1. Friday 9th November
Paul Dawson, Partner at Fluxx
Walking the line: The Role of Product Development
Product development is, or at least should be, a user-centred discipline, but
often has a strained relationship with the design teams that have to bring that
product to life.
We‟ll look in this session at what the role of Product Development is, how more
and more companies are thinking of their digital services as „product‟, and the
very thin line Product Development has to tread in the user-centred design
process between empowering a design team, and potentially alienating them
altogether.
This document and its content is Copyright ©2012 Paul Dawson and UCD UK Limited. No rights are claimed over third party images, all of which are
used under „fair use‟ and whose origin is acknowledged wherever possible.
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

2. Walking the line:
The Role of Product
Development
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

3. The boring cred‟s bit
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

4. A product & service
innovation company
Setting Strategy & Developing & validating Innovation practices &
Vision products long term change
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

5. Ideal outcomes from this session?
How to get better briefs that allow you to
Digital UX explore interesting opportunities and less
dispute with the people who are „leading‟ it
Product How to get closer to the product you had
envisioned, and create greater harmony with
development. the team tasked with making it great
Product design “wtf ?”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

6. There are two types of
organisation in the world
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

7. Develop, design
and sell products
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

8. Behave like they
are a product
company
Don't behave like
a product
company
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

9. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

10. New Product Development (NPD)
 Strategy
 Ideas and insight
 R&D Concepts
 Developed & Validated Concepts
(Desirability, Viability, Feasibility)
 Partnerships and organisation
 Design & Build
 Operate
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

11. The „Non Product‟ Approach
 Strategy
 Ideas and insight
 R&D Concepts
 Developed & Validated Concepts
(Desirability, Viability, Feasibility)
 Partnerships and organisation
 Design & Build
 Operate
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

12. The „Non Product‟ Approach
 Strategy
 Ideas and insight
 R&D Concepts
 Developed & Validated Concepts
(Desirability, Viability, Feasibility)
 Partnerships and organisation
 Design & Build
 Operate
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

13. Fortunately, most digital projects
I‟ve worked on start here:
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

14. But then they go one of two ways:
Exciting, interesting, innovative.
Empowered, creative, inspired
What if…
An exploration of why
What new opportunities there might be within it
New ideas, ‘blue sky’ thinking,…
Well, they seem to have made up their
minds, we’ll just get on and be the wireframe
monkeys shall we?
Wireframes
Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’
Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

15. What if companies who know
they are product companies
did not behave like product
companies?
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

16. An imaginary new product
“A new range of luggage specifically for the family”
The budget is set
The board is all behind it
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

17. Stage 1: Research
When product companies don‟t
behave like product companies
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

19. Stage 2: Envisioning
When product companies don‟t
behave like product companies
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

20. We could pre-load them with
things people need
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

21. We could do niche products for
specialist audiences
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

22. Hey, what if the suitcase became a
mode of transport?!
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

23. Hey, what if the suitcase actually
became the holiday?

24. But then… But suddenly…
The more radical thinking
simply gets dropped as it can’t
be validated
Ideas may be good, they might
not. Nobody is in a position to
judge before time starts
running out.
“We’ve got a whole stack of
“Product Owner”
basics to do first”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

25. Agile approaches in non-product
thinking companies…
Things we
know we
can do
The unproven
ideas domain
Things we know our
customers value
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

26. Stage 3:
New ideas get pushed to the back and we focus in on the
basics, having no time, resource or remit to progress our
half-formed ideas, no matter how brilliant they were…
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

27. but…
We have bright people, all eager to unleash
their creative juices and we lost them quite
early on…
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

28. The Line
Anything is possible
Exciting, interesting, innovative.
Empowered, creative, inspiring
Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’
Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself
I have a very tight, prescriptive brief
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

29. We might have had the „right ideas‟
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

30. but we haven‟t been able to
„make those ideas right‟
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

31. What we needed was an inspiring
brief with real possibilities
Research & Insight:
Now design something
magnificent
A clear product proposition:
“Design a suitcase that children and
parents will love.
We know that hassled parents and kids will
love a ride-on case. We can save tired
parent arms and tired toddler legs and
make travel fun.”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

32. And that‟s what product
development is
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

33. Product Development is pure UCD
But it doesn‟t design interfaces, and it‟s not
concerned with usability or ergonomics
desirable feasible
viable
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

