Scott Sehlhorst, President of Tyner Blain LLC, developed this graph to improve product development by understanding which stakeholders are impacted most by your product.

Timing: 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • Online access
  • A product

Players (5..8 recommended):

  • Product Manager / Product Owner
  • Development Team

Directions:
Clicking on this image will start an “instant play” game at innovationgames.com; simply email the game link to your team to invite them to play. In the game, the image to the right will be used as the “game board,” which organizes the various people who are impacted by your product. The chart contains four concentric circle, signifying the following:

  • Innermost: The product (ex. Pest Control Software)
  • 2nd: System – direct stakeholders (ex. Manager)
  • 3rd: Containing system – stakeholders of the system, even if they don’t directly interact with it (ex. Service technician)
  • 4th: Wider Environment – stakeholders outside of the environment (ex. Suppliers, customers)

In the upper left corner, you will see a note card icon and people icons. Begin by dragging the note card to the center of the chart and indicating the product you are focusing on. Then, work as a team to identify stakeholders that belong in each area by dragging the people icons to the circles and describing who they represent. This requires you to think outside the box (or shall we say circle?), as each user persona will be connected to many others within the ecosystem.

Players can edit the placement and description of each icon, which everyone can view in real time. Use the integrated chat facility and communicate with your players throughout the game to get a better understanding of each move. After the game, the results will be organized in a spread sheet to maximize the benefits of the game.

Key Points:
One reason products fail is because teams do not solve the problems that are important to the right users. These personas are not always obvious, as they may be associated with the product through indirect connections. With this game, you can identify the vast web of people your product impacts and explore the complex butterfly effect; doing so reveals which stakeholders are most important and what your product requirements are.