Background
The purpose of the Discovery session tool is to better identify project scope and goals resulting in more accurate project estimates and help to ensure a higher return on technical investment. The questions in this survey may be used by project leaders and functional managers to guide a discussion with project stakeholders, users, and functional owners.
Definitions
Stakeholder: Individuals and organizations who are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected because of project execution or successful project completion (Project Management Institute (PMI®), 1996).
End User: Are the ultimate human users (also referred to as operators) of a software product. The end user contrasts users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, database administrators and computer technicians.
Sponsor: A project sponsor is an individual or a group that provides financial and other resources and support to a project. The project sponsor is usually at the senior management level and either owns the project or is at least partly responsible for the project's existence and therefore, its success.
Example:
1). List the resources which were interviewed and the date for this questionnaire.
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Attendees:
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LaVonn Gray, Raisha Cobb, Brandon Vinson
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Date:
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05/31/23
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2). Interview questions for the initial project requester.
| PROJECT REQUESTER/CLIENT DISCOVERY |
| Interviewee name: |
Dr. LaVon Gray |
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| What solution are you looking to achieve (CRM, website, web app, app)? |
Slate is a CRM web application |
| What is the purpose of this solution? |
Replace the existing student enrollment web portal (Admissions Pro) |
| Who are the primary decision-makers of this project? |
Functional unit decision- maker is Asst VC Enrollment Services • Enrollment Management
| Technical decision- maker- Raisha Cobb |
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| What is the source of that problem? |
Limited technical capabilities and upgrade capabilities of Admissions Pro/ Banner |
| Why hasn’t it been addressed before? |
License obligation |
| Who are the users? |
Students, enrollment management, admissions |
| Why is this project important to them? |
Improved functionality |
| What are the most common problems faced by your users? |
Random user errors, incomplete data (banner) |
| Is there any documentation already (business presentation, etc.)? |
Yes, reference http://slate.com |
| How does this project align with the university’s strategic initiatives? |
Slate implementation aligns with the following university commitments: |
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| 1. Foster student success |
| 2. Institutional excellence |
| 3. Resource sustainability |
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| Identify resources allocated to this project? |
1. University Program Specialist • Admissions |
| 2. Director of Graduate Enrollment • Integrated Marketing Comm. |
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| What is the budget for this project? |
$50,000 |
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| STAKEHOLDER DISCOVERY |
| Interviewee Name |
Dr. B. Vinson |
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| What is your interest in this project? |
Successful migration from Admissions Pros to Slate implementation which meets requirements for Banner integration |
| What are you worried about in this project? |
Scope and time |
| What is the reason we should undertake this project? |
Help university to meet strategic commitments |
| How will you define the success of this project? |
Required functionality |
| END USER DISCOVERY |
| Interviewee Name |
Anita Hill |
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| What are your daily responsibilities? |
Reviewing, editing, and communicating student application data |
| With this project, are you looking for a solution/an alternative to a particular problem or task? |
“I will be able to manage all student data including updates and communications from one single source (Slate)” |
| What are the most important tasks you (or other people) need to perform in using it? |
Managing student application data and communication |
| What do you like/dislike about the existing solution? |
Communications to student are not tracked and |
| How did you solve/work around this problem? |
“I must use an external spreadsheet to capture communication detail and certain student application data” |