How to Achieve Product-Market Fit with Rapid Prototyping and User Testing by Dan Olsen

My Background
Copyright © 2019 @danolsen
n Engineering
n Stanford MBA
n Product Management leader at Intuit & startups
n CEO & Cofounder, TechCrunch winner YourVersion
n Product Management consultant & trainer
n Founder: Lean Product Silicon Valley
Twitter: @danolsen
My slides: https://dan-olsen.com

That’s Why I Wrote

The Product-Market Fit Pyramid

The Lean Product Process
1. Determine your target customer
2. Identify underserved customer needs
3. Define your value proposition
4. Specify your MVP feature set
5. Create your MVP prototype
6. Test your MVP with customers

Transportation within 100 miles of my home
Soccer Mom Speed Demon
Carry kids & gear
Safety
Fuel economy
Go fast
Looks cool
Makes me look cool
Target Customer Has Distinct Needs
High-level need
Target Customer
Detailed needs
Ideal Product
Soccer Parent Speed Demon

Types of Segmentation
n Demographic: age, gender, geography,
education, income
n Firmographic for businesses: industry, size of
revenue, geography, number of employees
n Psychographic: attitudes, values & interests
n Behavioral: what they do, how often
n Needs-based

Russians: pencil
Space pen: $1 M R&D cost
Example
n Ability to write in space
(zero gravity)
Problem Space vs. Solution Space
Problem Space
n A customer problem, need
or benefit that the product
should address
n A well-written user story
Solution Space
n A specific
implementation to
address the customer
need or requirement

Problem vs. Solution Space: Product Level
Problem Space
(user benefits)
Solution Space
(product)
TurboTax
TaxCut
Pen and
paper
Prepare
my taxes

Problem vs. Solution Space: Product Level
Problem Space
(user benefits)
Solution Space
(product)
Prepare
my taxes
File my
taxes
Check my
taxes
Maximize my
deductions
Reduce my
audit risk

Solution SpaceProblem Space
Problem vs. Solution Space: Feature Level
Save time filing
taxes
Save time
preparing taxes
Maximize my
tax deductions
Check my
return
Reduce my
audit risk
Help me
prepare taxes
Empowerment/
Confidence
Save Time
Save Money
Tax Interview
Wizard
Audit Risk
Analyzer
Tax Return
Error Checker
Tax Data
Downloader
Electronic Tax
Return Filing
Tax Deduction
Finder

Breaking Features Down into Chunks
Must
Have 1
Performance
1
Delighter
1
Delighter
2
Must
Have 2
Performance
2
Performance
3
Benefits:
M1A P1A D2AM2A P2A
P3B
Features:
P1B D2BP2B
P3C
P3A
P1C
P1D

Product Roadmap:
Features by Version or Time
Must Have Benefit 1
Performance Benefit 1
Delighter Benefit 1
Must Have Benefit 2
Delighter Benefit 2
M1A
Time
v1 v1.5 v2 v2.5
M2A
P3A
P1B
P3B
P2A
P1A
D2A
P3C
D2B
MVP
candidate

The UX Design Iceberg
What most
people see
and react to
What good
product teams
think about

Iterative Design & Test Workflow
Hand
sketches
Interactivity
Fidelity
Clickable
Wireframes
Clickable
Mockups
Live
Product
Test Test
Test

Conducting the User Test
n Types of user tests
n In-person moderated
n Remote moderated
n Remote unmoderated
n Talk to users in waves of 5 to 8

“Ramen” User Testing Session
10 - 15 min: Warm Up and Discovery
n Understand user needs, priorities
n Learn about solutions they use, likes and dislikes
30 - 50 min: User Feedback on Prototype
n Show user mockup/product
n Be as non-directed as possible: like you’re not there
n Ask questions to gain understanding
5 - 10 min: Wrap up
n Answer any questions or issues that came up
n Point out/explain features you want to highlight
n Ask if they would use the product

Dos & Don’ts of User Testing Sessions
Do
n Explain to the user
n Feedback will help improve the product
n Not to worry about hurting your feelings
n Think Aloud Protocol
n Try to be a fly on the wall
n Take notes and review them afterwards for take-aways
Don’t
n Help user or explain the UI (e.g., click over here )
n Get defensive or blame the user
n Ask leading or close-ended questions

Open-ended vs. Closed Questions
Closed questions
n Do you… or Did you... or Does...
n Are you... or Was that…
n Anything that can be answered yes or no
Open-ended questions
n How…
n What are your thoughts on...
n What feedback do you have on...
n Why …
n Anything that doesn’t have a pre-determined answer

Learning happens when…
you are surprised

Synthesizing Customer Feedback

Feature Set
UX Design
Messaging
How valuable? (1-10)
How easy to use? (1-10)

User 1
Feature Set
+Thought feature X was valuable Y
-Complained feature Y was missing Y
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration Y
Messaging
+Liked hero image on home page Y
How valuable? (1-10) 7
How easy to use? (1-10) 5

User 1 User 2
Feature Set
+Thought feature X was valuable Y Y
-Complained feature Y was missing Y Y
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration Y
-Didn’t see “sign up” link Y
+Thought design was professional Y
Messaging
+Liked hero image on home page Y
-Didn’t understand tagline Y
How valuable? (1-10) 7 7
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 7

