From digital agency to digital experience studio: Code Computerlove on why it created its Lean Studio Manifesto

SOLVE PROBLEMS over Predefined Solutions

Most briefs focus on solutions, but we work with our clients to understand the real problem that needs to be solved. Code is home to clever people across the disciplines of digital, strategy, design, engineering and optimisation disciplines, so why ask clever people to simply cut solutions with pre-defined shapes?

EXPERIENCES over Designs

A common early failure is come to the table with a preconceived view of design for your product to implement. The best products are created with one person in the centre - the consumer. Our teams use customer-led design thinking to quickly create greats customer experiences, supported by real data. red

PRODUCT over Project

By nature a project has a preconceived start and finish, whereas a product evolves and stays current. This focus on product allows us to identify the 'must have' items, reduce 'should have' items to a minimum and cuts out the 'could have' items so we can quickly release, validate & learn at a micro level. We call this an iterative product roadmap - using data & feedback to steer the future direction of the product.

VALUE over Volume

It's easy to fall into a 'just build it' mentality, where the only thing of importance is hitting a deadline, feature list or budget. As a result, many release features that are either not really required and/or perform at a sub optimal level. Multiply these sub optimal items by a few hundred, and the overall value of your product has an exponential curve of waste and inefficiency.

We work with our clients to challenge and define the value of features upfront. Being able to define the KPI at a granular level derives a return on investment for each lever within the product.

DATA DRIVEN over Opinion

Every day we see decisions being made through old school practices like 'HiPPO' (Highest Paid Persons Opinion), and 'JFDI' (I'm not going to spell that one out!). This approach promotes bad practices as decisions based on opinion are rarely supported by evidence, insight & data. At Code, we strongly advise our teams and clients to identify insight, or measurement that supports the validity and value of an item of work - aiding with prioritisation.

ITERATIVE over Big Bang

There still seems to be some attraction to spending a huge amount of time and money frantically building a load of features, so at the end you can pull back the curtain, set off the party cannons and unveil your new feature rich product, despite the several obvious drawbacks to that approach, not least that you’ll need to do the whole thing again in 12 months time.

By iterating fast, releasing feature by feature, and using insights, data and feedback to drive prioritisation changes in your backlog, you deliver what people really want today and tomorrow. In a big bang world, you can only deliver what seemed right for your customers six-12 months ago, not what they want today.

ADAPTABILITY over Constraints

Products need to be adaptable so we can change their shape and direction to meet an ever-changing consumer world. At Code Computerlove, we repeatedly see constraints in the products we inherit from previous suppliers – typically appointed on a fixed cost, fixed scope, fixed time basis with high amounts of technical debt and risk.

From a technical perspective, we employ a loosely coupled architectural model to any integration (CMS, CRM, Payment, etc.) so that elements can be swapped out easier with less impact and no need to build it all again. We push modern engineering practices around test-driven development, automated regression to minimise risk, and enable products to be refactored at a lower cost point for the long term.

We hope that by creating and promoting our Lean Studio Manifesto, we can move beyond merely transmitting marketing messages in our communications with customers to deliver new and existing clients with true insight into Code Computerlove and our working methods.

Dave Heath is technical director at Code Computerlove