Why Digital Projects Fail and how to Avoid it

Recently, while reading through a project's retrospective notes, I was reminded of my very first assignment in my Computer Science course at the University of Manchester. It was an 800-word essay on why systems fail, focussing on the failures of the London Ambulance Service’s computer-aided dispatch system project in the late 90s.

Beynon-Davies (1999), who wrote a detailed paper on the case, concludes that software failure is multifaceted and cannot be attributed solely to the software development phase, which, even today, is often the first to be blamed. In fact, many factors, both before and after implementation, contribute equally to success or failure.

So, if systems fail that’s because projects fail.

Digital Projects Today

Digital projects have evolved significantly since the late 90s. Today, a digital system isn’t just about what it allows users to do but also how effortless and enjoyable it is to use. It’s about both functionality and user experience.

The infrastructure required to host digital systems has also transformed. In technical terms, where a few servers with manual deployments once sufficed, we now rely on containerized public clouds, distributed file systems, high-availability databases, multivariate caching, and autoscaling environments for development, integration, and deployment pipelines.

The scope of projects has expanded dramatically as well, now encompassing composable digital experience platforms with decoupled front-ends, complex system architectures, and numerous third-party integrations.

But this brings complications. It’s rare for a client to know everything a system should do upfront.

Especially when systems are meant to influence customer experience and expectations, they must be aligned with company goals, roadmaps, and budgets, all of which are dynamic by nature. These systems also need to be integrated with customer support systems, marketing activities, brand guidelines, tone of voice, and more.

It’s a People’s Game

Consider all the people who need to be involved before, during, and after a digital project. Who these individuals are influences the success or failure of the project. Factors include how skilled they are, how well they collaborate, how clearly they understand what needs to be delivered, and whether they have the necessary access, tools, and information to perform their tasks.

It's all about skill, governance, scope, and management.

And there it was, right before my eyes in those retrospective notes: a clear illustration of how people’s actions influence project outcomes. It could be a last-minute feature request from the client—poorly thought out but backed by a C-level executive, causing other work to be sidelined—or a client lacking the resources for user acceptance testing, leaving nothing feeling fully delivered.

Or mix-ups such as having front-end teams ready to deliver components that had not yet been designed by another agency. These are issues familiar to all of us who contribute to digital projects in one way or another!

Get the Basics Right

Getting the project management essentials right—budget, milestones, and timeline—is critical to maintaining client satisfaction. But they are also crucial to ensuring project success. Keeping track of budget helps prevent cost overruns which builds trust and keeps client stakeholders happy that the project is financially viable.

Setting clear milestones provides a roadmap for the project, allowing both the project team and the client to track progress and identify potential issues early. This helps maintain momentum and ensures that deliverables are met in a timely manner. And if things go wrong, there is plenty of time to manage and mitigate any issue.

Equally important is managing the timeline, which aligns the project’s progress with expectations and internal deadlines. A realistic timeline helps align project teams and client stakeholders and fosters a sense of reliability and professionalism, which are essential for long-term client relationships and overall project success.

The Clearer the Scope, the Better the Outcome

For a digital project, a clear scope is crucial to achieving a successful outcome. When the scope is well-defined, it sets precise expectations for both the project team and the client, minimising misunderstandings and ensuring that everyone is aligned on the goals.

A clearly outlined scope helps to avoid scope creep, where additional features or changes can derail the project, leading to delays and budget overruns.

Project teams must invest extra effort in defining and clarifying the scope with the client from the outset. This includes thorough discussions to understand the client’s needs, priorities, and constraints, and translating these into a detailed project plan.

Teams should not hesitate to pause work if the scope remains unclear and, when necessary, bring in extra resources, such as business analysts, to help clarify the scope. Taking these steps ensures that the project proceeds with a well-defined direction, avoiding costly rework or misaligned deliverables.

By ensuring the scope is fully understood and agreed upon, the team can stay on track and deliver value that meets the client’s expectations.

Aligned Ways of Working

For a digital project to succeed, it's essential that the way of working aligns with both the client’s culture and the project team’s culture. When these are in sync, communication flows more smoothly, decision-making becomes more efficient, and collaboration is more effective. This alignment helps build trust and mutual understanding, which are critical for overcoming challenges.

Ensuring this alignment requires project teams to be adaptable and capable of working under different delivery methodologies. They should choose the methodology that best suits the client’s organisational norms, whether it's Agile, Waterfall, or a hybrid approach.

By tailoring their approach to fit the client’s preferred way of working, the project team can enhance collaboration, streamline processes, and ultimately increase the chances of project success.

Modern digital projects are challenging and complex, but ultimately, their success hinges on the people behind them. From a client’s perspective, it’s crucial to have the right kind of people working on your projects—individuals who are committed to quality, willing to go the extra mile when necessary, and unafraid to experiment. These are people who understand that achieving the best results sometimes requires going beyond the basics.

When selecting agencies for your next project, seek out teams who are passionate about their work, eager to collaborate, open to expanding their skill sets, and ready to take responsibility for driving your project forward.

References: Beynon-Davies P. (1999). 'Human error and information systems failure: the case of the London ambulance service computer-aided despatch system project', Interacting with Computers, (11), pp. 699–720.