Starting your digital project? Begin with a project canvas.

Why are you starting this digital project? What existing (or new) need does it address? Is the project necessary, and if so, why is it necessary? In short: what is the core reason for developing this product?

An end user is the person who will use the digital product you create. For a CRM, these are internal employees; for a new website, there are two groups: your audience visiting the website and the employee who fills and maintains the site. Both have requirements and wishes for using the new digital product.

When starting a digital project, it’s important to gather the needs within your organization and from (other) end users. This may seem obvious, but especially external end users are sometimes overlooked.

Tip: A good way to document the needs of end users (in the project canvas) is by using user stories. Learn more about user stories.

What existing problems will you solve with this digital project? It often sounds negative to label something as 'problems,' but use this questioning of problems to involve people in the lead-up to this new digital solution and excite them: this is going to solve something for you (which will benefit you later: people feel more involved)! Writing it down helps you distinguish requirements and wishes, giving you a solid foundation to get started.

How do you translate needs into goals that you can later say: it succeeded? 'Measuring is knowing' is a well-known saying for a reason: translate needs into SMART goals.

SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Acceptable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

First, look at your organizational strategy: what role do you want to fulfill? What problem or opportunity underlies it, and how does the digital project contribute to your organization’s mission?

A good and relevant question is: what about your digital strategy in general, and does this fit into it? How does your organization view digital aspects in (the future of) your organization?

No digital strategy yet? It’s high time to develop one. From your organization’s goals, you examine in such a digital strategy the digital tools you currently have, the needs, and the opportunities available. DEN offers an e-learning (self-study) and InCompany workshop (internal for multiple people in your organization) for digital strategy. 

The final part of the project canvas is noting the conditions necessary to make the project a success. Think of things like: clear goals and a clear link with your mission, sufficient budget, a realistic schedule, clear governance, and clear agreements about management, support to actually use the product for people within your organization, good collaboration with the external party, etc. Can’t figure it out? Turn it around: what could cause this project to fail? These, then reversed into positive wording, are the conditions.