Lean Product Management User-Centered App Design

© Copyright 2018 Pivotal Software, Inc. All rights Reserved.
Lean Product Management
User-Centered App Design
Paul Krajewski (Sr. Product Manager)
Cloud Native Meetup
September 2018

doing just enough
to bring value to users early
eliminating waste

doing just enough
to bring value to our users early
eliminating waste

Learning just enough, designing
just enough, and delivering just enough.

cnbc.com/2018/09/06/companies-worry-more-about-access-to-software-developers-than-capital.html

Enterprises must focus on becoming a
modern software company in order to succeed
in today’s climate
Speed to
Market
Customer
Focus
Engaged
Workforce

Engaged
WorkforceFew Meetings
CI / CD
Test-driven
Development
(TDD)
Set Schedule
Balanced Teams
Hiring for
good pairs
Concise independent,
prioritised stories
Co-location
Retros &
Feedback
Pair
programming
Short iterations

Learn
Agile Development
Iterative: Short feedback loops, lower risk
Start Iterate Iterate Iterate
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
Learn
Build
MeasureLearn
Build
Measure Learn
Build
Measure
© Copyright 2018 Pivotal Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

Isn’t Agile Enough?
Agile doesn’t
have a brain
Agile helps us build products right,
but not necessarily the right product
jeffgothelf.com/blog/agile-doesnt-have-a-brain/

You need to get to Product Market Fit twice!
@nickcoster

#1: Build the right thing
#2: Build the thing right
#3: Build the right team
The secrets behind being a successful
modern software organisation are simple:

Desirable
What are the 3 critical components of a successful product?
Desirable
“What pains exist today for the
user? How might we solve those
pains? Are they able to use the
system effectively? Will they adopt
this product?
Viable
“By solving these specific user
problems with these specific
solutions, are we creating valuable
business outcomes? How might we
measure those outcomes?
Feasible
“What are the technical
complexities necessary to satisfy
the project and product goals best?
How can we build a system that
will respond well to change?
Product
Will users like this?
Can we build this? Will this help the
business?
Viable
Feasible

Desirable
Design Thinking
User Centered Design (UCD)
Lean UX (User Experience)
Viable
Lean Startup
Validation / Experiments
Feasible
Agile
XP (Extreme Programming)
Product
Design
Will users like this?
Development
Can we build this?
Product
Management
Will this help the
business?
Our approach at Pivotal blends these methodologies

Agility is the ability to react to change. We practice a
flavor of agile called Extreme Programming (XP).
XP ensures a team builds working software at a
consistent speed and quality in the face of changing
requirements.
We assume collaborative, cross-functional and
self-organizing teams that deliver software in an
incremental and iterative way.
Development
Extreme Programming (XP) Practices

Lean Product Management Practices
Lean is a product methodology
designed to decrease risk and reduce
waste through constant validated
learning.
Product
Management

User-Centered Design (UCD) Practices
UCD is a product design philosophy that emphasises
designing the product around how the user can, wants or
needs to use it, rather seeking to change the user's
behaviors around how the product works.
We aim to design a solution that solves user and business
problems.
It prioritises contact with end users, and not proxies, in order
to determine value. We take an evidence-based approach.
Design

IPM
■ The product manager
leads the team through
the backlog for that
week
■ The team clarifies and
ensures consistency
■ Stories are estimated
Daily Standup Iteration
■ One-minute meeting to
discuss daily activities
■ Team discuss what they
did yesterday and what
they’ll do today
■ Product backlog and
user stories are written
and prioritised daily by
the product manager.
■ The team sit together,
self-organise, and are
highly collaborative
■ Prototypes are built,
tested, and refined by
the designer
■ User research eliminates
unnecessary features
■ The team meets to
decompress, identify
issues, and discuss
areas for improvement
■ Actions are captured for
and reviewed weekly
■ Retros allow teams to
continuously improve
and iterate the agile
process
Retrospective
A Week-in-the-Life

How is this different from before?
Traditional Software Development
● Long feedback loops
● Divided accountability with
several team handoffs
● Expert-driven product
definition
● Solution-first approach
Business case
Requirements
Funding
Design
Development
Testing
Acceptance
Deployment
Operations

Building up Risk (un-validated effort/features)
Product
Management
Analysis
Planning
Stakeholder review
Stakeholder Feedback
Revision
Budgeting
Approval
Execution (Design - Engineering)
Measurement (KPIs)

Lean Product Management Practices
Product
Management

Lean is not a linear process
Lean Product Development
● Shorter feedback loops
● Team has collective
ownership end-to-end
● Outcome-first approach
● Focused on testing
assumptions
Create Product Vision
Understand Users
& Markets
Identify Opportunities
& Risks
Test Assumptions
Define Product
Identify Risks
Test Assumptions
Build Product
Measure Success
Optimize
Scale

What are the
problems?
Is this solution
valuable?
Is this solution
easy to use?
Exploration Validation Usability
Design

Exploration Validation Usability
Uncertainty Clarity
Time
Design

nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
Landscape
of User
Research
Methods

Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users
nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/

Usability Testing / User Interviews

medium.com/product-labs/build-your-usability-lab-on-a-budget-b9bcd09ef23e
https://bit.ly/1FXc22h
Usability Testing / User Interviews

Users
Needs
Uses
Features
Deliver
Learn
Tracking the Measure-Learn-Build feedback loops
Product
Management

Long term planning in a Lean/agile/UCD environment
Vision
The WHAT and WHY
Decades +
Example:
To connect the world’s
professionals to make them
more productive and
successful.
Strategy
HOW we will REALIZE the vision
Years
Example:
Connect credible,
well-networked professionals,
using social proof to drive user
engagement
Roadmap
TIMELINE and TACTICS for how we
intend to execute the strategy
Months
Example:
Effective landing page
Great first-time UX
Profile pages
Ability to connect with others
Growth: address book
uploads
Backlog
The DETAILS we need to create the
product
Weeks
Example:
User can register
User can create profile page
User can sign in/out
User can see other users
. . .
Product
Management

Don’t plan/validate for too long
without shipping 1st piece of user value

content.pivotal.io/blog/starting-with-end-end-customer-journey-is-there-a-better-way
https://bit.ly/2Mmd6E2

1. List your assumptions
2. Understand your customers
3. Get real product into the world
4. Adjust direction based on evidence
Lean product management in a nutshell

flickr.com/photos/photophilde/
Just for greenfield?

“The only thing that will keep your
developers happy is to make them
feel productive.”

User Centered Design
Ensuring the software solves a real
problem for real users in a desirable
and usable product.
■ User Interviews
■ Ethnographic studies
■ Persona definition
■ Prototype creation
Design
PRACTICES
Lean
Reducing the risk of building the
wrong thing while comfortably
changing direction
■ Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
definition
■ Lean experiments
■ Identify & test assumptions
■ Data driven decisions
Product
Management
PRACTICES
Extreme Programming
Building working software at a
consistent speed and quality in the
face of changing requirements.
■ Paired Programming
■ Test-Driven Development
■ Short iterations
■ Continuous Integration /
Continuous Deployment
Development
PRACTICES

Lean Product Management User-Centered App Design

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