Outcome-Based
The ROAMER Model is an outcome-based model for digital experience work. As an outcome-based model, the ROAMER Model takes into account two key inputs before beginning work – the origin of the work and its desired outcome.
Human-Centered
As a human-centered model, the ROAMER Model encourages a focus on the humans who will benefit from the work. These can be all those affected in human experience work, such as individuals, businesses, teams or any other stakeholders who benefit from the work.
Flexible & Iterative
The ROAMER Model seeks to avoid language that gets in the way of alignment, such as being overly prescriptive. While the model is expressed in a sequential order, using the model should not feel constrained by that order. As a user of the model you are empowered to choose the phase that makes sense for the work you need to do in real time.
Elements of The ROAMER Model
Origin
Asking where the idea for work originated is a healthy way to understand why the idea exists. There are many ways an idea can emerge; for example, sometimes it’s from an observation, sometimes it comes from a change in the market, or sometimes an idea emerges as a reaction to new data. Asking where an idea began encourages empathetically leaning in to a conversation about motivations, and can help a team understand the need, urgency, history, or context of a problem – keys to help drive research and solutions from a human-centered standpoint.
Outcome
Starting with an outcome in mind before working on a problem encourages teams to consider how their success will be measured. The way success is measured can change depending on the opportunity, but it should be defined by the benefit to the human(s) at the center of the work as well as the expected business results.
Humans
In the ROAMER Model, humans are the real people who will benefit from building or improving as experience or solution. Examples of humans to focus on are a persona, a market segment, a team, or business stakeholders. The ROAMER Model puts the human at the center to ensure they are clearly and intentionally identified and understood.
ROAMER Model Overview
Activities in the ROAMER Model are presented in order as an acronym to make it easy to remember. However, the model encourages choosing any activity needed in the model during the process of working through a problem – this is known as “roaming.” The individual activities in the ROAMER Model are:
Handoff
In the ROAMER Model, handoffs are defined as well-crafted documentation about the work, which has been coordinated early with the receiver(s) from the beginning – they are also included as a part of the human experience involved in accomplishing the work. Documentation should be as thorough as is necessary to provide clarity for the receiver(s) in the absence of the producer or the work.