What makes a good ‘Statement of Work’

Ever started a design project and halfway through you stop, are confused and think ’what are we doing again’? If this is the case, which I hear happens a bit, you need a statement of work. This document irons out the key outcomes and deliverables expected. It should document in detail the hypothesis, the research, the outcome/s, and the solution/s. At the end of the project when someone looks over your statement of work, it should tell a story: the research (beginning), the outcomes (middle) and the solution (end).

When putting the statement of work together it’s important that the document is shared with everyone who is working on the project. Whether its UX designers, product managers, delivery leads, etc, it’s important everyone has a say in it and everyone has easy access to it.

I find it works best when the document is split into 3 key sections (1) research (2) results/outcomes (3) solution/designs.

First up… Let’s take a look at the research section. This section is the roots of the project. It should document strongly the problem and any hypothesis. This is important because it’s easy to drift away from the original problem. Having it clearly documented means if the team drifts way it can collectively bring the team back together working on the same problem.

Research

The problem: What is the current problem? What challenges are users facing? What are the issues and root causes?
A Hypotheses: The difference the team thinks the project will make for its customers. ‘We think that…. Will have the following effect.’ Focus the hypotheses around the problem.
We would like to identify: What are the key things you would like to identify around the problem
Assumptions to be tested: What are the current assumptions?
Value it will bring: What is the likely user benefit and business benefit?
Testing methods: What testing methods will you use to get the data to work with? Guerrilla testing, one on one interviews, surveys.

Once you have outlined and undertaken the research, it’s time for you to now tackle the project. The results section is about building on from the research section to work out users motivations and pain points.

Results

Competitor analysis: Take a look at the current trends in the market and what your competitors are doing.
Behavioural archetype/persona: From undertaking the initial research it has been identified who has this problem? What motivates them? What are they trying to accomplish? What are their pain points?
Mapping exercise: Detail any mapping exercises that will be run to solve the correct problem.
User flows and sitemaps: Sitemaps are good to see how different pages connect – can you see ways the site map could be improved? User flows are great to see what the user interacts with to get to their end goal – are their ways the user flow can be simplified?
Ideation techniques: All creative ideas should be documented – with going into further detail on which solution is the winner.

And finally…

Design/Solution

Prototypes/Wireframes: All final paper prototypes should be saved online along with the low and high fidelity wireframes.
Report: This might not be needed but as I have tended to work for organisations where there are a lot of key stakeholders spread across many different platforms I create reports to send them. The reports are sent prior to any development work so everyone is across the project. It documents the problem, the research methods, and new designs.
Data/metrics: It is important that new designs are measured and tracked to see whether the solution fixed the problem.

I hope I have helped you put together your Statement of Work together… or helped you improve the one you already use.