IT-Alignment: IT-Architektur und Organisation (Xpert.press) (German Edition)

---

Experience maps are relatively new. They illustrate experiences people have within a given domain. Figure shows an example of an experience map created by Chris Risdon, also of Adaptive Path. This particular map shows the phases in a trip through Europe by train. It describes the experience people have when traveling in the top portion. At the bottom are opportunities for the business.

The interactions between the two are embedded in the middle of the diagram. A mental model diagram is the broad exploration of human behaviors, feelings, and motivations. The approach was pioneered by Indi Young and detailed in her book Mental Models. These are typically very large diagrams that, when printed, can cover an entire wall.

The example in Figure shows a close-up of a mental model diagram for going to the movies. A horizontal line in the middle divides the diagram into two parts. These are grouped by topic into what are called towers, which are then sectioned off into goal spaces e. The boxes below the center line show support for achieving those goals from various products or services. Unlike customer journey maps, service blueprints, or experience maps, the structure of mental model diagrams is hierarchical rather than chronological.

The two-part arrangement qualifies it as an alignment diagram nonetheless. These diagrams map out aspects of an experience spatially.

Further Reading

As the name implies, spatial maps are neither chronological nor hierarchical. The three-dimensional aspect of this example makes it unique from the previous examples. Figure shows an example of a spatial diagram call an isometric map. And on the right are users of this content, with touchpoints between the two parts. Table summarizes each of the previous diagram type examples through this lens. Each diagram types tells the story of value-centered design in a different way, with different conventions and representations. Note that terminology is used inconsistently in practice.

You may find what one person calls a customer journey map another calls an experience map or blueprint. The lines between these example are oftentimes blurred. The notion of alignment diagrams finds common ground between these examples. As the fields of customer experience, user experience, and service design merge and overlap, it becomes increasingly important to have a range of approaches to solve unique problems.

Alignment diagrams are no panacea. They do not provide immediate answers outright. Instead, they are compelling visualizations that draw others into important conversations about creating value.

Willcocks, Leslie

Your ultimate goal is creating an inclusive dialog within the organization, not creating the diagram itself. Mapping experiences has many potential benefits. Alignment diagrams also generally enjoy a great deal of longevity. Alignment diagrams shed light on real-world human conditions.

In doing so they instill empathy into an organization. Bruce Temkin, a leader in customer experience management, stresses the relevance and importance of such mapping activities. He writes in a blog post:. Diagrams serve as a shared reference, helping to build consensus. In this sense, alignment diagrams are strategic tools: Team members may come and go, and diagrams help maintain continuity. In this sense, they also play a knowledge management function role.

People experience a product or service in a holistic way. Illustrations of the customer experience typically reveal divisional joints in an organization. Discussion around them sparks cross-department collaboration.

Creating diagrams also aids in the design of cross-channel experiences. Consider the cross-channel blueprint Figure created by Tyler Tate, an entrepreneur and expert in search system design. In this simple, yet insightful example, a product taxonomy spans all channels.

But in a typical organization, the print catalog department is likely different from the digital product team and from the physical store. In this case, the implementation of a cross-channel taxonomy requires these units to work directly with one another. In a study in by Booz and Company, a majority of the executives surveyed indicated they were unable to focus on business strategy: Conflicting priorities, competing business units, and an inability to find attractive markets are some of the top issues that contribute to this state.

As a result, many companies lack coherence. Coherence in business strategy—or incoherence, as is often the case—is the subject of The Essential Advantage by Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi. After years of research in corporate strategy, the authors conclude:. Alignment diagrams represent such a deliberate step: In doing so, they bring focus and coherency to organizations. Visualizations offer an immediacy of comprehension, providing insight into previously unnoticed value-creation opportunities. Indi Young describes this potential in a common response to her mental model diagrams from stakeholders:.

They pinpoint areas for improvement in both operational efficiency and experience design, as well as expose opportunities for growth. Good diagrams are both compelling and engaging, providing an outside-in view of the organization. Mapping an experience is a foundational activity.

Because they uncover fundamental human needs and emotions, the data is not volatile. Once completed, diagrams tend not to change very quickly. Alignment diagrams generally remain valid for years. Mental Models Rosenfeld Media, It is an umbrella term for various, contemporary approaches. Thus, alignment diagrams are not a specific technique or method, rather a reframing of existing practices. Examples of alignment diagrams include service blueprints, customer journey maps, experience maps, mental model diagrams, and spatial maps.

By looking at the common principles of alignment found in this type of diagram, mapping takes on a more strategic function. There are many benefits to alignment diagrams:. Alignment diagrams also enjoy substantial longevity. They are based on fundamental human needs and emotions. Once completed, they tend not to change quickly.

In the pipeline

Alignment diagrams are foundational. As complexity in business increases, such approaches are no longer nice to have: Focusing on alignment opens up possibilities. To benefit from the range of options within the category of alignment diagrams requires making choices: Jim Kalbach and Paul Kahn.

We take up topics interesting for both management and engineers, business and IT, customers and vendors.

There will be a lot of practice and theory which is prerequisite for creating good practice. One of the biggest conventions on software quality in Europe invites to Vienna for the eleventh time now. One track will be focused on the key subject exclusively: Further tracks cover the topics of quality, effectiveness and efficiency in system and software development. The speakers of the event are renowned international experts and bring with them profound, practical knowledge from a wide range of fields.

Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality. RE, the Next Generation. RE in the age of digitisation and autonomous systems.

