Traditional Business Rules vs. Predictive Software Features
I spent nearly half of my career writing requirements and developing and testing software the traditional way....
2 min read
If you don’t take a TOP DOWN and BOTTOM UP approach to design user-facing AI software, you’ll suffer the consequences of missed timelines, a blown budget, or user rejection.
When designing software products it’s common to apply a user-centered approach.
After all… if users don’t like your product, IT WON’T BE USED.
Involving users in the design process lowers your adoption and engagement risks.
This TOP DOWN design approach simply makes sense.
It is much less common to see teams design software based on data — a BOTTOM UP approach. Building products that integrate with other systems or modernizing products that already have data lend themselves to this approach. And these projects often uninvest in the user-centered approach.
It’s extremely rare for design teams to apply both approaches simultaneously.
This is a HUGE MISS.
I can’t even count how many times I’ve led product efforts where the “long tail” work was making sure the data stored in the database (or other system) was properly mapped to the fields on the user interface and visa-versa.
This problem is amplified when building user-facing AI products.
Most of our clients have separate data and product development (or business intelligence) teams. At the beginning of a new initiative, they do their work independently only to find things don't line up late in the game:
- The product team designed a user experience that makes sense to users; but it had the wrong assumptions about the underlying data and AI models requiring rework.
- The data team didn’t fully comprehend the user experience and trained AI models or built APIs that need to be reworked so users appreciate the experience.
As innovation leaders, I encourage all of you to bring your product and data teams together early.
Codesign your AI product from the beginning.
And, most importantly, continue codesigning the product’s user experience, data, and AI models as it crystallizes throughout the lifecycle.
About Synaptiq
Synaptiq is an AI and data science consultancy based in Portland, Oregon. We collaborate with our clients to develop human-centered products and solutions. We uphold a strong commitment to ethics and innovation.
Contact us if you have a problem to solve, a process to refine, or a question to ask.
You can learn more about our story through our past projects, blog, or podcast.