A clear view before major software investment
Process consulting & requirements management
forwerts & slashwhy
This project was realized within the slashwhy corporate group by partner company forwerts. forwerts is a digitalization and design consultancy focused on UX and CX strategy, service design, and strategy consulting. An interdisciplinary team of designers and strategists successfully brings digital products to fruition, even in complex corporate environments. Together, slashwhy and forwerts offer consulting, design, and development from a single source: from strategy through implementation. forwerts works across industries, with a focus on energy, industrial, technology, healthcare, and finance sectors.
Services
UX Strategy Consulting
Process Consulting
Requirements Management
Technologies/Methods
Requirements Clarification
Software Process Analysis
Cost & Feasibility Assessment
Recommendations & Prioritization
Training on the Job
Software rollout at a utility company
The client is a municipal utility that, alongside energy, also provides water, heating, public transit, and telecommunications, fulfilling a public service mandate. The company was in the immediate run-up to rolling out a central software system when it became clear that requirements were still unclear and unprioritized, and that existing processes still had room for optimization before being digitalized. On top of that, there was a structural issue: existing software wasn't being used to its full potential within the specialist departments, even as discussions were already underway internally about acquiring additional software tools. What was needed, then, was sharper requirements and an honest assessment of the software, processes, and structures in place.
For us, clarifying requirements means thinking through both the technical and human sides together. Software only gets used well once the people behind it are brought along.
Sebastian Baldauf
Director UX Design at forwerts
Understanding, sharpening & assessing requirements
The company commissioned forwerts for digitalization and strategy consulting with a UX focus. The user perspective here pointed inward, toward the company's own workforce, who would go on to use the new system.
Requirements sharpened on two levels
The starting point was clarifying requirements: working out precisely what the central software system actually needed to deliver. In doing so, forwerts looked not only at the technical side but equally at the human side, since a large part of the requirements hinged on how teams actually worked with software and processes day to day. Vague expectations and sometimes conflicting wishes were turned into testable, prioritized requirements, geared toward a system that staff would accept and actively use in daily operations.
Processes optimized, not just digitalized
A second starting point was the processes themselves. Before carrying workflows unchanged into a new software system, it's worth asking whether they still hold up in their current form. forwerts analyzed the core processes and streamlined them wherever they contained detours or duplicate steps. This cleaned up long-standing inefficiencies beforehand, rather than carrying them into the new solution and locking them in. Clearer workflows also sharpened the requirements and reduced the effort involved in the rollout.
An honest mirror for management
At the same time, forwerts assessed the software, workflows, and internal structures. The biggest lever was holding up an honest mirror to leadership: where the real pain points lay, where structural gaps existed, and where the organization was holding itself back. Some of these findings were uncomfortable, for instance, that tasks and responsibilities didn't always align. Precisely because of the company's public service mandate, it was important to name these issues clearly rather than sidestep them.
Enablement & smart tooling decisions
Training & training on the job
An early quick win was empowering staff. Through training sessions and ongoing support in day-to-day work, forwerts showed the specialist departments how to use their applications more effectively, while at the same time preparing teams for working with the upcoming central system. Earlier assessments from the teams about which tools worked well and which didn't turned out to be well-founded. Much of what was needed already existed in-house and mainly had to be made visible and usable.
Making the most of existing tools instead of costly replacements
This led to the central strategic recommendation. The company had been considering rolling out additional, expensive software modules for the new system, even though existing tools already covered most of these tasks. forwerts made transparent what benefits and follow-on costs such an investment would bring: new training, adjusted processes, updated interfaces. Rather than a blanket yes or no, forwerts delivered a nuanced answer on where existing tools could be fully leveraged and where a new investment would genuinely pay off.
The biggest lever was holding up an honest mirror to the client. Only once an organization sees where it truly stands can it make the right decisions.
Sebastian Baldauf
Director UX Design at forwerts
Achievements & Outcome
Cost transparency & clear priorities
Requirements clarified: Instead of a long wishlist, there is now a sharpened, impact-ranked set of requirements guiding the rollout.
Processes streamlined: Detours and duplicate steps were cleaned up before the system rollout, rather than carrying long-standing inefficiencies into the new software.
Cost transparency achieved: The utility can now see which components drive which costs and where operational missteps would become expensive.
Investment misstep avoided: Rather than acquiring costly add-on modules, the utility continues to use its existing tools, saving the follow-on costs of a new purchase.
Staff empowered: Training and hands-on support in day-to-day work put teams in a position to use their tools confidently and efficiently.
Structural gaps identified: The assessment revealed where processes and responsibilities didn't align, laying the groundwork to close those gaps in a targeted way.
Confidence to act for leadership: Clear recommendations and visible milestones show leadership exactly what steps matter next, well beyond the end of the project.
FAQ
Requirements management refers to the structured handling of the requirements for a system or software product: gathering, documenting, prioritizing, and tracking them throughout the project. The goal is to turn vague expectations into clear, verifiable requirements that guide implementation. Good requirements management takes into account not only technical specifications but also the people and processes that will work with the system.
What determines the success of a software rollout is less the technology itself than the preparation beforehand. It's important to clarify and prioritize requirements up front, review the affected processes and improve them where needed rather than replicating them unchanged, and involve staff early so the solution gets adopted in daily use. It's also worth checking whether new software is truly necessary or whether existing tools already meet the need. Skipping these steps risks unnecessary costs and poor adoption.
Digitalization consulting helps organizations improve their processes, offerings, and internal workflows using digital tools. It spans everything from strategy to analyzing existing systems and processes to selecting the right solutions and supporting implementation. The focus isn't on technology for its own sake, but on what it achieves: more efficient workflows, lower costs, and solutions that actually get used in day-to-day work.
Process optimization refers to the targeted improvement of workflows to make them faster, more cost-effective, or less prone to error. This involves analyzing existing processes, removing unnecessary steps, and clarifying responsibilities. For utilities and organizations in regulated industries in particular, it helps make better use of limited resources and reliably fulfill their public mandate.
Digitalization at energy providers means improving offerings, customer contact, and internal workflows with digital tools, from online sales to customer portals to the systems running behind the scenes. The industry is heavily regulated and often works with IT landscapes that have grown over many years. New solutions therefore need to fit with existing systems, the workflows of specialist departments, and regulatory requirements, rather than being built in isolation.
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