Digital to Physical: The Experiment Economy Read more at: https://www.meetup.com/producttanknyc/events/251428273/ When you wish to learn about a business or product idea, the last thing you want is to rely fully on your imagination. You want to get as close as possible to a real world interaction with the product or service you wish to provide. Even better - you want to see how real customers actually use it. While seeing the product on a computer screen is awesome, if it doesn’t look real and customers can't really interact with it - the feedback won’t be real. This is why we run experiments. But why is it that "experimentation" is now considered a viable service offering for many companies today? We believe that the answers are in what we at ProductTank call the "Experiment Economy". Over the last several years, we’ve seen the rise of a segment of the post-industrial economy called the "software-based economy" as companies like InVision, Pivotal and Alpha demonstrate levels of innovation driven by the need to run experiments before customers spend unnecessary amounts of money on the wrong ideas. We also see the rise of access to digital and physical products like MakerBot 3D Printers that give creators the ability to test and launch physical products faster. Let's come together to discuss how this experiment economy has done wonders for product designers and how we can continue to benefit from the ramifications and create more opportunities for innovation. It stands to reason that as this experiment economy matures, product people will continue to evolve in their roles. We believe it is safe to assume that we’re in the midst of an experiment "gold rush" as we continue to discover how we can make digital and physical products better. Our guest panelists: Michelle M. Chu, Senior Product Manager / Head of Design at Alpha https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellechu/ Shanfan Huang, Product Designer at Pivotal https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanfan-huang-3930616b/ Jonathan Schwartz, Co-Founder & CPO at Voodoo Manufacturing https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmschwartz11/ John Marcantonio, VP of Product at MakerBot https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnlmarcantonio/

2. Michelle M. Chu
Senior Product Manager /
Head of Design at Alpha
Moderator: Tremis Skeete, Director of Product, nexTier Innovations
Shanfan Huang
Product Designer at Pivotal
Jonathan Schwartz
Co-Founder & CPO at
Voodoo Manufacturing
John Marcantonio
VP of Product at MakerBot

3. In today’s economy...

4. "The definition of the "software industry" used in the study
reflects the sector's transformation from a focus on tangible
and packaged software products to one that includes
software-related services, such as cloud-based
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud storage and computing,
mobile app development, and app hosting."
Source: Software Industry's $1 Trillion Impact On US Economy -
https://www.informationweek.com/cloud/platform-as-a-service/software-industrys-$1-trillion-impact-on-us-economy/d/d-id/1325988

5. "In the SAAS industry, there is an ongoing so-called "micro-value economy"
debate about which pricing models make the most sense, whether it is a "pay
as you go" price model, or a flat-rate model. Do you see a similar trend in your
respective areas of business with respect to providing "experimentation
services" for lack of a better term? If yes, could you share with us what those
conversations look like?"
"Companies’ software budgets went from being a capital expenditure to an
operational expenditure, giving them greater flexibility and convenience."
Source: Why SaaS Is Dead: The Rise of the Micro Value Software Economy
https://dzone.com/articles/why-saas-is-dead-the-rise-of-the-micro-value-softw

6. In today's software economy - what do you think
matters more when running product design
experiments?
Is it generating ideas or prototypes quickly, or, is it
turning insights into lasting habits and
sustainable processes?

7. In some companies today...

8. "Companies that win are characterized by their
ability to write better software faster (hence the rise
of continuous delivery and DevOps practices), and
the tools that enable them to do so are inevitably
gaining an increasing share of budget dollars."
Source: Party Like It’s 1849: The Developer Tools Gold Rush
https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/04/party-like-its-1849-the-developer-tools-gold-rush/

9. “Adapting to increasingly digital market environments and taking
advantage of digital technologies to improve operations are
important goals for nearly every contemporary business,” writes MIT
Sloan Management Review in their “Achieving Digital Maturity”
report. “Yet, few companies appear to be making the fundamental
changes their leaders believe are necessary to achieve these goals.”
Source: Is Your Organization Ready for Digital Prototyping?
https://www.continuuminnovation.com/en/how-we-think/blog/is-your-organization-ready-for-digital-prototyping

10. When it comes to
prototyping and experimentation...

11. "While some prototyping tools require the expertise of designers and
developers, others are just as powerful in the hands of a product manager. It’s
often efficient for the product manager to create simpler prototypes earlier in
the process, in order to independently test high level hypotheses, and then
move on to more advanced tools in collaboration with design and engineering,
when it makes sense to invest in those areas."
"The “best” tools to use depend entirely on your organizational structure and
the immediate purpose for the prototype. Not only that, but this purpose will
change throughout the product life cycle."
Source: What are the best rapid prototyping tools for product experiments?
https://alphahq.com/blog/guide-to-digital-prototyping-tools-for-product-experiments/

12. As a product designer, when it comes to offering
products and services, does it make sense to pay
attention to R&D activities that exist within several
businesses today?

13. Where digital meets physical...

14. “The digital revolution is sweeping
through every industry, including
manufacturing. Jonathan Schwartz and
Max Friefeld, Co-Founders of Voodoo
Manufacturing, are building the next
generation digital factory. Their company
is a software-enabled 3D-printing factory
producing a wide range of products and
prototypes at scale.”
Source: Voodoo Manufacturing and the Magic of 3D Printing
https://cheddar.com/videos/voodoo-manufacturing-and-the-magic-of-3d-printing

15. “MakerBot Labs: An experimental
platform for engineers and developers to
create, build, customize, and collaborate
on MakerBot 3D printing solutions.”
“MakerBot Labs was born out of feedback
from advanced users looking to tap their
innovative spirit and expand their 3D
printing experience.”
Source: MakerBot Labs - 3D Printing Community - Experimental 3D Printing
https://www.makerbot.com/3d-printers/labs/

16. Source: MakerBot Labs - 3D Printing Community - Experimental 3D Printing
https://www.makerbot.com/3d-printers/labs/
MakerBot Labs
Experimental Extruder:
“Designed for the advanced
user looking to push the
limits of what's possible
with MakerBot 3D printers.”
“The Experimental Extruder
is an experimental product
and is not covered under
warranty or MakerCare.”

17. In your lines of business, what kinds of customers
you find are mostly okay with the cost of your
products and services?
Would you consider these customers your most
flexible customers?

18. Final thoughts?

19. Michelle M. Chu
Senior Product Manager /
Head of Design at Alpha
Moderator: Tremis Skeete, Director of Product, nexTier Innovations
Shanfan Huang
Product Designer at Pivotal
Jonathan Schwartz
Co-Founder & CPO at
Voodoo Manufacturing
John Marcantonio
VP of Product at MakerBot

20. Special thanks to:
makerbot.com/careers

22. Digital to Physical: The Experiment Economy
● Event organized and curated by Tremis Skeete & Chul Kwon
● Presentation deck developed by Tremis Skeete
● Sponsorship provided by John Marcantonio (MakerBot)
● Executive produced by Mind the Product
Sponsored by