Impact Analysis – Identifying the Full Consequences of Change

Earlier I used to get confused while making decisions like changing any features in any product or changing anything in my business process. That’s when I came to know about a process called impact analysis. And it makes my decision-making process so strong.

Do you also have this type of confusion while making these types of decisions? If yes, then you too can learn this process from here and apply it in your life.

Which also makes your decision-making process so easy. And you can also make it challenging to solve difficult problem’s solutions in minutes.

WHAT’S IN IT

Definition of Impact Analysis

Impact analysis is a process where we can identify and analyze the potential results of a change before we made changes in our product and service.

It helps us to do the best changes in our product or services to get a significant impact. The impact may be in the customer’s mindset towards our product, and it may be in revenue. 

The great thing about this process is that it does not work blindly on assumptions; it also uses some previous data to make better decisions and get a good result.

Steps to Conduct an Impact Analysis

There are mainly three steps to conduct a proper impact analysis. But it may change according to the situation or a company’s requirements.

Step 1: Making a Group

To conduct a successful impact analysis first, we have to make a well-experienced team who can collect and analyze the data correctly.

Because impact analysis is an assumed process, that means it does not give us the actual result, but it gives us some result based on the feature assumptions.

So selecting a good team is very crucial in impact analysis.

If we do not want to make the team then we can also outsource this process. 

Step 2: Collecting the Data

After collecting the data next, we have to brainstorm the arisen future possible impacted areas because of our changes.

And we have to collect all the data which arose from the brainstorming and also have to note the affected areas.

Most importantly, the data should be related to our company’s objectives or goals.

We can collect data by questioning and analyzing all possible advantages, disadvantages, and risks.  

We should ask questions like if we make a change to this feature of a product, then what impact will arise?

In every change, we see some advantages and disadvantages. We have to analyze all the possible advantages and disadvantages of a question and make a note on it.

Step 3: Evaluation of the Data

After collecting the information next, we have to evaluate that information and find the changes that we have to do, which give us the best results.

We have to make decisions by keeping in mind these things, what advantages and disadvantages have those changes? What types of risks arise while we make that change? Etc.

And finally, we have to choose what we should change in our system so that we remain successful.

Example

Suppose you have a bakery business and you want to make some changes in your cake’s taste. But now a lot of questions will come to your mind.

Like which taste should we take so that our business’s revenue increases? Which test customer should like the most? Etc.

So before that, we have to solve this problem’s solution. So to solve that problem now we use an impact analysis process.

At first, you have to make the team brainstorm. Then you have to collect all the information to get your problem’s solution.

We have to brainstorm with making all possible questions. We have to see if we give this taste to our cakes then how people react to it.

It’s a better option if we put all types of tests and experiment it in the real market.

We can taste it in a small market and collect all the possible advantages, disadvantages and risks.

We also have to see our advantages, disadvantages, and all the possible risks in our every question. 

It may be like this if we change our taste a little bit hot then, what types of people we can attract, or how many people don’t like our product, it may increase our market share.

And we also have to see the risks arising from those changes, and It may affect our market share, and collect all the data from those experiments.  

And finally, we have to choose a taste which is suitable for us and our business.

If our customers like it a little hot, then we have to change taste according to that. 

Types of Impact Analysis

There are three types of impact analysis traceability impact analysis, dependency impact analysis, experiential impact analysis.

Traceability Impact Analysis

This analysis analyses the relation between the specifications, designing and requirements and finds a region to start a change.

Dependency Impact Analysis

In this analysis, it analyzes the link between modules, logic and variables to determine a region to start a change.

Experimental Impact Analysis

Well-experienced members of the organizations conduct these types of impact analysis.

Because here the analyzing members have to conduct the analyzing process by using the previous data. They compare the present situations to the past’s similar situations and estimate what may happen in the feature.   

Importance

• It is essential because it tells about the results before we make a change.
• It also tells about the required actions and efforts to make a change.
• Its most important part is that it also uses experimental data. And if we use experimental data, then our chances of being successful increase.

Conclusion

If you have a small business or a large business, and if you want to change anything in your system, it may be the product’s specification or any changes in the system.

And if you are facing difficulty in making a changing decision or not, you always have to take the help of impact analysis. 

Because, if you use this, then it gives you clarity about what to change and what to not before your implementation. And it increases the speed of your decision making.

First, you have to make the team brainstorm and if your business is so small then only you also do this process by making questions and by brainstorming yourself.

It is also a little time-consuming process, but it gives us a clear vision of our goal. So we have to use this at the time of decision making.

Also you can read our blog on 3 Things That You Never Expect On Self Preparation For Great Decision Making.

FAQ’S