Cultivating Lean Startup Teams When People Don't Know What It Is (or Are Hostile to It) by Emily Holmes @uxemily Hobsons The Lean Startup Conference 2013 http://leanstartup.co/

1. How Do You Cultivate a
Lean Team…
When People Don’t Know
What It Is?
(or are hostile to it)

2. Sound familiar?
Releasing things that don’t seem to matter
Waterfall (or even agile) isn’t working
Focus is on getting things “done” rather
than building the right things
Projects take forever and are bogged down
by indecision
Lean “doesn’t apply to us”

3. Sound familiar?
Releasing things that don’t seem to matter
Waterfall (or even agile) isn’t working
Focus is on getting things “done” rather
than building the right things
Projects take forever and are bogged down
by indecision
Lean “doesn’t apply to us”

4. Sound familiar?
Releasing things that don’t seem to matter
Waterfall (or even agile) isn’t working
Focus is on getting things “done” rather
than building the right things
Projects take forever and are bogged down
by indecision
Lean “doesn’t apply to us”

5. Sound familiar?
Releasing things that don’t seem to matter
Waterfall (or even agile) isn’t working
Focus is on getting things “done” rather
than building the right things
Projects take forever and are bogged down
by indecision
Lean “doesn’t apply to us”

6. Sound familiar?
Releasing things that don’t seem to matter
Waterfall (or even agile) isn’t working
Focus is on getting things “done” rather
than building the right things
Projects take forever and are bogged down
by indecision
Lean “doesn’t apply to us”

7. Shouldn’t we try
a more Lean
approach?

9. Simple Lean User Experience
(Lean UX) techniques
Gradually shift the team’s focus to the
users
UX is all about the user; natural fit with
Lean Startup

10. Simple Lean User Experience
(Lean UX) techniques
Gradually shift the team’s focus to the
users
UX is all about the user; natural fit with
Lean Startup

11. Get out of the
building
What:
Quick, ad-hoc research to get user
feedback on your ideas
Why:
More:
It ends opinion-based internal debates;
it focuses and accelerates projects
• It’s Our Research by Tomer Sharon
• Lean Startup Machine workshops

12. Get out of the
building
What:
Quick, ad-hoc research to get user
feedback on your ideas
Why:
More:
It ends opinion-based internal debates;
it focuses and accelerates projects
• It’s Our Research by Tomer Sharon
• Lean Startup Machine workshops

13. Get out of the
building
What:
Quick, ad-hoc research to get user
feedback on your ideas
Why:
More:
It ends opinion-based internal debates;
it focuses and accelerates projects
• It’s Our Research by Tomer Sharon
• Lean Startup Machine workshops

14. Host a persona
workshop who your
What: An interactive discussion of
users are and what they need from you
Why:
More:
Helps build awareness of your users,
their needs, and where you fit in
The Essential Persona Lifecycle by
Tamara Adlin

15. Host a persona
workshop who your
What: An interactive discussion of
users are and what they need from you
Why:
More:
Helps build awareness of your users,
their needs, and where you fit in
The Essential Persona Lifecycle by
Tamara Adlin

16. Host a persona
workshop who your
What: An interactive discussion of
users are and what they need from you
Why:
More:
Helps build awareness of your users,
their needs, and where you fit in
The Essential Persona Lifecycle by
Tamara Adlin

17. Host a design studio
What:
Why:
More:
A fun, interactive workshop where
people share ideas for solving problems
Fosters collaboration, generates new
ideas, changes the conversation
Will Evans “The Design of Design
Studio” http://bit.ly/1crjEK8

18. Host a design studio
What:
Why:
More:
A fun, interactive workshop where
people share ideas for solving problems
Fosters collaboration, generates new
ideas, changes the conversation
Will Evans “The Design of Design
Studio” http://bit.ly/1crjEK8

19. Host a design studio
What:
Why:
More:
A fun, interactive workshop where
people share ideas for solving problems
Fosters collaboration, generates new
ideas, changes the conversation
Will Evans “The Design of Design
Studio” http://bit.ly/1crjEK8

20. Write scenarios!
What:
Narratives that explain how the user will
use your product to meet a need
Why:
Stories are relatable. They humanize the
software development process
More:
Kim Goodwin’s podcasts + presentations

21. Write scenarios!
What:
Narratives that explain how the user will
use your product to meet a need
Why:
Stories are relatable; they humanize the
software development process
More:
Kim Goodwin’s podcasts + presentations

22. Write scenarios!
What:
Narratives that explain how the user will
use your product to meet a need
Why:
Stories are relatable; they humanize the
software development process
More:
Kim Goodwin’s podcasts + presentations

23. Start building story
maps
Visual representation of the scenario,
What:
user stories, questions and ideas
Why:
Ties the human-centered discovery
process directly into the agile process
More:
Jeff Patton “The New User Story
Backlog is a Map” http://bit.ly/1KQp

24. Start building story
maps
Visual representation of the scenario,
What:
user stories, questions and ideas
Why:
Ties the human-centered discovery
process directly into the agile process
More:
Jeff Patton “The New User Story
Backlog is a Map” http://bit.ly/1KQp

25. Start building story
maps
Visual representation of the scenario,
What:
user stories, questions and ideas
Why:
Ties the human-centered discovery
process directly into the agile process
More:
Jeff Patton “The New User Story
Backlog is a Map” http://bit.ly/1KQp

26. Once you start gaining momentum

27. Bring in a Lean UX
coach can work with
An outside expert who
What:
your team to encourage Lean UX
Why:
More:
Reinforces and adds credibility to your
previous actions and advice
NEO

28. Bring in a Lean UX
coach can work with
An outside expert who
What:
your team to encourage Lean UX
Why:
More:
Reinforces and adds credibility to your
previous actions and advice
NEO

29. Bring in a Lean UX
coach can work with
An outside expert who
What:
your team to encourage Lean UX
Why:
More:
Reinforces and adds credibility to your
previous actions and advice
NEO

30. Change your team
structure
Break into smaller, cross-functional,
What:
autonomous teams
Why:
More:
More communication, less
documentation; teams feel empowered
“2-pizza teams”

31. Change your team
structure
Break into smaller, cross-functional,
What:
autonomous teams
Why:
More:
More communication, less
documentation; teams feel empowered
“2-pizza teams”

32. Change your team
structure
Break into smaller, cross-functional,
What:
autonomous teams
Why:
More:
More communication, less
documentation; teams feel empowered
“2-pizza teams”

33. Make it fun!

34. You can do this!
Help people see the benefits
Introduce it slowly in a way that seems
relevant and compelling
Change the culture by always reframing
your work from the end user’s perspective

35. You can do this!
Help people see the benefits
Introduce it slowly in a way that seems
relevant and compelling
Change the culture by always reframing
your work from the end user’s perspective

36. You can do this!
Help people see the benefits
Introduce it slowly in a way that seems
relevant and compelling
Change the culture by always reframing
your work from the end user’s perspective

37. You can do this!
Help people see the benefits
Introduce it slowly in a way that seems
relevant and compelling
Change the culture by always reframing
your work from the end user’s perspective
Be patient

38. @uxemily