A presentation for Product Camp DC on how to use prototypes to validate market need for a product idea. Jessica Hall, Director of 3Pillar's Innovate Practice, and Kenal Shah, Senior Product Manager, gave the presentation at LivingSocial HQ on October 11, 2014.

1. USING PROTOTYPES TO VALIDATE
PRODUCT STRATEGY
11 October 2014
Kenal Shah
Senior Product Manager
kenal.shah@3pillarglobal.com
@kenalshah
Jessica Hall
Director, Innovate Practice
jessica.hall@3pillarglobal.com
@jesshallway
#pcampdc14

3. Maria Bryk/Newseum

4. radcliffe dacanay, Flickr

5. Philippa Willitts, Flickr

6. I HAVE AN
CRASH
AND
BURN

7. Newseum, The Washington Post, Time

8. Philippa Willitts, Flickr

9. I HAVE AN
IDEA

10. What does it look like?
Do customers want it?
Is it right for my business?

11. WEEK 1
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
WEEK 2
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
Workshop
Rapid User
Research
Idea
Exploration
Idea
Exploration
Testing
Prototyping
Planning/
Prototyping
Prototyping/
Client Demo
Prototyping Testing
Prototyping
Planning/
Prototyping
Prototyping/
Client Demo
Prototyping Testing
Refine
Prototype
Evaluation
Refine
Prototype/Build
Pitch Deck
Refine
Prototype/Build
Pitch Deck
Refine
Prototype/Build
Pitch Deck
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved

12. WANT TO
LEARN MORE
ABOUT
DEVELOPING
IDEAS?
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Talk is Cheap,
Build Something
with Faz Besharatian
@ 3pm in the Fishbowl

13. TESTING YOUR IDEA
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Surveys Landing Pages
Interviews
and
Pitches

14. TODAY’S FAKE IDEA
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Customer
Problem
Solution
Cost-conscious urban dweller who searches
yard sales and CraigsList for larger goods
Need an easy and low-cost way to get
purchases home within a short time-frame
Connect our customers with moving
companies or truckers with spare capacity

15. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO
LEARN?

16. SETTING AND MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
FIDELITY
Lo Hi
FUNCTIONALITY
Lo Hi
CONTENT/DATA
Lo Hi
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved

17. SETTING AND MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Good Risks to Manage
Stakeholders will see deliverables sooner
and get client feedback sooner
Initial deliverables will be low fidelity
We can quickly bring ideas to life We need stakeholders to commit time to
work with us
We can get quality customer feedback fast Customers may say things the stakeholders
don’t want to hear
We can pivot The stakeholder may not want to pivot
We will save money by not working on the
wrong ideas
We’re going to get a lot wrong before we
get to the right thing

18. WHAT SHOULD WE
PROTOTYPE?

19. DO
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Solve today’s problem
Focus on the most
important or risky
features/assumptions
Do just enough for
customers and
stakeholders to judge
value and no more
Set a schedule, get
commitment on the team’s
time and appoint an
enforcer
DON’T
Solve tomorrow’s problem
Spend time on features
that aren’t differentiators
(log-in)
Obsess over an icon, the
function of a control or
making sure it works in
another browser
Waste time talking when
you could be doing and
testing

20. HOW DO WE
TEST WITH
CUSTOMERS?

21. FROM VALIDATION TO DEVELOPMENT *
WEEK 1
Target: Domain / System(s) Understanding & High-Level Release Plan with Stories
WEEK 2
Target: Refine Release Plan & Finalize Scope for Sprint 1. Get to Answers to Questions Raised from Week 1
WEEK 3
Target: Start Development Sprint 1
WEEK 4
Story
Brainstorming
Kick-Off /
Roadmap
Review
Affinity
Estimation
Prioritize &
Assemble Initial
Release Plan
UX Research
Review
Data Modeling /
UX Ideation
Architecture
Release Plan
Review /
First Release
Definition
Sprint 1
Planning /
Grooming
Wireframing /
Environment
Setup
Development / Testing of Few Stories
Sprint #1
Kick-Off /
Establish
Rituals
Usability
Testing
All Environment
Setup
Completed
Sprint #2
Planning /
Grooming
Sprint #1
Review /
Retrospective
© 2014 3Pillar Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved
*HIGHLY CONDENSED
Continue
Dev / Test
Target: Deliver a Few Business-Oriented User Stories at the End of Sprint 1

22. http://navigate-beta.3pillarglobal.com/

23. THANKS!
Jessica Hall
Director, Innovate Practice
jessica.hall@3pillarglobal.com
@JessHallway
Kenal Shah
Senior Product Manager
kenal.shah@3pillarglobal.com
@KenalShah