THE ACTIVE3D APPROACH
Active3D operates as an Interactive Development and Experience Design studio, primarily utilizing Kaizen as our efficiency model and Next Generation Agile or DevOps methodologies in our software development processes.
In our development process at Active3D, a significant aspect of our approach is the strong advocacy for the client’s end user, both internal and external audiences. We consistently prioritize and champion the guest experience and needs. This focus is crucial, as organizations and teams frequently lens goals and KPIs from an internal perspective, overlooking the fundamental importance of resonating with their audience. Our methodology integrates a user-centric perspective, ensuring that while we align with our clients’ internal operational models, we also maintain a keen focus on how the end product will engage and fulfill the needs of the final users. This balance between technical proficiency and user engagement is key to driving conversions, as it aligns the product’s capabilities with the real-world demands and expectations of those it’s designed to serve.
At Active3D, our operational ethos is deeply rooted in maintaining openness, candor, honesty, and transparency in all our interactions and processes (trust each other and talk frankly about the elephants in the room). We extend this philosophy to our collaborations with client teams, actively encouraging a similar level of openness in our joint endeavors. Our experience has consistently shown that such an environment is conducive to genuine invention and fostering innovation. This transparent approach minimizes missteps and backtracking, ensuring a streamlined development process. Moreover, it allows for a more inclusive and efficient integration of ideas and innovations, significantly enhancing the value of the projects. We have observed that this strategy not only expedites project timelines but also notably elevates customer and guest satisfaction levels, as it ensures that all potential improvements and creative insights are effectively captured and implemented in the shortest possible time frame.
While our foundational practices are rooted in Kaizen and Next Generation Agile, we recognize the varied operational models of our clients. Our team is skilled in adapting these methodologies to align with the diverse internal operational philosophies that exist within different departments of client organizations. This includes understanding and accommodating the distinct approaches of marketing and sales departments, which often require more agile and dynamic strategies, as well as the more structured and process-driven methods typical of technical, IT, or operational teams.
Our approach is tailored to not only integrate with but also enhance the existing operational strategies of our clients. We aim to bridge the gap between differing departmental methodologies, ensuring that our development processes are in sync with the broader organizational goals of our clients. This adaptability in our operational approach enables us to provide solutions that are both technically sound and in harmony with the varied efficiency models present in our clients’ environments.
ORGANIZATION EFFICIENCY & DEVELOPMENT MODELS -
ACTIVE3D HYBRID STRATEGY
Efficiency models and software development models are distinct yet complementary approaches used in organizational and project management. Efficiency models, like Kaizen, Six Sigma, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, and Next Generation Agile, focus on process improvement and operational efficiency across various industries. They aim to reduce waste, improve quality, and enhance value delivery.
Software development models, such as Agile Development, Waterfall Development, and DevOps Development, cater specifically to software project management. Agile is known for its flexibility and iterative approach, Waterfall for its structured, linear process, and DevOps for integrating development with IT operations.
While these models serve different primary purposes, they can be synergistically combined. Efficiency models can bring quality and process optimization to software projects, whereas software development models can introduce dynamic, customer-focused methodologies to general business practices. This integration facilitates a comprehensive approach to achieving both operational excellence and effective software development.
VALUE APPROACH + REPURPOSING OF ASSETS
By employing the efficiency and open communication philosophies above, we also aim to identify opportunities early in the project management process that help esure graphic libraries, multimedia assets, and other materials are optimized to be modular and portable across digital, hybrid, or in-person/physical events. Our goal is to bring more value to our initiatives by maintaining the potential of produced works to be repurposed across other communications, training tools and marketing campaigns.
TOP OPERATION & ORGANIZATION EFFICIENCY MODELS
Six Sigma
- Core Principle: Reducing defects and process variability.
- Focus: Quality control using statistical methods.
- Approach: Employs DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology for process improvement.
- Outcome: Achieving near-perfect products and processes.
- Cost Reduction: Attained by reducing defects and process variability, leading to higher quality and lower operational costs.
- Product Improvement: Emphasizes defect reduction in products, aiming for near-perfect quality.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Heavily focused on meeting stringent quality standards, which indirectly enhances customer satisfaction through superior product quality.
Lean
- Core Principle: Maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.
- Focus: Streamlining processes and eliminating non-value-adding activities.
- Approach: Continuous improvement with a strong emphasis on efficiency and waste reduction.
- Outcome: Faster, more efficient processes delivering maximum value to the customer.
- Cost Reduction: Focuses on eliminating waste (anything that doesn’t add value to the customer), which naturally reduces costs.
- Product Improvement: Streamlines processes to improve speed and efficiency, indirectly improving product quality by focusing on value.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Customer value is central to Lean; all improvements aim to enhance customer satisfaction by maximizing value and minimizing waste.
Lean Six Sigma
- Core Principle: Integrating Lean’s efficiency with Six Sigma’s quality control.
- Focus: Combining process speed and quality.
- Approach: Uses tools and principles from both Lean and Six Sigma.
- Outcome: Enhanced process efficiency and quality, leading to better customer satisfaction and business performance.
- Cost Reduction: Combines Lean’s waste elimination with Six Sigma’s defect reduction for significant cost savings.
- Product Improvement: Aims for efficient processes and high-quality output, improving product reliability and performance.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Balances internal efficiency (Lean) and quality (Six Sigma) with a strong emphasis on meeting customer requirements.
Kaizen
- Core Principle: Continuous improvement in all aspects of an organization.
- Focus: Small, incremental changes involving every employee.
