Template for Creating a Project Vision Statement

An ESRI Technical Paper August 2004

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Template for Creating a Project

Vision Statement

An ESRI Technical Paper

Contents Page

High-Level Project Overview ............................................................... 1

Business Problem............................................................................ 1
Problem Statement .......................................................................... 1
Project Position ............................................................................... 1
Organizational Position................................................................... 2

User Description ................................................................................... 2

User Profiles.................................................................................... 2
User Environment ........................................................................... 2
Current User Needs......................................................................... 2
Alternative Solutions ...................................................................... 3
Alternate Solution 1 .................................................................. 3
Alternate Solution 2 .................................................................. 3

Application Overview........................................................................... 3
Application Perspective .................................................................. 3
Summary of Application Capabilities............................................. 3
Assumptions and Dependencies ..................................................... 3

Application Features ............................................................................. 4

Feature 1.......................................................................................... 4
Feature 2.......................................................................................... 4

Additional Application Requirements .................................................. 4

Constraints ...................................................................................... 4
Quality Ranges................................................................................ 4
Precedence and Priority .................................................................. 4
Application Standards..................................................................... 4

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Contents ...............................................................................................Page

System Requirements...................................................................... 5
Performance Requirements............................................................. 5
Documentation Requirements......................................................... 5

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J-9305

Template for Creating a Project

Vision Statement
The purpose of this document is to capture the client's overall vision for
the project.1 This information will help ensure that the project goals and
high-level requirements are well understood. The information provided in
this document is often required prior to completing a detailed project
proposal or implementation plan. Please provide all information to the
best of your ability, omitting only those sections that may be irrelevant to
your project or the current scope of work. If you have an existing
document that addresses the same issues, please feel free to attach it in its
entirety or reference it as appropriate.

High-Level Project
Overview

Business Problem This section describes the business requirements being met by this project.

Problem Statement This section summarizes the problem being solved by this project. The following issues
should be addressed:

Describe the problem.

Describe the stakeholders affected by the problem.

Describe the impact of the problem on the organization.

Describe what a successful solution would mean (i.e., what are the key benefits this
project will provide to the organization).

Project Position This section summarizes at a high level the unique needs the project intends to fill in your
organization. Describe alternatives to the proposed solution, and state why the proposed
solution is best suited for meeting your organization's needs.

A project position statement communicates the intended use of the application and the
importance of the project to all affected users.

_______________________________________________________
1
This document has been adapted from the Rational Unified Process but has been tailored to a GIS project life
cycle perspective. For more information on the Rational Unified Process, please refer to
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/rational/info/technical/lifecycle.jsp.

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Organizational Summarize key issues that motivate your organization's technology decisions. Describe
Position the organizational hierarchy as it relates to this project (i.e., how will your department
meet the needs of other users/departments in the organization). Describe how this project
will promote your department's mission. Some key questions include

What is your organization's reputation?

What would you like it to be?
How will this project support your goals?

User Description This section should profile the target users of the application. This section should not be
used to state specific requirements but should provide context for why the requirements
are needed.

User Profiles Describe each unique type of user of the system. User types can be as divergent as super
users and novice. For example, a geographic information system (GIS) super user might
need a sophisticated, flexible tool for editing GIS data, while a novice user might need a
user-friendly tool for querying map features. A thorough profile should cover the
following topics for each type of user:

Technical background and degree of sophistication

Key job responsibilities
Deliverables the user produces and for whom
Problems that interfere with success
How the target user defines success and how the user is rewarded

User Environment Describe the working environment of the target user as it relates to this project.
Following are some suggestions:

Number of people involved in completing the typical tasks? Will this change?

How long is a task cycle? Amount of time spent in each activity? Will this change?

Any unique environmental constraints: mobile, outdoors, slow modem connection,

and so forth?

Which systems platforms are in use today? Future platforms?

What other applications are in use with which this application might need to
integrate?

Current User Needs List the key problems with existing solutions as perceived by the user. Clarify the
following issues for each problem:

What is the nature of the problem?

What are the reasons for this problem?

How is it solved now?

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What solutions does the user want?

Describe the relative importance the user places on the problem. Is it a problem that
must be solved or an issue the user would simply like addressed?

Alternative Solutions Identify alternatives the user perceives as feasible. Solutions might include buying a
competitor's product, building a homegrown solution, or simply maintaining the status
quo. List any known competitive choices that exist or may become available. Include
the major strengths and weaknesses of each competitor as perceived by the end user.

Alternate Solution 1

Alternate Solution 2

Application This section provides a high-level view of the application capabilities, interfaces to other
Overview applications, and systems configurations.

Application This section of the document should put the application in perspective to other related
Perspective products and the user's environment. If the application is independent and totally self-
contained, state it here. If the application is a component of a larger system, then this
subsection should relate how these systems interact and should identify the relevant
interfaces between the systems. A diagram can be provided to describe the system and its
interactions.

Summary of Summarize the major benefits and features the application should provide.
Application Organize the functions so the list is understandable to the customer or to anyone else
Capabilities reading the document for the first time. A simple table listing the application function, its
key benefits, and supporting features might suffice. For example:

Internet Mapping System

Application Function Key Benefit

Provide Internet map view and query Department personnel can view and query
capabilities to department personnel. critical business data with a thin client
application that does not require licensing or
maintenance on a per user basis.
Provide Internet map printing capability Department personnel can create maps on
to department personnel. demand and reduce map requests to the GIS
department.
Provide data download capability to the Public is granted access to publicly available
public over the Internet. spatial data. GIS staff do not need to
respond to frequent data requests.

Assumptions and List each of the factors that affect the features stated in the project vision document. List
Dependencies assumptions that, if changed, will alter the project vision document. For example, an
assumption may state that a specific operating system will be available for the hardware
designated for the software application. If the operating system is not available, the
proposed solution may need to be updated.

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Application Features List and briefly describe the application features. Features are the high-level capabilities
of the system that are necessary to deliver benefits to users. Each feature is an externally
desired service that typically requires a series of inputs to achieve the desired result. For
example, a feature of an Internet mapping system might be the ability to provide simple
map layouts for local printing.

Because the vision document is reviewed by a wide variety of involved personnel, the
level of detail should be general enough for everyone to understand. However, enough
detail should be available to provide the team with the information it needs to create a use
case model.

To effectively manage application complexity, we recommend for any new system, or an

increment to an existing system, that capabilities be abstracted to a high enough level so
2599 features result. These features provide the fundamental basis for application
definition, scope management, and project management. Each feature will be expanded
into greater detail in the use case model that is defined later in the project.

Throughout this section, each feature should be externally perceivable by users,

operators, or other external systems. These features should include a description of
functionality and any relevant usability issues that must be addressed. Try not to describe
the design of the features. Keep feature descriptions at a general level. Focus on
capabilities needed and why, not how, they should be implemented.

Feature 1

Feature 2

Additional
Application
Requirements

Constraints This section describes any design constraints, external constraints, or other dependencies.
For example, if the application must be integrated with existing information technology
or Web design standards, state the applicable constraints here.

Quality Ranges Define the quality ranges for performance, robustness, fault tolerance, usability, and
similar characteristics that are not captured above.

Precedence and Define the priority of the different system features. A table referencing the features listed
Priority above may be helpful.

Applicable Standards List all standards with which the application must comply. These can include data
(Federal Geographic Data Committee [FGDC], Spatial Data Transfer Standard [SDTS]),
communications standards (TCP/IP, ISDN), and platform compliance standards
(Windows, UNIX, etc.).

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System Requirements Define any system requirements necessary to support the application. These can include
the supported host operating systems and network platforms, configurations, memory,
peripherals, and companion software.

Performance Use this section to detail performance requirements. Performance issues can include
Requirements such items as user load factors (estimated transactions per hour), bandwidth or
communication capacity, throughput, accuracy, reliability, and response times under a
variety of loading conditions.

Documentation This section describes the documentation that must be developed to support successful
Requirements application deployment. Define what types of documentation are expected for the
application (i.e., user manual, online help, installation guide, customization guide,
training guides, read me files). Special formatting and printing constraints should also be
identified if relevant.

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