A project manager is delivering a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. The organization's strategic objective is to improve customer satisfaction scores by 15% within six months of the CRM launch. During user acceptance testing (UAT), feedback indicates that while the system meets all functional requirements, the user interface is clunky and unintuitive, potentially hindering adoption and thus the achievement of the satisfaction goal. What should the project manager do?
- AEngage with stakeholders to assess the severity of the UI issue and its potential impact on benefit realization, proposing solutions.
- BLaunch the system as planned, as all functional requirements are met.
- CForce users to adapt to the new interface, emphasizing the functional benefits.
- DImmediately halt the launch and redesign the entire user interface.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Engage with stakeholders to assess the severity of the UI issue and its potential impact on benefit realization, proposing solutions.
The project's ultimate goal is to deliver strategic benefits (customer satisfaction). A clunky UI, despite functional completeness, directly threatens benefit realization. The project manager must proactively engage stakeholders to assess the impact, quantify the risk to benefits, and propose solutions (e.g., minor UI tweaks, training, phased rollout) to ensure the project delivers its intended value.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Launching a system that meets functional but not usability needs can lead to poor adoption and failure to realize strategic benefits.
- C. Forcing users to adapt to a poor UI will likely lead to frustration, low adoption, and failure to achieve customer satisfaction goals.
- D. Immediately halting the launch and redesigning entirely without a thorough impact assessment and stakeholder input is an overreaction and can cause significant delays and cost overruns.
Benefit Threat Mitigation
The process of identifying potential risks or issues that could prevent a project from achieving its intended strategic benefits and developing proactive strategies to address them.
- Focuses on strategic outcomes, not just outputs.
- Requires continuous monitoring of user adoption and satisfaction.
- Involves stakeholder engagement for solution development.
Memory trick: Benefits threatened? Brainstorm, then present options.