- Approach: Emphasizes employee involvement and everyday improvement rather than large-scale changes.
- Outcome: Enhanced productivity, efficiency, quality, and overall business culture.
- Cost Reduction: Achieved through continuous small improvements, reducing waste and inefficiencies incrementally.
- Product Improvement: Focuses on ongoing, minor enhancements rather than major overhauls, leading to gradual product refinement.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Strives for a balance; improvements are often driven by employee suggestions, which can align with customer needs and internal efficiency goals.
Active3D believes in identifying the various operational models that may exist across our partner organizations and departments. We aim to pair our approach with their model and the needs of the identified end-user audiences.
This hybrid strategy champions user-centricity, ensuring that both internal and external end-users are at the forefront of every development process. This approach efficiently adapts projects to diverse operational models and bridges departmental methodologies, ensuring synchronization with broader organizational goals, real-world user demands and audience conversion.
TOP DEVELOPMENT MODELS
Next Generation Agile (Agile Sigma or Continuous Development)
- Core Principle: Integration of Agile and Lean Six Sigma methodologies to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness. Merges the best aspects of Agile and Lean Six Sigma, aiming for efficient, high-quality, and customer-focused outcomes. This integrated approach is particularly beneficial for organizations looking to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in a dynamic market environment. This model represents a forward-thinking approach, aligning the nimbleness of Agile with the systematic efficiency of Lean Six Sigma, making it a potentially powerful methodology for modern businesses.
- Focus: Maximizing the strengths of both Agile and Lean Six Sigma to improve process efficiency, team collaboration, speed-to-market, performance, quality, and customer satisfaction.
- Approach: Combines Agile’s rapid response and iterative development with Lean Six Sigma’s focus on reducing variation and eliminating waste.
- Outcome: Aims to address the shortcomings of both methodologies separately, offering a more comprehensive, efficient, and effective approach.
- Marketing, New Business, and Lead Generation: Next Generation Agile can significantly enhance marketing efforts by combining Agile’s adaptability and responsiveness with Lean Six Sigma’s efficiency and focus on customer value. This approach can lead to more effective, data-driven marketing strategies and improved new business and lead generation initiatives.
- Cost Reduction: Utilizes Agile’s flexibility in managing change and Lean Six Sigma’s waste elimination to reduce costs while maintaining quality and efficiency.
- Product Improvement: Agile’s iterative approach combined with Lean Six Sigma’s quality focus leads to continuous product enhancement.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Balances the rapid development and customer-centric focus of Agile with the process efficiency and precision of Lean Six Sigma, ensuring that both customer needs and internal goals are met effectively.
Agile Development
- Core Principle: Flexibility and rapid response to change.
- Focus: Iterative development in software and project management.
- Approach: Short, iterative cycles (sprints) with frequent reassessment and adaptation.
- Outcome: Incremental delivery of products, allowing for flexibility and continuous improvement based on feedback.
- Cost Reduction: Indirectly achieved through flexibility and adaptability, reducing time and resources spent on rework.
- Product Improvement: Iterative development allows for continual refinement based on customer feedback.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Highly customer-centric; customer feedback is integral to each iteration, ensuring product development aligns with customer needs. Aligns closely with customer needs, allowing for flexible product development and potential cost savings in rework.
DevOps Development
- Core Principle: Integration of development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams to enhance collaboration and productivity. DevOps stands out for its emphasis on collaboration between traditionally siloed teams (development and operations), fostering a culture of continuous improvement and efficiency. This approach aligns closely with Agile principles but extends them into the realm of operations, emphasizing automation, monitoring, and rapid deployment to enhance both product quality and customer experience.
- Focus: Bridging the gap between software development, quality assurance, and IT operations.
- Approach: Emphasizes continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) practices, automation, and frequent, reliable releases.
- Outcome: Faster development cycles, improved deployment quality, and more stable operating environments.
- Cost Reduction: Achieved through automation, streamlined workflows, and improved collaboration, reducing time-to-market and operational costs.
- Product Improvement: Continuous integration and delivery ensure rapid iteration and improvement of products, with a focus on high-quality releases.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: DevOps heavily emphasizes customer experience by ensuring rapid deployment of features and quick resolution of issues, aligning operational efficiency with customer needs.
Waterfall Development
- Core Principle: Sequential and linear project management.
- Focus: Systematic, phased approach to software development.
- Approach: Each phase (requirements, design, implementation, verification, maintenance) must be completed before the next begins.
- Outcome: Clear project milestones and deliverables, but less flexibility to change once a phase is completed.
- Cost Reduction: Structured approach can be cost-effective for projects with well-defined requirements; however, changes can be costly due to the linear nature.
- Product Improvement: Emphasizes thorough requirement and design phases, aiming for high-quality outputs but less adaptable to changing customer needs.
- Customer Satisfaction vs. Internal Goals: Tends to prioritize internal goals and project milestones; customer feedback is typically incorporated only in the early stages. Cost-effective for fixed projects but less adaptable; focuses more on internal goals than ongoing customer feedback.
The top development models each offer unique strengths in addressing different aspects of software project management. Active3D’s approach, influenced by these models, particularly emphasizes user-centric development, transparency, and adaptability to various operational models.
This blend, rooted in principles like Agile flexibility and DevOps collaborative efficiency, ensures that software solutions are not only technically sound but also aligned with the real-world demands and expectations of end-users. This approach effectively bridges the gap between varying internal goals and customer needs, leading to more efficient, innovative, and successful software development outcomes.