At Polyvore, we test our product ideas quickly using Fake Doors.

1. FAKE DOOR TESTING
How to Test Product Ideas Quickly
Jess Lee, CEO & Co-founder, Polyvore

2. Jess Lee
HONG KONG /
STANFORD CS 2004 /
GOOGLE MAPS PM /
POLYVORE CEO /
DRAWING / BACON /
SCI FI & ACTION MOVIES /
jessyoko.com
@jesskah
jess.polyvore.com

3. The Evolution of Shopping
INFORMATION
SPECS / FACTUAL REVIEWS / PRICE
INSPIRATION
TASTE / TRENDS / ASPIRATION

4. Mix & match products you love • Shop looks created by tastemakers

5. POLYVORE.COM
POLYVORE APP

6. The Great Startup Rollercoaster
TIME
EFFORT/ANXIETY
1ST HIRE
FUNDRAISING
FIRST N USERS
PRODUCT-MARKET FIT
LIKELIHOOD OF
HEAVY DRINKING
SOURCE: HTTP://BLOG.ELADGIL.COM/2010/09/ARE-YOU-ALCOHOLIC-YET-OR-GREAT-STARTUP.HTML

7. Product-Market Fit
Being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market

8. Market
Whose problem are you trying to solve?
How many people have this problem?

9. Product
What solution will best serve this market?
How can I build this solution?

10. Ask friends / family
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Talk to Users

11. Ask Industry Experts / Entrepreneurs / VCs
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Talk to Users

12. THE UNFORTUNATE TRUTH
People are bad at predicting
what they want

13. People are good at
reacting to things that exist
THE SAVING GRACE

14. THE ONLY SOLUTION
Build & test it quickly

15. HOW TO BUILD & TEST QUICKLY
Fake Door Testing

16. Only build the important bits. Fake the rest. Test on real users.
HOW TO BUILD & TEST QUICKLY
Fake Door Testing

17. EXAMPLE #1
App Notifications

18. EXAMPLE #2
Universal Shopping Cart

19. EXAMPLE #3
App Internationalization

20. EXAMPLE #4
Outfit Sales

21. List key assumptions
Identify the biggest unknowns
Build the unknowns, fake the rest
Measure your success
Steps for Fake Doors

22. • People will buy more items if they get a bigger discount
• We can establish partnerships with retailers for this idea
List Key Assumptions
IDEA: Shop user-generated outfits and get a sliding
discount based on the # of items you buy
• People are interested in shopping outfits
• We can scalably create outfits with products from partners
ASSUMPTIONS:
• We can handle payment, fulfillment, shipping, returns

23. Identify Biggest Unknowns
• We can establish partnerships with retailers for this idea
• We can scalably create outfits with products from partners
• People will buy more items if they get a bigger discount
• People are interested in shopping outfits
BIGGEST UNKNOWNS:
• We can handle payment, fulfillment, shipping, returns
SEEMS LIKE A SOLVABLE PROBLEM:

24. • We can establish partnerships with retailers for this idea
• We can scalably create outfits with products from partners
• People will buy more items if they get a bigger discount
• People are interested in shopping outfits
BIGGEST UNKNOWNS:
• We can handle payment, fulfillment, shipping, returns
SEEMS LIKE A SOLVABLE PROBLEM:
Build the Unknowns,
Fake the Rest
Build outfit sale UI
Handle shipping ourselves
Show it to real users
Fake the partners
Make the outfits ourselves

25. Build outfit sales UI

26. Show it to users

27. Fake the Partners

28. Make the outfits ourselves

29. Handle shipping, fulfillment,
returns ourselves

30. Measure Your Success
RESULTS AFTER 3 MONTHS, 63 OUTFITS, $3722.16:
• 1.89% conversion rate
• 2.93% checkout rate
• 2.32 items / order
• 21% return rate
LESSONS LEARNED
• People will buy more if the discount goes up
• Our checkout flow with Amazon Payments is terrible
• Needs further improvements to be highly profitable

31. Need to be tolerant of failure
Define clear metrics & constraints
Don’t betray your users’ trust
Not a replacement for ideation
Tips for Fake Doors

32. Tolerance for Failure

33. Clear Metrics & Constraints

34. Don’t Betray Users’ Trust

35. Not a Replacement
for Ideation

36. Thank You!