This event offers a platform for Requirements Engineering decision makers, who want to stay on the ball. Leading experts share their experience and expertise in requirements engineering and provide insights into successful strategies and solutions. Today almost all products are "designed" and RE is part of this process! See the event page for more info German only. Today the International Institute of Business Analysis IIBA is launching the Business Analysis Salary Survey which will provide valuable insight into salary trends for business analysis and related business professionals across a variety of functions and industries.

As a strategic partner of IIBA, we are pleased to support the distribution of the survey to our community and seek your input to the survey. The survey will take place between April 19th and May 3rd, and should take approximately 5 to 8 minutes to complete. Your participation is anonymous and confidential. If you have any problems accessing or completing the survey, please email brand iiba. The 9th French Testing Day will take place in Paris. Information about the REConf and the call for papers at https: Our partner iSQI is supporting us in the organization of the event.

We look forward to meeting you on February 16th! Please confirm your attendance until 3rd of February by sending an email to Natasja de Schipper. The event will be held in Dutch language, major parts will be in English language! Four qualification boards have joined forces to launch the "Shaping the Future with IT" initiative, whose aim is to create an interdisciplinary body of knowledge fit for the challenges of software development in a digital society.

Information technology IT is no longer merely a tool to support existing processes. IT in and of itself now helps to shape innovative human interaction, work, organisations and our entire society. In order to meet this increased responsibility, four qualifications boards with different training focuses have joined forces to launch the "Shaping the Future with IT" initiative:.

The aim of this initiative is to use the smart orchestration and integration of the four key disciplines of IT development in order to take active IT design to the next level - allowing associates to attain all knowledge required for shaping the future responsibly and sustainably through IT. The necessity of this initiative stems from nearly 50 years of IT history, characterised by the emergence of numerous specialised subjects and disciplines and reflected in today's even wider variety of IT professions.

The "Shaping the Future with IT" initiative's rationale is to counteract the trend towards a silo mentality in the management of knowledge and to provide an adequate response to both the increasing ubiquity of IT in our daily lives and the incessant shortening of innovation cycles. This development of IT from a tool to an innovator over the last few years has made it necessary to apply an increasingly cross-disciplinary approach to IT work, as propagated by agile process models for instance. The four boards involved will have a shared stand at the OOP conference for software architecture held in Munich from 30 January to 3 February 1.

This caused confusion and has at times been misleading. Also, their respective foundation level syllabi coincide in their content to a significant extent. This has finally resulted in the decision to concentrate forces within a single organization. Benefit for candidates seeking RE certification For candidates striving for more professionalism in RE, one single education scheme to become a Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering is a big benefit, as the weight and reputation of the certificate will become even greater than it already is today.

Furthermore, a couple of typos and grammar issues have been fixed. You may download the new versions from the download section. For details check out the new versions available in the download section. The modifications are mainly related to grammar aspects. Gain knowledge and earn 6.

An outstanding lineup of globally renowned speakers and a set of interesting talks!

IREB will have a booth at the event. With effect from August 1st, included IREB will change the examination regulations for multiple choice exams:. For details please see the new exam regulations. As organizer, Sigs Datacom has appointed an advisory board, Dr. Kim Lauenroth and Dr. Thorsten Weyer, with the task of selecting themes and speakers for this conference. Both are IREB members executive board and council.

IREB is currently developing a module which builds a bridge between agile development and Requirements Engineering. The targeted integration of RE with agile processes supports the key concern of software development in a sustainable way: The module imparts knowledge to RE professionals of how to apply known RE techniques in an agile context.

Agile professionals will gain knowledge on the relevance of agile practices in RE and on how agile practices can usefully supplement RE techniques. We will provide information about the development status at irregular intervals. For more info see alliances and the IIBA website. IREB is running a booth with support from Mr.

See the related page for details. IREB will be present with a couple of partners.

In the conference takes place August 25th - 29th in Karlskrona, Sweden. Prasad Kamath and Mrs. Additionally a new executive committee has been elected that reflects the international structure of IREB:. Instead we are convinced that the methods, techniques fostered by IREB are a natural part of the daily work in agile environments — probably applied differently in sequence and emphases. This will give you the opportunity to discover or learn more about the most recent Rational products developments, to exchange with your peers and get feedbacks from the field on the use of the Rational solutions, and finally to meet experts from IBM Rational as well as from Business Partners to discuss practices, technologies, projet outcomes or new standards.

Stefan Sturm holds a talk "Certification in Requirements Engineering, does it make business sense? You'll know everything you ever wanted to know about the certification. Get ready to jumpstart your career. Today we have published the Chinese Foundation Level practice exam! Chinese exams will be available early in ! Today we have published the Chinese Foundation Level Syllabus, the Glossary and the exam regulations! The documents can be downloaded from the download section. The practice exam will follow soon.

Derzeit liegt das Handbuch nur in deutscher Sprache vor. Das Handbuch kann im Downloadbereich heruntergeladen werden. On October 17th Mr. It is the aim of the magazine to provide the RE community with technical information and to be a platform for discussion. Therefore, everyone is welcome to submit articles. In the conference takes place in Rio de Janeiro. The event will be in English language with focus on. To register for either date please send mail at events ireb. The British Computer Society offers a variety of diploma for professional development.

Within the diploma Business Analysis there is a certificate Requirements Engineering. Read more on the partner page…. See the registration page for details.

• Get Real Greetings: Creating Cards for Your Sassiest Sentiments
• The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China
• Del romanzo e, in genere, de’ componimenti misti di storia e d’invenzione (Italian Edition)
• Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-1989
• US Army, Technical Manual, TM 5-3610-254-10-HR, EDITORIAL AND PHOTOMECHANICAL SHELTER COMPONENTS OF