CASE STUDY · #INNOVATION #SOFTWARE
From fragmented needs to software co-designed by competing businesses
CLIENT
Mercurio Studio
SECTOR
Communications and marketing
PARTNERSHIP
B.links
PARTICIPANTS
15 people from six creative agencies, including CEOs, project managers, sales professionals and designers
Objective
Turn the day-to-day experience of six competing agencies into a shared foundation for designing management software that genuinely meets their needs, overcoming the difficulties they faced in translating needs and working processes into clear development requirements.
Key activities
01
Comparing experiences, working processes and operational practices across the agencies
02
Reviewing the strengths and limitations of the management tools in use
03
Identifying and prioritising shared needs
04
Mapping the ideal workflow together
05
Translating the needs identified into practical guidance for development
Outcomes
A shared vision for the new management software
A common workflow defined around the agencies’ real processes
Priority functions identified based on users’ needs
Initial wireframes developed to show how the tool would work
A shared design document to provide a foundation for the developers’ work
New capabilities
Turning individual experience into shared knowledge
Collaborating towards a common goal, even across competing businesses
Distinguishing real needs from solutions imagined in advance
Translating day-to-day work into useful guidance for technology development
Involving users in the design of the tools they will use
Innovation begins when different experiences become a shared resource.
TESTIMONIAL
The workshop enabled us to bring competing businesses around the same table and turn different experiences, needs and ways of working into a shared vision. Its value lay in surfacing users’ real needs and translating them into practical guidance for designing a tool that would be genuinely useful in everyday work.
Francesco Saracino
CEO, Mercurio Studio
From the workshop
More case studies
'%3E%3Cpath fill-rule='evenodd' clip-rule='evenodd' d='M20.54 9.02002C17.54 9.26002 9.46 11.85 8.07 20.9C8.05 21.04 7.94 21.78 7.39 21.27C6.85 20.78 2.98 17.21 1.41 14.36C0.16 12.1 15.15 0.240021 16.91 1.63002C17.55 2.13002 22.52 8.53002 21.65 8.89002C21.57 8.92002 21.57 8.89002 20.54 9.02002ZM52.4 11.67C52.2 11.49 52.19 11.5 47.68 8.20002C47.04 7.73002 53.49 2.44002 54.33 1.99002C56.07 1.05002 66.02 13.28 66.71 15.4C66.87 15.89 66.98 16.23 61.81 19.63C59.6 21.08 58.98 21.62 58.74 20.88C57.34 16.51 57.13 16.39 52.4 11.67ZM57.78 24.69C57.53 28.45 55.94 29.8 54.98 31.56C54.41 32.61 54.18 31.71 53.44 30.78C44.93 20.05 39.64 19.7 40.27 17.63C40.52 16.8 39.81 16.19 38.95 17.42C35.23 22.72 29.4 25.91 25.72 25C25.34 24.91 23.27 24.65 23.2 23.33C23.13 22.06 25.57 21.69 29.95 15.78C33.45 11.06 37.74 9.21002 38.55 8.86002C44.45 6.32002 48.76 9.67002 54.02 14.94C57.67 18.6 57.76 22.07 57.77 22.77C57.77 22.92 57.77 22.91 57.79 24.68L57.78 