Digital transformation consulting cases
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Context | Example digital transformation cases | Full case example
What is a digital transformation consulting case? (Top)
A digital transformation case is a general case with an added flavor of introducing a new product or moving from an offline to online way of working. Most companies today, regardless of industry, are needing to adapt to the changing technological environment. The shift to SaaS based solutions, the transition from offline to online models, and then, from online to cloud just as some examples of the ways technology is changing the way of business. And while there is a cost to implementing most of these advancements, there are also strong value cases as they often lead to improved profit margins through cost savings and improved profits from better customer experience.
Digital transformation cases hint at the importance of this growing realm of work for consulting firms who are involved from the roadmap planning to the implementation. With this in mind, digital transformation cases typically have a few unique characteristics:
- they are more likely “product” focused where there is an element of introducing a new service or new way of doing work into an existing business,
- they can vary across industries and sectors though likely have a consumer angle, and
- require light knowledge of product design principles.
What is it testing?
Let’s start off with the easy things. A case is a case, so don’t let digital transformations throw you off. You still need to demonstrate the same set of skills such as being analytical, able to do some math, and brainstorm creative ideas etc. Where a digital transformation case differs is the expectation that you have a high level understanding of the way modern product development works and can demonstrate your understanding when you go to present your framework and in the flow of the case.
So what is modern product development and how does it differ from the past?
Traditional product development is mostly done through a waterfall approach. This means that one team completes their work and then hands it to the next team, until the project is complete. It is highly linear and often results in long development timelines where it can take multiple years to build a product that is outdated even before it goes to market.
As a result, modern development approaches try to solve these long cycles by pushing for minimum viable products (MVPs) rather than the full end to end solutions. To do so, they employ what is known as an agile approach working in one or two week sprints to build something that you iterate on. Two weeks may not get you to the final product but by building one piece at a time, it allows you to ensure that the product or piece that you are building still meets consumer demand and the user you are serving.
Agile can also be further broken down into more specific ways of work such as kanban or scrum, which are just additional flavors depending on how the organization likes to work. Kanban is an iteration of agile but by being more ruthless about reducing the amount of work in progress. A board is usually set up with a normal cadence of meetings where ideas/tickets are moved from backlog to in-progress to active work. Scrum is focused on the interactions across teams and is the most relevant for projects that require multiple teams to come together with a scrum master usually helps prioritize and manage backlogs to ensure that teams are synchronized.
You won’t be expected to become a scrum master in the case but be comfortable talking about why agile may be the right approach for the client, how it differs from waterfall approaches, and some of the potential ways you could break down the product to its MVP form.
Once you have a solid understanding of product development, other key topics to understand include: a) how to think about doing an A/B test to figure out user needs and how to prioritize product development, b) how to measure and track success using key performance indicators (KPIs) or objectives and key results (OKRs) on tech metrics including conversion and downtime, and c) understanding customer preferences via surveys, user testing, feasibility studies etc.
Types of digital transformation cases (Top)
At a high level, there are two types of digital transformation questions. One set focuses on product design and the other on broader digital strategy. Under product design, the focus will be on either a new product or a process improvement. For digital strategy, we are likely talking about solutioning around a particular metric, moving to a new operating model, new market entry, or pricing/monetization.
Sample product design questions:
#1: We are interested in helping Hermes build a new smart bag, how do we go about this?
#2: Our client hosts concerts and works with music venues to bring live events to people. Now, they are thinking about ways to use digital tools to better serve customers and generate additional revenue, how would you go about scoping the opportunity?
#3: Kohler wants to improve their digital experience and create a new application for the iOs/Android market, where do we begin?
#4: Intuit currently plays in the SMB space and they are interested in expanding their product offering to larger companies. How should they start building out a product offering for this market?
Sample strategy questions:
#1: Shell gas stations have their own loyalty program but it is seeing low adoption, how can we improve it?
#2: Dollar Shave Club is looking for more monetization of its digital experience, how can we better monetize?
#3: Poshmark is looking to expand their Asia user base, what products should we build?
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Full case example (Top)
Now that you’ve become a knowledge expert and can speak the digital lingo, let’s put it into practice by solving a real digital transformation consulting case.
Kohl’s wants to improve their digital experience and create a new application for the iOs/Android market, where do we begin?
Step 1: Ask questions
Before you start the case, you should understand as much as you can about the prompt. Here, some important questions to ask would include:
- Is there an existing digital experience or application or are we building from scratch?
- What are the other products today that are digitally enabled? Are there stoves or fridges that have digital applications that we can plug into for example?
- Who do we have in mind when we go to market this app? Is it someone who is very tech savvy or someone who is a professional chef looking for more functionality?
Having a clear sense of the product and who it is being built for will really help you with your framework.
Step 2: The framework
Understanding the customer - When you go to do your framework, the best place to start is from the customer because central to an agile way of work is building out the MVP so that you can test what works and improve from there. Subsequently, you always want to understand the problem and identify the target customer.
A sample answer following the prompt above could include:
I want to better understand the customers who are using Kohler products today as well as who would use the digital experience. I understand that it is a home appliance brand, so we could look at this by demographics related to age, occupation, what types of appliances they own, how many Kohler appliances they own etc.
Understanding the company and its products - After you understand the customer, you want to know more about the company, its products, and capabilities so you can best understand how they will bring this to life.
A sample answer following the prompt above could include:
Once we understand the customer, I want to know more about Kohler. What products do they sell? What are their highest sales products? Do they have a technology team right now? What are their aspirations in building out additional digital assets?
Sizing the opportunity and building the product - Once we know the customer and the company, we need to begin to decide what we are building and how to prioritize. Here, we can come up with a list of attributes or features that we want, prioritize them, understand the opportunity, and evaluate the trade offs.
A sample answer following the prompt above could include:
I imagine the digital experience needs to be personalized to the appliances in an individual household. Subsequently, key features I imagine we would want to have are a personalized homepage, ability to add other house members, ability to add appliances, monitor your home etc. I’d like to prioritize these and start to think about what we can provide on a freemium model versus make gated and begin to bundle into product features that we can charge for.
After your framework, circle back to the beginning and start with your first bucket of customers. More likely than not, your interviewer will be able to provide some insights on the type of customer whether it is user preferences survey results or conversion metrics etc.
Step 3: Brainstorming and answering case questions
During the course of the case, additional questions or brainstorming that may come up. Sample questions include:
How would you go about prioritizing what best to build?
A sample answer following the prompt above could include:
Keeping in line with the agile framework, first, I would define what a MVP could look like and iterate from there. To do that, I would conduct user research and define the features that are the most relevant. Secondly, I would think about what we can build in two weeks that allows the user to have the basic functionality. Lastly, after we make the initial build, we can then move through the backlog of items based on user preferences.
How do you think about measuring success?
A sample answer following the prompt above could include:
Keeping in line with the agile framework, first, I would define what a MVP could look like and iterate from there. To do that, I would conduct user research and define the features that are the most relevant. Secondly, I would think about what we can build in two weeks that allows the user to have the basic functionality. Lastly, after we make the initial build, we can then move through the backlog of items based on user preferences.
Conclusion
Don’t let digital transformations throw you off! Once you’ve had a review of product development processes and read up on some modern technologies, incorporate that into your existing case framework and follow the steps as you normally would. Happy casing.
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