34. Product Development‟s Goals
1. To flesh out and validate product and service
propositions
Desirable: Customers will find value in it
Feasible: We can make it work
Viable: It can be an economic success
2. Prove that this is the right thing to do, kill it early, or
learn enough to turn it into the right thing to do
3. To arm a design and build team with all they need to
get the product designed and built in the right way
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

35. But what many product
development teams miss is…
That once they‟ve „developed‟ the idea into a
product, the customer experience still has to be
designed
(because generally, they‟re a bit crap at doing that bit!)
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

36. I‟ve been on both sides
Product
Digital UX development
.
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

37. Words that strike terror…
“We’ve developed a new
brand, and the branding agency
have done some mock-ups”
“We’ve had a
product design “The CEO had a
consultancy designer mock
working on it” something up”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

38. “Here’s how it could look”
flux[x] Movie UI Design by Jayse Hansen @fluxxstudios @poleydee

39. Getting the wrong side of the line only leads
to conflict…
“Ha, they’re so wrong. This is
a much better idea.”
“Arrogant
tossers, they just
don’t get it!”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

40. Today‟s Line
Anything is possible
Exciting, interesting, innovative.
Empowered, creative, inspiring
Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’
Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself
I have a very tight, prescriptive brief
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

41. Setting out to raise the bar
Anything is possible
Exciting, interesting, innovative.
Empowered, creative, inspiring
“Mmmm. Nice concept, full of possibility.
Will be fun to see how we make it work.”
Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’
Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself
I have a very tight, prescriptive brief
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

42. So two key questions:
How do you do this cost-effectively?
We already think we don‟t have enough
time for design – how do you make it
worth investing in?
How do we ensure this process
does not entirely alienate design
and development teams?
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

43. Three answers
Focus on generating facts, not
opinions; and be lean about it
Enable and equip your design &
build team, don‟t tell them what to do
Don‟t be precious – about your
ideas, or being right
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

44. Focus on generating
facts, not opinions; and
be lean about it
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

45. Flux[x] Labs
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

46. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

47. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

48. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

49. insight idea feasibility
design &
manufacture distribution
development
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

50. Easy to do, and Starting to invest Hard to do, and a
no risk time & money lot of risk d
i
s
t
r
i
man b
ufac u
ture t
design & i
development o
n
feasibility
insight
Idea
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

51. Easy to do, and Starting to invest Hard to do, and a
no risk time & money lot of risk
man
ufac
ture
design &
development
feasibility
insight
Idea
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

52. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

53. MVP = Minimum Viable Product
Q: What is the absolute minimum we
can do to see if people actually value
our product?
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

54. Dim and Painful, but we got Dragon’s Den
distant past there…
insight Bankrupt
factory
People
bought it
concept
Give it to
manufacture the press
design &
development
distribution
Licensee Dodgy
feasibility liquidated catches
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

55. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

56. He believed because he had
generated facts
The toughness of his journey
was testament to the fact that
his MVP could not be that
minimal
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

57. Fortunately…
This now happens in days, or maybe
weeks, but certainly not months.
The Lab’s job within a product development
cycle is to generate evidence-based learning, to
help get the ideas right, and make good
decisions based on facts
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

58. labs

59. Basic Insight
We found it really hard to find a whiteboard the
size we want and think that other people will
have the same problem.
labs

60. This leads to a value hypothesis that we
can begin to test
“We think that people will value a
premium service that makes and installs
whiteboards to a precise set of
dimensions.”
labs

61. 1. Make a site that
calculates the cost
and puts customers in
touch with us.
2. Get a phone!
If people value
this service as
much as we do.
Volume of people
searching for it on Google
Requests for pricing
labs People who buy

62. The first MVP
(c .2 days)
labs

63. The 2 nd MVP
labs

64. The Lab‟s Learnings
This is a viable, small, local
business.
It would be a good idea to make
the whiteboards erasable!
It is possible in a week to prove
out a digital & physical business
in a lean way
labs

65. “The High Street Bank”
A real life case study
labs

66. Amongst others, we created one
experiment designed to test
something that had been debated
for ages at the bank
labs

67. It was a thorny subject.
It involved using customers‟
personal data to do something we
thought they would like and value.
labs

68. But would they accept it, or would
they go nuts and call the Daily Mail?
We put it live in a few weeks in an MVP to
several thousand real customers who didn‟t know
it was just an experiment.
labs

