Quite some time passed since the first post in December 2022. The project kept moving forward, sometimes at the fastest pace, sometimes at the slowest pace. Among all the challenges associated with project development, one certainly stood out: the search for a sustainable pace that allows the project to make steps and move. One lesson, in particular, arose: sustainability does not necessarily correlate with cadence and consistency, although cadence was a principle heavily grounded in the past or a prevailing perspective.
This post intends to provide a very high-level overview of where the project currently is, since the time of its ideation and incubation, conscious that a strict categorization and time-box division is not straightforward given the fluidity and overlap of the project's phases.
MVP Design
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) initially designed is still driving the long-term direction. Although not always explicitly conveyed during conversations and meetings, it provides a valuable narrative for the project, capable of generating alignment and interest. The original design is the result of the collaboration of different teams, including project members, mentors (from the incubator), and academic students.
Exploration
This phase saw an initial involvement and (partial) opening of the project towards other activities, such as Open Innovation Lombardia, MOSAIC and the Transition Days 2022 by Fondazione Feltrinelli. This phase was interesting and a necessary step, which served however mainly as - precisely - an exploration phase rather than an opportunity to see a direct returned value to the project itself.
High-Level Design
Through some external collaboration, this phase focused on drafting a very high-level technical architecture necessary to provide a blueprint for the development. Although the subsequent development has not fully touched on this architecture yet, the HLD still is today a very important artifact that we plan to implement.
Development
The development phase is an ongoing effort that touches different areas of the project. This diagram mainly refers to a technical development. Ideally, this is a phase whose lifetime spans the lifetime of the project, potentially shifting between the several areas and components. Finding a way to keep the development running is essential for value creation and delivery.
Indoor PoC
Some time after the design of the MVP it became clear that it has a rather long-term horizon. Different attempts have been made to understand how to possibly release some value in a shorter period, the last of which resulted in a draft Product Vision Canvas. It is possible that this artifact influenced the scope definition of the first PoC being developed, with an active focus on the indoor environment as it offers several benefits, both from a technical and strategic perspective. At this time, it is understood that scaling this approach to the outdoors is feasible, although there are undoubtedly many unknown unknowns.
Research
This activity is in the pipeline and we hope to start it soon. We identified a rather relevant knowledge gap, especially if we intend to adhere to our principles. Things are still foggy in this regard, in particular about the level of multi- or trans-disciplinary needed to perform such activity. Baby steps have been done and we hope to see some more momentum in the upcoming months.
“It is not down on any map; true places never are.” - Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
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