24.69ZM30.64 34.09C30.97 34.11 33.84 34.31 32.85 37.52C32.06 40.09 27.8 43.05 30.36 43.01C30.81 43.01 36.79 38.61 37.48 42.69C37.93 45.33 31.47 49.34 33.33 49.86C34.16 50.09 40.75 44.68 40.06 50.03C39.57 53.86 30.12 61.39 27.76 57.61C27.29 56.86 28.08 55.72 28.44 55.49C28.61 55.38 30.46 54.18 30.27 53.62C29.81 52.32 27.74 55.37 24.36 55.32C22.44 55.29 21.2 51.99 23.41 49.38C24.06 48.61 23.46 47.7 22.78 48.2C18.56 51.35 15.24 48.41 17.27 44.31C17.64 43.56 16.7 43.09 16.45 43.14C14.94 43.43 14.84 43.92 13.55 43.09C12.3 42.29 10 37.18 19.13 32.22C19.62 31.96 25.11 28.97 26.05 31.75C26.88 34.19 21.93 36.6 23.52 37.26C24.92 37.84 24.94 34.53 30.63 34.07L30.64 34.09ZM37.02 46.53C37.35 46.14 40.65 42.25 37.13 40.07C36.61 39.75 35 39.63 33.66 40.1C33.1 40.29 32.86 40.82 32.82 40.25C32.81 40.04 35.44 37.09 33.51 34.07C32.23 32.06 28.34 33.26 27.9 33.39C26.84 33.72 27.75 32.54 27.15 31.23C24.85 26.23 15.14 33.02 13.85 34.38C13.28 34.98 13.12 34.59 12.33 33.46C6.52 25.17 8.02 12.31 20.82 10.17C24.33 9.58002 32.38 11.37 31.16 12.67C26.41 17.73 27.07 18.38 23.63 20.72C19.85 23.29 22.63 27.14 29.26 26.22C33.06 25.69 38.25 20.27 38.89 19.59C39.32 19.14 39.6 19.28 45.26 24.01C48.4 26.63 53.43 31.88 54.66 35.06C57.95 43.52 51.98 42.3 50.54 45.97C50.07 47.18 49.94 49.09 46.94 51.33C45.75 52.22 45.13 51.05 42.96 53.11C39.12 56.76 38.17 55.37 38.41 55.05C38.52 54.9 43.09 50.43 40.63 47.15C39.78 46.02 37.71 46.62 37.46 46.7C37.42 46.71 37.43 46.69 37.03 46.53H37.02ZM39.09 56.73C38.91 56.73 38.73 56.75 38.55 56.75C37.62 56.71 37.24 56.27 36.99 56.45C36.05 57.13 34.62 58.85 31.2 59.66C29.13 60.16 26.25 59.19 26.39 56.86C26.47 55.51 23.06 57.89 21.47 54.64C20.33 52.32 22.14 50.14 20.57 50.63C19.32 51.03 14.92 50.83 15.56 45.4C15.74 43.82 12.87 45.96 11.29 41.87C11.1 41.38 10.85 38.89 12.33 36.39C13.21 34.89 9.43 34.06 8.09 26.04C7.75 24.03 8.4 23.68 6.81 22.37C4.65 20.6 -1.07 14.65 0.17 13.03C0.45 12.66 4.7 5.77002 15.59 0.330021C16.95 -0.349979 17.21 -0.0799787 19.03 2.24002C23.18 7.53002 22.36 8.79002 24.9 8.97002C29.87 9.32002 32.11 11.69 32.99 10.94C41.09 4.08002 45.49 7.83002 46.45 7.24002C46.59 7.16002 48.71 4.73002 52.35 1.93002C54.2 0.510021 54.37 -0.0799788 55.53 0.860021C60.22 4.61002 60.14 4.69002 64.04 9.27002C64.67 10.01 68.67 15.44 68.2 16.21C67.62 17.16 60.44 21.95 59.74 22.41C58.27 23.39 59.29 25.02 58.77 26.62C56.82 32.61 54.86 32.15 55.52 33.94C57.59 39.5 57.94 41.42 52.81 45.01C51.08 46.22 51.18 50.58 46.95 52.71C46.28 53.05 45.25 52.69 44.08 53.71C42.39 55.2 41.4 56.63 39.08 56.73H39.09Z' fill='black'/%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3CclipPath id='clip0_398_3285'%3E%3Crect width='68.25' height='59.79' fill='white'/%3E%3C%2FclipPath%3E%3C%2Fdefs%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E)
Is your organisation facing a similar challenge?
If a case study or article has helped you recognise a dynamic in your organisation, we can start there, explore it and work out how to address it together.