Chapter 2: Defining Business Objectives
SMART, Product Thinking, CTQ, and OKR approach the objective from different angles. These formulations allow you to quickly move from intention to a proposal that stakeholders can discuss, measure, and improve.
Adaptable formulas
Replace each bracketed element, then check that the formulation illuminates a real decision.
Specify the result, its measurement, context, and deadline.
« From now on [deadline], move [indicator] of [starting value] à [target], from [segment or context], while maintaining [quality constraint]. »
Focus on business results, audience, and expected progress rather than the solution.
« In order to [business outcome sought]— We will help [audience] à [expected need or progress] by offering [experience or value proposition]. We'll know it works when [observable behaviors or results]. »
Translate an important expectation into observable operational requirement.
« So that [result or experience] considered satisfactory by [client, user, or stakeholder], [critical characteristic] must respect [observable requirement], measured by [indicator] with a threshold of [value]. »
Associate an ambitious qualitative direction with a few measurable key results.
« Our goal is to [ambitious and qualitative direction]. We will measure our progress by passing [Key Result 1] of [starting point] à [target], to achieve [Key Result 2] and maintaining [Key Result 3 or safeguard], by [deadline]. »
Before retaining the formulation
These formulations are starting points, not recipes. Filling in the blanks does not exempt you from verifying the relevance of the objective, metrics, and targets.