DESIGN FOR UNCERTAINTYIN A BUILD FIRST, FAIL FAST & FAIL OFTEN TYPE OF WORLD? JEANNY WANG

AS A DESIGN STRATEGIST,THIS IS WHAT WE LIKE TO BELIEVE WE DO.

BUSINESS

TECHNOLOGY MARKETING MARKETING

BUSINESS

TECHNOLOGY

LOOK MA, THAT’S ME!LOOK MA, THAT’S ME!

LIFE’S NEVER BORING,BECAUSE YOU ARE SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL!

STRATEGY CONCEPT PRODUCTION

OPERATIONS

CUSTOMERS

IT’S EXTREMELY HUMBLING.YOU LEARN ALOT, AND MOST OF THE TIME YOU’RE REARRANGING YOUR PRECONCEPTIONS OF HOW THINGS ARE DONE.

STRATEGY CONCEPT

OPERATIONS

CUSTOMERS

IOS NATIVE VIDEO PLAYER DOESN’T ALLOW FOR CONTINUOUS PLAY, NOW WHAT?

I WANT TO SPEED UP GETTING MORE VIDEOS ONLINE, BUT THIS CRAPPY VIDEO PROCESSING SOFTWARE IS A PAIN!

IMPLEMENTATION

BUT, YOU START SEEING THINGS.THERE’S A LOTTA BROKEN FOUNDATIONS, LEAKAGES & MISSING PARTS.

STRATEGY CONCEPT

OPERATIONS

CUSTOMERSIMPLEMENTATION

ONE THING STRUCK ME AS ODDWHEN DID WE STOP PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE CENTER OF OUR PROBLEM SOLVING?

IN THE DISRUPTIVE SPACE,WE’VE BECOME OBSESSED WITH THE ENIGMA AROUND TECHNOLOGY.

• We treat tech entrepreneurs with near god-like reverence, and bow down to their flash of genius.

• Since the unknown, is unknown, we latch on to trend ideas, and opt for the build first, fail fast & often approach.

• Or we scratch our own itch, and get massively disappointed when no one else seems to have the same problem.

BUILD AND THEY WILL COMENO LONGER FLIES IN OUR INCREASINGLY DEMANDING CONSUMER MARKET.

“Customers really don’t care about your solutions, they care about their problems.”

Dave McClure, Founding Partner @ 500startups

SO, HOW CAN WE PUT PEOPLE BACK AT THE CENTER OF OUR PROBLEM SOLVING?

I PROPOSE LEARNING FROMTHOSE WHO STUDY HUMAN CONNECTIONS AS A WAY OF LIVING.

GROUNDED THEORYDEVELOPED BY SOCIOLOGISTS BARNEY GLASER AND ANSELM STRAUSS (1967)

• Premise: Start with as few preconceived ideas as possible, and build a theory based on data that emerges along the way.

• The “scientist” becomes a “participant” • The four stages of analysis: Codes, Concepts, Categories, Theory

HOW COULD THIS BE APPLIEDIN A FAST-PACED, LEAN, AGILE ENVIRONMENT?

THE MINDSETTREAT THE PROJECT LIKE AN INVESTIGATION.

• Your subjects are your users (or desired users). • Your tools of choice - empathy and self-awareness. • Know that your own needs, preferences, preconceptions play a role in your decisions.

• You’ll start out with chaos, and introduce more structure as you go.

THE START START WITH AN AREA OF INTEREST, NOT A SOLUTION.

• Avoid the “solutionism" syndrome. • Carve out an area of interest, e.g. an opportunity or a problem. • Size doesn’t matter:

• Narrow starting point: “I’m interested in how couchsurfing for dogs will make it possible for pet owners to travel again!”

• Broader starting point: “I’m interested in finding out ways to help pet owners solve their travel problems.”

THE ASSUMPTION“DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND”*

• Differentiate between “I know” and “I assume” • An assumption is only worth as much as its reason.

• Rather than, “It appears most of our users are active on Facebook, we need to integrate Facebook Connect.”

• Include Reason: “so that they don’t have to be bothered about creating yet another account.”

• Don’t forget to validate your assumptions!

*Croll, Alistair & Benjamin Yoskovitz, “Lean Analytics”.

THE ROADMAP CRAFT YOUR STORY.

• Roadmaps have a bad rep — bubblegum roadmaps, anyone?

• Treat your roadmap like a narrative outline. • Rather than a checklist, use roadmaps to provide a big picture and plot the storyline to guide and inspire your team.

STANDARD ROADMAPTYPICALLY DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGICAL AND BUSINESS NEEDS.

STAGE 3STAGE 2STAGE 1

Q1 14 Q3 14 Q4 14

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

DR

IVER

SO

UTC

OM

ES

Q2 14

INFRASTRUCTURE PLUMBING

MICROCONF 2014

PAYMENT TRANSITIONS PROJECTS

Launch of new Web redesign and mobile app. Quick wins: New brand identity, fix UX, improved way to use timetables, Rooms for guidance and real-life chat.

