characterized by a linear or waterfall approach) might overlook the end-users' needs, leading to products that are robust but not user-friendly.

The double-diamond design model can provide improvements over traditional development methods because it places the user at the center and integrates a more flexible and creative development process.

Applying the Double-Diamond Model to BI Products

We can apply each of the four phases of the double-diamond model to BI products to improve outcomes and increase value.

Discover: Understanding the Landscape

In the discovery phase, organizations identify business needs, understand the data landscape, and define potential opportunities. Exploring the problem space widely ensures that the BI product addresses real challenges and aligns with organizational goals.

Define: Focusing on the Problem

The insights from the discovery phase lead to a specific problem statement. Here, the focus narrows to a concrete challenge that the BI product will address. It involves understanding data constraints and defining clear objectives.

Develop: Prototyping and Iteration

Creativity flourishes in the development phase. Through prototyping, modeling, iterative development, and collaboration, a variety of potential solutions are explored. This stage is about trial and error, embracing failure as a learning opportunity, and continuously refining ideas.

Deliver: Bringing the Product to Life

In the delivery phase, the chosen solution is tested, validated, and implemented. Rigorous quality assurance ensures that the BI product meets both user needs and technical standards. Monitoring and maintenance ensure that it continues to perform as expected over time.

Complementary Concepts for BI Professionals

Applying the double-diamond model to BI products isn't an isolated endeavor. Concepts like Agile Development, Lean Startup Methodology, and UX Design enhance the development process.

Understanding these methodologies helps bridge the gap between technical development and business requirements, ensuring that BI products are not only functional but also strategically aligned.

Illustrative Example of Using the Model for a Cyber Risk Dashboard

Let's imagine that we have a BI team exploring ways to communicate about the quantitative measures of cyber risk that their organization is exposed to. They decide to use the double-diamond design model to create a BI product that will help their CFO understand.

Here’s an illustrative example of how they might apply the model through each of the four phases:

Discover: Understanding the Problem Space

• Research the CFO's Needs: Conduct interviews with the CFO and associated finance team to understand what kind of information they need, their current understanding of cyber risks, and how they prefer data to be presented.

• Market Analysis: Research how other organizations communicate cyber risk to their financial departments. Look for best practices and common challenges.

• Gather Existing Data: Examine the current cyber risk metrics the organization has. This may involve liaising with the cybersecurity team to get data on vulnerabilities, past incidents, etc.

• Identify Challenges: What are the main obstacles in quantifying cyber risk? This might include dynamic threats, evolving assets, or lack of standardized metrics.

Define: Narrowing Down the Problem

• Clear Problem Statement: "The CFO needs a way to translate complex cyber risk data into quantifiable financial metrics that they can easily interpret and act upon."

• Set Goals: Decide on the primary objectives of the BI product. For instance, "The product should provide real-time cyber risk financial exposure and recommend mitigation strategies."

• Stakeholder Feedback: Validate the problem statement and goals with the CFO to ensure alignment.

Develop: Ideation and Prototyping

• Brainstorm Solutions: Gather a cross-functional team, including BI, cybersecurity, and finance experts. Brainstorm ways to represent cyber risk in a financial context.

• Prototyping: Create mockups or wireframes of potential dashboards or reports. Consider visualizations like heat maps for risk distribution, bar graphs for potential financial losses, and trend lines for risk evolution.

• Feedback Iteration: Present these prototypes to the CFO and gather feedback. What resonates? What's confusing?

• Pilot Testing: If possible, develop a basic version of the BI tool and let the CFO interact with it. Gather feedback for refinements.

Deliver: Finalizing and Launching the Product

• Refinement: Based on feedback and pilot testing, refine the BI product. Ensure that data sources are accurate, and visualizations are intuitive.

• Training: Organize a session to introduce the BI product to the CFO. Ensure they understand how to interpret the data, interact with the tool, and whom to contact for further questions.

• Documentation: Provide a manual or guide that explains the data sources, metrics, and how calculations are made. This can be a reference for the CFO.

• Feedback Mechanism: Set up a way for the CFO to provide ongoing feedback as they use the tool, ensuring continuous improvement.

By systematically moving through the double-diamond model, the BI team can ensure that the resulting product is not only technically sound but also tailored to the specific needs and preferences of the CFO, making it a valuable tool for understanding and acting upon cyber risk.

Benefits and Challenges

Applying the double-diamond model to BI products offers several benefits:

• User-centric design leads to more intuitive and engaging products.

• Iterative development helps identify and address issues early in the process.

• Collaboration between different departments ensures alignment with business goals.

While powerful, the double-diamond model is not without challenges:

• Ensuring clear communication across teams.

• Balancing creativity with practical constraints.

• Maintaining focus on user needs amidst technical complexities.

However, these challenges can be overcome with clear planning, effective collaboration, and a commitment to a user-centered approach.

Conclusion

The double-diamond design model offers a robust framework for developing BI products that meet both user needs and business goals. Its emphasis on exploration, definition, development, and delivery ensures a thoughtful, human-centered approach that resonates with today's data-driven business landscape.

By embracing this model, along with complementary methodologies, advisors can play a vital role in shaping BI products that are not only powerful but also purposeful.