Overview
After conducting a diagnostic process, we need to get all of our findings, thoughts, and ideas into writing. The Diagnostic Report is the main deliverable of our Diagnostic process. It represents the final shared understanding between us and the client, and our full vision for the project. The Diagnostic report must include enough information for the project organizer to create a clear SOW for the next phase (typically UX)
Over time we’ve experimented with many different methodologies for this deliverable. This procedure represents a baseline approach which you can modify to meet the particular needs of the client.
Here are some example diagnostic reports. Note that they represent a variety of different diagnostic scopes, so you may not be able to achieve the same level of detail in the hours you have for your particular diagnostic. In recent times, we have shifted some information architecture/UX work out of the diagnostic and into the initial UX scope. That is to prevent premature decision-making that ultimately affects the project.
- Bipartisan Policy Center: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11WOSagz_DC0ZRO27b9ecr0FmsLXXHvPS/view?usp=sharing
- APC: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-1C5nelUbsgkYKGoPeGZ9I4cfDs92OaZ_B6Ur_31mIo/edit#heading=h.ikaih426oy76
- Genesis App: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0ADjtdcl47UC6Uk9PVA
A diagnostic report should generally be 20-30 pages. There is no template yet, so for now, start with an existing report as your base. Over time we will create a template to start from. The format is generally something like:
- Overview
- Diagnostic Findings
- Your Brand
- Project Vision
- Goals
- Site Outline
- Other Features
- Technical Plan
- Estimates
We add different sections and sub-sections on a case-by-case basis. It all depends on what our plan actually is, and what the client is focused on or challenged by.
A good plan satisfies the client’s:
- Needs (What they want to be different about their business or the world when we’re done)
- Capacity (How much time, money, and effort they can put in to the project)
- Brand Position (Where they fit in their industry, their marketing and advertising approach, and what kind of audience they can cultivate)
If any of those elements is not right, the plan will run into problems. So to ensure that we are fully aware, we need to speak extensively with the client. Often in doing so, we will reveal aspects of their company they themselves find surprising. This is especially powerful for new brands. We act as an initial litmus test of the brand concept that they have in mind. We find ourselves frequently identifying key gaps and helping to fill them through our broader insight. This is where we are much more than a typical web design firm. We are not rote scribes but authors of a vision that touches more than just pixels on the screen.
Who can do this
The project DRI is responsible for writing the Diagnostic report. However, they can delegate various aspects amongst the team.
Crucially, the Diagnostic report includes an estimate. Estimating projects is its own art and does require some specific experience. It should be a collaboration between the DRI and team to make sure it is accurate and comprehensive to what the client has asked and what the project vision is. Ask your manager for help if it’s your first time. For more information, see:
What you need
- You need to have participated in or listened to all the calls during the Diagnostic phase.
- You should have gone through all materials shared with the client during the sales process
Steps
The first section should be an overview. It should describe the process of discovery we are undertaking and should summarize our findings so far. It should act as a "cover letter" for readers within the client’s organization to understand why this document exists and what it is for.
Typical Headings: Diagnostic Findings, Your Brand
The next few sections focus on the client’s business and what we found out during our diagnostic. In a Diagnostic we go deep on the client’s brand, business, competition, etc. We need to summarize all those findings in the Diagnostic report. We will often go through the client’s existing website analytics, competitor sites, etc, and should include those findings as well. Basically any work that we did during discovery should yield some output at the beginning of the report.
Typical Headings: Vision, Goals
The crux of the diagnostic report is a vision for the project to come. This is where we consider all the background context that we have absorbed and turn that into an inspiring, exciting plan. The vision should probably be 4-5 paragraphs describing what we would like to do and why. Creating this should be a collaboration of the whole team. Someone more marketing/strategy oriented will be great at establishing the big picture ideas, while more tactical thinkers can work through how we’d approach things. The team has to first create the vision through conversation, then write it down.
We also like to set specific goals for each project with key metrics to watch. These are paired with the vision because the vision is of a world where the goals are met.
Typical Headings: Site Outline, Other Features, Technical Plan
Once we’ve summarized the context, we need to create a clear, actionable plan for the project itself, and outline it here. At this stage we should have a sense of what the website sections are, if not the specific pages in each section. In order to plan out the site, we will typically do some thinking around the ideal information architecture (IA) during the Diagnostic. However, a deeper IA process should take place during UX.