69. But before we did…
labs

70. It was usability tested
It panned!
Only 24% of people said they would do it
labs

71. How many ACTUALLY did it in
real life?
96% of people just jumped right on in!
labs

72. “What people say they will do and
what they actually do is often
very different and can be greatly
affected by their level of
awareness of the task at hand”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

73. The fluxx „Tested User‟ Framework
True Market Research
Idea/Concept ethnography (quant and qual)
MVP/Lean
Product/Service Market Intelligence
Maturity Level and behavioural data
Partial/Fully A/B Testing Usability Testing
Developed Multi-variate testing Prototype Testing
Is the User
Unaware aware of the test?
Aware
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

74. The fluxx „Tested User‟ Framework
Proving an idea A wide variety of
Idea/Concept one way or the opinions, ideas and
other stories
Product/Service
History
Maturity Level
Partial/Fully Optimising where Usability
Developed there are multiple
options
Is the User
Unaware aware of the test?
Aware
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

75. The outcome of which is…
Armed with facts, a product development team
can simply „tell‟ they don‟t „sell‟
It‟s hard to argue with, & people don‟t want to
It‟s equally obvious how to apply that data to
influence the design later on
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee
@poleydee

76. A key point here though is…
An MVP does not a design make
Which leads us to:
Enable and equip your design
& build team; don‟t tell them
what to do
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

77. Briefing the team means
focusing on the outcome
“Nice concept, full of possibility.
Will be fun to make it work.”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

78. Briefing the team
Present the trail of evidence
• A user-centred journey
• Help the team understand the
insight on which the product
was founded
• Don‟t hide any facts
• Show your wrong turns
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

79. Briefing the team
Describe, don‟t prescribe
What it should be
like, not what it
should look like
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

80. Create useful assets.
Things that will enable, not confine your design team
Draft Personas
If you don‟t know these, then the product you‟ve
developed isn‟t worth the Omnigraffle it‟s visualised on!
Product and Experience Principles
Distil your experience of the product development
learnings into principles that will help guide the design
and build team
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

81. What we don‟t say:
“Yeah, we already prototyped it”
Product development should never be testing a
UI, or a brand VI
We ask questions like:
• Is the content valuable to our audience?
• Is the function that it performs valuable?
• How easy or low cost does it have to be to become, in
order to become valuable?
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

82. Which has led us to a unique
design principle:
Make it as bad as you can get away with
(So long as you don‟t get in the way of the core testing objective)
“I‟ve never been asked
to make my work
„more sh*t before!”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

83. How do you brief in how a
product „feels‟?
I‟ll give you a briefing I‟ve used
many a time
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

84. Let me tell you
why I love
Virgin Atlantic
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

85. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

86. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

87. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

88. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

89. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

90. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

91. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

92. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

93. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

94. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

95. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

96. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

97. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

98. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

99. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

100. Which is easily summed up as:
Brilliant basics, magic touches
… and a number of other principles to which
a user experience or product would have to
conform in order to be the one that we
believe customers will love
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

101. Finally
Our brief must be full of possibility
“It‟s clear to us that people want a degree of
serendipity; for the finding of information to
have a „fuzzy edge‟ that allows them to
stumble on something that they love, but
weren‟t expecting”
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

102. flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

103. Creating a product design
brief with possibility
Always guide, never prescribe
Set principles, not guidelines
Design experiments, not UI
Say how it feels, not what it does
In short: Let the design team design it…
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

104. Finally:
Avoiding the ivory tower
Don‟t be precious – about
your ideas, or being right
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

105. Talk about the dead ends
Experiments never fail or succeed, they
merely have outcomes
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

106. Take input wherever you can
Regularly take time to gather
intelligence, ideas and product
thoughts from everywhere you
can, and credit your sources
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

107. Be inclusive
Get the design and development team to
develop the MVP
A RapidStart approach looks to get an
experiment out in under two days
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

108. Product Development can be a
state of mind, not a department
For complex products where there
is a high degree of uncertainty, it‟s
an upfront investment
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

109. Product Development can be a
state of mind, not a department
For new features in existing
products, it can become a „spike‟
in the existing process
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

110. Playing to each other‟s strengths
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

111. Phew… 
paul@fluxx.uk.com
flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee