From design to product: a strategic shift that revolutionizes the way business creates value with technology

Today’s digital economy requires companies to constantly adapt and innovate. The traditional “project-based” model of managing technology initiatives, while proven in the past, is today becoming a major inhibitor to growth. By focusing on short-term goals (time, budget, scope), it leads to technology debt, destroys knowledge continuity and disconnects IT operations from real business results. The transition to a “product” model is a fundamental strategic shift that involves building sustainable, interdisciplinary teams, funding entire value streams and measuring success through impact on key business indicators (outcomes). This article provides a comprehensive analysis of this transformation, its benefits, challenges, and a practical implementation roadmap, while showing how a strategic partnership with ARDURA Consulting in the Staff Augmentation and Software Development models can accelerate the process and minimize the associated risks.

Introduction: The legacy of the industrial era in a digital world

For decades, the dominant way of thinking about technology initiatives in most companies was the “project” paradigm. This concept, derived from the world of civil engineering and construction, was extremely effective in a predictable environment where the goal was clearly defined and the scope unchanging – like building a bridge. The project had a clearly defined beginning and end. A project team, consisting of specialists hired for a specific period of time, was formed for the duration of the project, and once the solution was “proven”, it was disbanded. Success was measured by simple, iron-clad metrics: did we meet the time, budget and scope? This model, transferred to the IT world, seemed logical for years and provided a sense of control to finance and management departments.

However, in today’s fully digital reality, where software is no longer a disposable tool, but the living, evolving heart of the business, this cost- and schedule-oriented design model becomes a powerful inhibitor. It leads to short-sighted thinking, building solutions that are optimal for the day of implementation, but extremely expensive and difficult to maintain. It creates a culture of temporariness and lack of accountability for the product once it is “finished.” The world’s most innovative companies have realized that to win in the digital age, they need to make a fundamental shift: they need to move from managing “projects” to building “products. “ This is not a cosmetic change in nomenclature. It’s a revolution in thinking about strategy, finance, structure and culture.

The Anatomy of “Design Thinking”: Why was this model once successful?

To understand why change is necessary, we must first appreciate why the old model prevailed for so long. Its strength lay in its perceived predictability and financial control. For the CFO, an annual budget divided into specific, closed “projects” with clearly defined resource allocations was easy to understand and manage. It allowed for the illusion that the complex and uncertain world of technology could be contained within the same framework as the construction of a new production hall. This model worked well at a time when IT mainly served as a support function for the business (e.g., implementing an accounting system), rather than being the core of the business. In that world, changes were rare and requirements were relatively stable. Today, these boundary conditions no longer exist.

Why is design thinking toxic to digital product development today?

The design approach is fundamentally unsuited to the nature of modern digital products, which by design should live and evolve for many years. Using it leads to a number of systemic negative consequences.

Are you optimizing initial costs at the expense of the future?

The main goal of the project manager is to “prove” the project on time and on budget. This leads to short-sighted decisions and choosing the cheapest, fastest, but often worst quality technical solutions. The team is under pressure to “cut corners” and incur huge technological debt, just to fit in the schedule. The problem is that the cost of repaying this debt – which materializes in subsequent years in the form of expensive maintenance, slow development and frequent failures – is no longer charged to the budget of the completed “project.” This is a hidden cost that cripples future innovation. As a result, the company is systematically building a portfolio of systems that are expensive to maintain and difficult to develop.

Who in your company owns the product after the project is completed?

The project model destroys continuity of knowledge and responsibility. The project team, once the implementation is complete, is disbanded. The people who have the deepest knowledge of the system are reassigned to completely different tasks. Product maintenance is often delegated to a separate, underfunded “maintenance department” that lacks full context. There is a lack of a single, long-term “owner” who feels responsible for the success of the product throughout its life cycle.

Do your teams deliver features or real value?

The design approach focuses on “delivering the scope”(output) rather than “achieving the result”(outcome). The team is rewarded for implementing all the features from the original specification, regardless of whether those features actually solved the customer’s problem and brought any value to the company. This is waste in its purest form – the company spends millions to build something that generates no return on investment.

What is the fundamental change: From “delivering scope” to “achieving results”?

The shift from project to product is a paradigm shift. Technology initiatives are no longer seen as temporary ventures and are beginning to be seen as long-term, living products with their own life cycle, profit and loss statement and dedicated team. It’s a shift from asking “Did we finish on time and on budget?” to asking “Did we achieve the desired business impact and customer satisfaction?”

Four pillars of product thinking: Teams, Funding, Metrics, Technology

This transformation is based on four fundamental principles:

1. Sustainable, autonomous product teams: Instead of temporary project teams, the company is creating stable, interdisciplinary teams fully responsible for its product throughout its life cycle.
2. Financing value streams: Instead of annual budgets for dozens of “projects,” the company finances steady, long-term value streams, synonymous with specific products.
3. Focus on business results (outcomes): Success is measured by key business indicators (KPIs), such as revenue growth, cost reduction, conversion rate or customer satisfaction (NPS).
4. Technology as an integral part of the product: There is no division between “business” and “IT.” Architectural decisions and technology debt management are seen as investments in the future ability of the product to evolve.

What are the real, measurable benefits of adopting product thinking?

The transformation to a product model, while difficult, brings huge strategic benefits that translate directly into company performance.

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How to carry out the transformation from design to product in practice?

Transformation to a product model is a complex organizational change process that requires conscious leadership and an iterative approach.

1. Secure board support and define value streams: Transformation must start at the top. Leaders must understand the strategic benefits and become its ambassadors. The first step is to identify the organization’s key value streams.
2. Launch a pilot product team: Instead of a revolution, start with a pilot. Choose one important product and create the first real product team around it. Give it autonomy, clear goals and a budget.
3. Adapt financial and HR processes: the product model requires changing annual budget cycles in favor of flexible financing of value streams and changing HR’s approach to building long-term competencies.
4. Scale the model and promote the new culture: After the success of the pilot, more areas of the organization can be gradually transformed. In doing so, it is crucial to continually communicate the new philosophy and celebrate successes as measured by business results.

What pitfalls and challenges should be expected on the road?

This transformation is not easy and presents numerous challenges:

• Resistance from middle managers: Traditional project managers may feel threatened by a loss of control and status.
• Inertia of financial processes: Finance departments often resist changing annual, rigid budget cycles.
• Lack of product competence: The organization may not have enough experienced Product Managers and Product Owners.
• The temptation to “hybrid”: Attempting to combine the old and new worlds often leads to “agile projects” that combine the drawbacks of both approaches without providing any benefits.

Why is product transformation so difficult to accomplish by internal forces?

The transition from design thinking to product thinking is one of the most profound transformations an organization can undergo. It requires not only a change in processes, but a fundamental shift in mindset at all levels. Internal teams often lack experience in the new paradigm and are trapped in old habits.

How does the strategic partnership with ARDURA Consulting accelerate change?

Working with an experienced partner like ARDURA Consulting can be a key catalyst and gas pedal for this change. Our role is multidimensional:

• Support in building product teams. Transformation often requires new key roles. Our Staff Augmentation service allows you the flexibility to deliver world-class, experienced Product Managers, Product Owners or Scrum Masters who will begin to implement best practices and act as mentors in your teams from day one.
• Delivering technical competence. Building products requires elite engineering competencies. Through Staff Augmentation and Team Leasing, we can empower your newly formed product teams with entire, close-knit teams or individual Architects, Developers and Testers who deeply understand and can work within the product culture.
• Implementation of transformation projects. When a transformation requires building a new product from the ground up or a major overhaul of an existing legacy system, our Software Development service allows you to execute such a project in a comprehensive, A to Z, product philosophy.

When you choose ARDURA Consulting, you get a partner that will help you not only implement processes, but most importantly build an organization capable of continuous value creation in the digital age.