User 1 User 2 User 3
Feature Set
+Thought feature X was valuable Y Y
-Complained feature Y was missing Y Y Y
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration Y Y
-Didn’t see “sign up” link Y
+Thought design was professional Y
Messaging
+Liked hero image on home page Y Y
How valuable? (1-10) 7 7 6
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 7 5

User 1 User 2 User 3 User 4
Feature Set
+Thought feature X was valuable Y Y Y
-Complained feature Y was missing Y Y Y
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration Y Y Y
-Didn’t see “sign up” link Y Y
+Thought design was professional Y Y
Messaging
+Liked hero image on home page Y Y Y
How valuable? (1-10) 7 7 6 8
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 7 5 4

User 1 User 2 User 3 User 4 User 5
Feature Set
+Thought feature X was valuable Y Y Y Y
-Complained feature Y was missing Y Y Y Y
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration Y Y Y
-Didn’t see “sign up” link Y Y Y
+Thought design was professional Y Y
Messaging
+Liked hero image on home page Y Y Y
-Didn’t understand tagline Y Y
How valuable? (1-10) 7 7 6 8 7
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 7 5 4 7

User 1 User 2 User 3 User 4 User 5 Wave
Feature Set
+Thought feature X was valuable Y Y Y Y 80%
-Complained feature Y was missing Y Y Y Y 80%
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration Y Y Y 60%
-Didn’t see “sign up” link Y Y Y 60%
+Thought design was professional Y Y 40%
Messaging
+Liked hero image on home page Y Y Y 60%
-Didn’t understand tagline Y Y 40%
How valuable? (1-10) 7 7 6 8 7 7
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 7 5 4 7 5

Synthesizing Customer Feedback
Across Multiple Waves of
User Testing

Wave 1
Feature Set
-Complained feature Y was missing 80%
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration 60%
-Didn’t see “sign up” link 60%
Messaging
-Didn’t understand tagline 40%
How valuable? (1-10) 7
How easy to use? (1-10) 5

Wave 1 Wave 2
Feature Set
-Complained feature Y was missing 80% 0%
-Said features X and Y should work together N/A 80%
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration 60% 0%
-Didn’t see “sign up” link 60% 40%
-Thought that feature Y was hard to use N/A 80%
Messaging
-Didn’t understand tagline 40% 0%
How valuable? (1-10) 7 8
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 6

Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3
Feature Set
-Complained feature Y was missing 80% 0% 0%
-Said features X and Y should work together N/A 80% 0%
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration 60% 0% 0%
-Didn’t see “sign up” link 60% 40% 0%
-Thought that feature Y was hard to use N/A 80% 40%
Messaging
-Didn’t understand tagline 40% 0% 0%
How valuable? (1-10) 7 8 9
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 6 7

Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3 Wave 4
Feature Set
-Complained feature Y was missing 80% 0% 0% 0%
-Said features X and Y should work together N/A 80% 0% 0%
UX Design
-Had difficulty with registration 60% 0% 0% 0%
-Didn’t see “sign up” link 60% 40% 0% 0%
-Thought that feature Y was hard to use N/A 80% 40% 0%
Messaging
-Didn’t understand tagline 40% 0% 0% 0%
How valuable? (1-10) 7 8 9 9
How easy to use? (1-10) 5 6 7 9

Iterating Between User Testing Waves
Customer Feedback
Mockups / Code
Problem Space
All your hypotheses
Solution Space
User reactions

Problem
Space
Solution
Space

Persevere or Pivot?
Increasing
Product-Market Fit
Pivot
Product-Market Fit =
Getting enough data to
validate you’re climbing up
the right mountain

The Lean Product Process:
MarketingReport.com Case Study

MarketingReport.com Case Study
n My client (CEO) had a new product idea
n Team: me, CEO, VP marketing, UI designer
n Goals
n See if business opportunity exists
n Do so quickly and inexpensively (no coding)
n Marketing report would let consumers
control the direct mail that they receive
n Analogous to credit report

Mapping Out Customer Benefits
Reduce
Junk Mail
Learn why I
receive the junk
mail I receive
Money
Saving
Offers
Compare
Yourself
to Others
Social
Networking
Marketing
Report
Marketing
Score
Marketing
Profile
Save
Trees
Marketing Shield
Concept
Marketing Saver
Concept

Recruiting Target Customers
n Wrote screener to identify target customers
n Work full-time
n Fit for Saver: use coupons, Costco membership
n Fit for Shield: use paper shredder, block caller ID
n Moderated each group through the mockups

Learning from First Wave of User Tests
Reduce
Junk Mail
Learn why I
receive the junk
mail I receive
Money
Saving
Offers
Compare
Yourself
to Others
Social
Networking
Marketing
Report
Marketing
Score
Marketing
Profile
Save
Trees
Legend
Strong appeal
Some appeal
Low appeal
Shield Concept Saver Concept

The Lean Product Process
1. Determine your target customer
2. Identify underserved customer needs
3. Define your value proposition
4. Specify your MVP feature set
5. Create your MVP prototype
6. Test your MVP with customers
Iterate:
§ Hypothesize-Design-Test-Learn loop
§ Improve product-market fit

Jeetu Patel, Chief Product Officer, Box
Thu May 30th at Intuit, Mountain View
10 Lessons on How to Scale Your Product

Thank You!
@danolsen
dan-olsen.com
meetup.com/leanproduct
Happy to connect on LinkedIn

How to Achieve Product-Market Fit with Rapid Prototyping and User Testing by Dan Olsen

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