3. @jboogie
“While the initial launch and
traction proved extremely
exciting, it misled us into
believing there was a larger
market ready to adopt our
product.”
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/22/post-mortem-for-plancast/
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
4. @jboogie
“100,000 have registered and
over 230,000 people visit each
month.”
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/22/post-mortem-for-plancast/
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
5. @jboogie
“People often tell me “I like
Plancast, but I never have any
plans to share.”
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/22/post-mortem-for-plancast/
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
6. @jboogie
“Most social networks feed
primarily on vanity….Sharing
plans, unfortunately, doesn’t
present the same opportunity to
show off and incur the same
subsequent happy feelings.”
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/22/post-mortem-for-plancast/
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
7. @jboogie
“…[lack of an invitation feature]
…caused a situation where
many people feel awkwardly
aware of events to which they
don’t feel welcome…”
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/22/post-mortem-for-plancast/
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
9. @jboogie
http://blog.capwatkins.com/formspring-a-postmortem
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
“…The first big project we worked on was a
Formspring button that sites could embed at
the end of blog posts... We had millions of
users, so we figured it wasn’t a stretch to
imagine they browsed other web sites and
would gladly click a Formspring button at the
end of a post ... This was just as the Facebook
Share and Twitter “Tweet This” buttons were
appearing...”
12. @jboogie
http://blog.capwatkins.com/formspring-a-postmortem
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
“…We spent months on that system. We had
to make sure our servers could handle…huge
influx of traffic, had to design & implement
the feature, make sure the implementation
was easy for publishers, make deals with
publishers, etc.
We bet huge.
On someone else’s (Facebook and Twitter’s)
plan.
Flop...”
14. @jboogie
Key questions:
How long do we wait before
launch?
How do we define the right
requirements for our product?
What signals are we looking for
from the market?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
23. @jboogie
Design Thinking
“As a style of thinking, it is generally
considered the ability to combine
empathy for the context of a problem,
creativity in the generation of insights and
solutions, and rationality to analyze and fit
solutions to the context. ”
- Tim Brown, CEO & President, IDEO
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
25. @jboogie
Lean UX
Inspired by Lean Startup and Agile
development theories, it’s the practice of
bringing the true nature of a product to light
faster, in a collaborative, cross-functional
way with less emphasis on deliverables and
greater focus on a shared understanding of
the actual experience being designed.
That’s me!
I said this.
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
29. @jboogie
Early product definition assumptions
include…
Who is our customer?
What pain points do they have related to our
product or service?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
30. @jboogie
Early product definition assumptions
include…
Who is our customer?
What pain points do they have related to our
product or service?
How will our product/service solve their pain
points?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
31. @jboogie
Early product definition assumptions
include…
Who is our customer?
What pain points do they have related to our
product or service?
How will our product/service solve their pain
points?
What features are important?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
32. @jboogie
Early product definition assumptions
include…
Who is our customer?
What pain points do they have related to our
product or service?
How will our product/service solve their pain
points?
What features are important?
What is our differentiation?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
33. @jboogie
Early product definition assumptions
include…
Who is our customer?
What pain points do they have related to our
product or service?
How will our product/service solve their pain
points?
What features are important?
What is our differentiation?
What is our business model?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
36. @jboogie
…which we then turn into hypotheses…
We believe that
[building this feature]
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
37. @jboogie
…which we then turn into hypotheses…
We believe that
[building this feature]
[for these people]
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
38. @jboogie
…which we then turn into hypotheses…
We believe that
[building this feature]
[for these people]
will achieve [this outcome].
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
39. @jboogie
…which we then turn into hypotheses…
We believe that
[building this feature]
[for these people]
will achieve [this outcome].
We will know we are successful when we
see [this signal from the market].
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
40. @jboogie
Hypothesis: We believe that
creating the ability for people to
share events will provide them with
better awareness and greater
enjoyment of their social circles.
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
44. @jboogie
Case Study: TheLadders
Requirement: Provide each paying customer
with a personal job search assistant
available via email and phone
Hypothesis: We believe that providing a
personal assistant to each customer will
drive up customer satisfaction, renewals and
retention rates
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
48. @jboogie
Case Study: TheLadders
How could we have better defined our
products?
Articulated our assumptions
Defined our hypotheses
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
49. @jboogie
Case Study: TheLadders
How could we have better defined our
products?
Articulated our assumptions
Defined our hypotheses
Run lightweight tests to validate the need
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
50. @jboogie
Case Study: TheLadders
How could we have better defined our
products?
Articulated our assumptions
Defined our hypotheses
Run lightweight tests to validate the need
What outcome were we targeting?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
53. @jboogie
What problem are you trying to solve?
How will you solve it?
How do you know it will work?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
54. @jboogie
How does this change the way a team
approaches a project?
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
55. @jboogie
How does this change the way a team
approaches a project?
The measure of progress changes…
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
56. @jboogie
How does this change the way a team
approaches a project?
The measure of progress changes…
…from output to outcome.
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
61. @jboogie
Many companies currently manage to
output.
Instead, they need to focus on outcome and
not task teams with responsibility for
impact.
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
82. @jboogie
Case Study: Sesame Street
In-class observation
V1 = PDF content test
V2 = card sorting
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
83. @jboogie
Case Study: Sesame Street
In-class observation
V1 = PDF content test
V2 = card sorting
V3 = clickable prototype
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
84. @jboogie
Case Study: Sesame Street
In-class observation
V1 = PDF content test
V2 = card sorting
V3 = clickable prototype
Not a line of code
written
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
88. @jboogie
Case Study: Agile UX NYC 2012
Would anyone attend our conference?
Lots of up front costs
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
89. @jboogie
Case Study: Agile UX NYC 2012
Would anyone attend our conference?
Lots of up front costs
Increasing fidelity of tests
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
95. @jboogie
Cross-functional teams…
Bring perspective to the product definition
process from all disciplines
Possess increased empathy for the user
Understand the “why” behind every initiative
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
96. @jboogie
Cross-functional teams…
Bring perspective to the product definition
process from all disciplines
Possess increased empathy for the user
Understand the “why” behind every initiative
Learn more, faster, by sharing the discovery
and creation process
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
98. @jboogie@neo_innovation || @jboogie
Competencies over roles
Jeffrey Allen "Jeff Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an
American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely
Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s. More recently, he
has been working as a defense consultant and chairs a
Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense.
102. @jboogie
Defining the right product…
Reduces the time spent building the wrong
product
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
103. @jboogie
Defining the right product…
Reduces the time spent building the wrong
product
Builds team-wide momentum & shared
understanding
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
104. @jboogie
Defining the right product…
Reduces the time spent building the wrong
product
Builds team-wide momentum & shared
understanding
Ensures that resources are spent on the right
initiatives
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
107. @jboogie
By shifting the way we work…
Requirements are assumptions
Focus on outcomes
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
108. @jboogie
By shifting the way we work…
Requirements are assumptions
Focus on outcomes
Work together to come up with ideas
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
109. @jboogie
By shifting the way we work…
Requirements are assumptions
Focus on outcomes
Work together to come up with ideas
Test those ideas ruthlessly
@neo_innovation || @jboogie