Android release

IPTV: Samsung & TBD

XMedia Partnership project

Additional IPTV releases

Next big thing

So, what’s this release about?So, what’s this release about?

Oh wow, Android!Oh wow, Android!Sure, let’s keep it vague and act like we’re dreaming big . .

Sure, let’s keep it vague and act like we’re dreaming big . .

**

**

**

* Note sarcasm fully intended (and potentially better captured in person).

TRY A NARRATIVE ROADMAPUSE IT AS A STARTING POINT, INSPIRATION AND GUIDELINE FOR YOUR RELEASE.

ITERATIONS Chapter 1 Make every trip count !!

Chapter 2 Keep it interesting, take an off-beat path !

Chapter 3 Stay accountable, get a buddy onboard

CATCHY TITLE Easyfit

HEART OF SERVICE Stay fit, hassle free

YOUR ROADMAP WILL EVOLVEONCE YOU START WORKING ON YOUR STORY BACKLOG.

CATCHY TITLE

HEART OF SERVICE

ITERATIONS Chapter 1 Make every trip count !!

Chapter 2 Keep it interesting, take an off-beat path !

Chapter 3 Stay accountable, get a buddy onboard

Easyfit

Stay fit, hassle free

• Set get fit route • Select get fit regiment • Automatic reroute • View my fitness stats !!!

• Select off-beaten theme • What could be concerns when taking off-beaten path?

• How can we make discovery more fun?

• Allow users to find accountability buddy

• Who do you usually look for when you need an accountability buddy?

• Perks, Rewards?

KEY USER REQUIREMENTS

Pretty SolidPretty Solid

Super VagueSuper Vague

KINDA VagueKINDA Vague

THE BACKLOG FLESH OUT YOUR CHAPTERS.

• Backlogs, like roadmaps, evolve and fill up with each step. • Treat your user requirements like chapters, and your user stories like stories.

• You’re out to design the ultimate narrative experience.

IT’S NOT JUST ANY STORYIT’S BEHAVIORAL DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT*

Given that I am a userWhen I … Then I want to …And I want to …

DON’T SNEAK IN ANY INTERACTIONS! ! !DON’T SNEAK IN ANY INTERACTIONS! ! !

Positive acceptance criteria Negative acceptance criteria

THE BEGINNINGS OF YOUR TEST CASES.THE BEGINNINGS OF YOUR TEST CASES.

As a userI want to be able to …So that I can …

Be relentless with your whys.Be relentless with your whys.

*Dan Norton, “Behavioral Driven Development” http://dannorth.net/introducing-bdd/

KEY USER FLOWSIT’S NOT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE, BUT AN EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE.

THIS IS NOT AN XML FLOW.THIS IS NOT AN XML FLOW.THIS IS NOT AN XML FLOW.THIS IS NOT AN XML FLOW.

IT’S NOT ABOUT CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN CLIENTS AND SERVERS.IT ’S NOT ABOUT CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN CLIENTS AND SERVERS.IT ’S NOT ABOUT CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN CLIENTS AND SERVERS.IT ’S NOT ABOUT CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN CLIENTS AND SERVERS.

IT ’S ABOUT UNDERSTANDING HOW USERS BEHAVE AND THE DECIS IONS THEY MAKE.IT ’S ABOUT UNDERSTANDING HOW USERS BEHAVE AND THE DECIS IONS THEY MAKE.

thinking in sequence makes it easier to identify problem areas, cases & exceptions

thinking in sequence makes it easier to identify problem areas, cases & exceptions

* ADAPTATION FROM RYAN FREITAS’ (CPO AT ABOUT.ME) FLOWS.

User actions

Decisions System actions

Yes

No

WORK ON IT TOGETHER!ONCE YOU HAVE A ROUGH CONCEPT, WORK WITH THE TEAM TO REFINE, EDIT OR ENHANCE THE CONCEPT TOGETHER.

THE IMPLEMENTATION BRING YOUR STORY TO LIFE.

• I’m a fan of agile, and see no reason to reinvent the wheel. • Most problems and complaints boil down to a lack of understanding of agile and unclear strategies.

• One suggestion, we could get better at experimenting with ways to create, prototype better together in interdisciplinary teams.

THE GO2MARKET ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE TO PROBE, REFINE & TEST YOUR NARRATIVE.

• When you build something that serves what people want or need, selling it becomes a lot easier.

• There’s no need to gloss things up, because your story is sewn deep into your product.

• The job here is to engage, listen in and observe your users behaviors, and feed this back to the team.

IT’S A NEVER-ENDING QUESTOF LEARNING, HYPOTHESIZING, STORYTELLING, BUILDING AND ENGAGING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE.

Identify an area of interest

Flesh out the details

Make an assumption

Craft your story

Bring it to live

Engage with your audience

THANK YOU.Got questions, you can contact me at: !twitter: @perhapstoopink linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jeannywang aboutme: about.me/jeannywang