The Beauty of Unbeautiful Business Planning Tools

Inflection Point

Pretty business tools such as pre-structured roadmap generators, decoratively designed customer journey maps, and personas laid out using graphics that rival fashion ads are certainly a pleasure to behold. But that loveliness comes with a key limitation.

On one hand, tools that generate structured output limit you to the input and output options that the tool provides. They force your thinking into a mold. On the other hand, highly stylized documents necessitate significant additional effort when alternations are needed to avoid sullying the beautiful aesthetics.

I have found that unbeautiful tools like spreadsheets and simply designed forms offer far more flexibility and are often the quicker path for structuring information. Ever evolving customer needs and product plans require flexibility and agility to capture, develop, and evolve beautiful ideas. It’s vital not to stifle that dynamic process by applying rigid forms simply because they appeal to the eye.

A carpenter's tools are covered with sawdust, smeared with glue, and worn bare on the edges because they are working things. Don't waste time prettying up your working tools. Spend that time gathering gorgeous data and expressing beautiful plans instead.

Bill Haines, Partner