This is a talk I did for Kai Pommerenke's class 'Econ 138: The Economics and Management of Technology and Innovation'. See www.alexandercowan.com/speaking for a full set of talks.

1. Econ 138
Design Thinking in Action
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

2. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

3. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

4. IT’S A PROCESS
Some techniques are more effective than others.
But they all require substantial, consistent exertion.
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

5. VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN
Hypothesize
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
User Stories
Test Cases
Learn
Experiment
Product & Promotion
Business Model
Canvas
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

6. VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

7. DESIGN THINKING
Back Then
And Now
Survival Design
Thinking
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

8. DESIGN THINKING
Empathy
Creativity
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

9. DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

10. DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
1
2
Urinate as they go
3
Edges preferred
4
Speedy
5
Empathy
Entry
PB > cheese
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

11. DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
Check & Repair
1
UV Validation
2
Relevant Placement
3
A Better Mouse Trap
4
Powered by Better Bait
5
Creativity
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

12. VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN - PERSONAS
Personas
Personas
Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

13. DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

14. DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

15. DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
•Women
•Age 28-45
•Have kids
•Socialize with other mom’s
•Online with Facebook
•86% said they’d like to be
more organized
•70% said they’d use an
application that organizes them
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

16. DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

17. DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
Mary the Mom
Mary is a mom by choice. She had a successful
career in accounting, but welcomed the opportunity to
be a stay at home mom. She loves it. But it’s not like
having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She
wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to
interact. Being a mom is a job and she wants to do it
well. That means corresponding with other mom’s on
relevant topics and keeping the family calendar in
ship shape. She posts to Facebook at least twice a
week and responds to other moms’ items more often
than that.
For household stuff, Costco is the go-to place, but
she’ll pick up fresh items at the farmer’s market when
it’s up and splurge at Whole Foods when they’re
having company.
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

18. END USER PERSONAS
Rita
the Reseller
Rhonda
the Receptionist
Amy
the Assistant
Esteban
the Executive
Orson
the Office Mgr.
Susan the
Small Bus. Owner
Simone
the Standard User
Mikuko
the Mobile User
Ignatius
the IT Guy
Keith
the Key System User
Chuck
the Call Center Agent
Cindy
the Call Center Manager
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

19. ENTERPRISE PERSONAS
Bruce
the Business Owner
Sidney
the Sys. Admin.
Anthony
the Applications Eng.
Sam
the Support Eng.
Paola
the Provisioner
Percival the
Product Manager
Itzhak
the IT Developer
Saul
the Site Developer
Nietzsche
the Network Eng.
Sven
the Salesperson
Frank
the Field Eng.
Fritz
the Field Eng. Manager
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

20. DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
X
?
!
PROBLEM SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVE(S)
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

21. 1. List at least 3 personas
2. More time? Describe as much as you can the
items below. (5 min)
RHONDA THE RECEPTIONIST
About: Rhonda’s job is about figuring out who wants what, if the
person they want is available or will be soon, and then connecting A
to B. Historically, the phones have been fine. She’s used to them....
Thinks: Any new phone should work like the old. Also, after hours...
Sees: Her friends have told her about the automation on their
systems, how they automatically roll to a cell or another station after..
Feels: The IT people don’t understand or appreciate what she does.
It’s not as easy as it looks to smoothly connect people to . . .
Does: She’s much more inclined to just suffer with a bad system than
say something. It’s important to query and observe how the system...
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

22. 1. Which are buyers? Users? Both? Note with
a ‘B’ and/or ‘U’ on the Post-It (2 min.)
2. Which have the most compelling need,
desire? Sort top to bottom (3 min.)
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

23. 1. Brainstorm Problem Scenario-AlternativeValue Proposition Trios. (10 min.)
X
?
!
PROBLEM SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVE(S)
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

24. (Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Cost Structure)
(Value
(Customer
Propositions) Relationships)
(Customer
Segments)
(Channels)
(Revenue Streams)
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

25. BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

26. SEGMENT TO VALPROP MAPPING
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Segment_1
Segment_2
Segment_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

27. THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
Customer
Segments
Value
Propositions
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Cost Structure)
(Value
(Customer
Propositions) Relationships)
(Customer
Segments)
(Channels)
(Revenue Streams)
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

28. CUSTOMER SEGMENTS VS. PERSONAS
Customer
Segments
g
≈
Personas
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

29. 1. Print out the Canvas
2. List your prioritized personas (Customer
Segments) and Value Propositions
3. Map your personas to your Value
Propositions
(5 min)
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Segment_1
Segment_2
Segment_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

30. 1. List your prioritized personas (Customer
Segments)
2. List your prioritized Value Propositions
3. Map your personas to your Value
Propositions
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Segment_1
Segment_2
Segment_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

31. DESIGN THINKING - USING PERSONAS
SELLING
STUFF
MAKING
STUFF
What does the user
(most) want?
What does the user
actually do?
Who are we
selling to?
Where do we
reach them?
With what
proposition?
Personas
Personas
Problem Scenarios
Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
Your Value Propositions
Who’s buying?
Where?
Why?
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

32. DESIGN THINKING - CREATING PERSONAS
Interviews
AdWords, etc. + Landing
Page Tests
What language, propositions resonate?
What is the customer prepared to do?
Real-Time Analytics
& Recording
MVP
Tell me about yourself.
What do you do? How often?
How does it make you feel?
What do users actually do?
Minimum Viable
Product
Do customers like it? Buy it? Use it?
Tell others about it?
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

33. VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN
Hypothesize
Learn
Personas
Personas
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
Experiment
Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

34. PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
01 IDEA!
What are the key assumptions
required to make this business work?
02 HYPOTHESIS
How do I definitely prove or disprove
the assumptions with a minimum of
time and effort?
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Am I reacting or am I focused on
validating my pivotal assumptions?
04 EXPERIMENTATION
‘Pivot or persevere?’
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

35. PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
Experimentation
1
[A key assumption about [Whether it needs
proving
the business]
[Experiment to
prove or disprove]
1
Parents want to organize
the distribution of
Yes
allowances with an app
* Post the proposition in ads
online
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents want to link
allowances to chores
Yes
* Show prototypes with choices
* Test in beta
2
Parents have smart
phones
No
n/a
Focus on strategic,
pivotal assumptions
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

36. PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Crossing t’s
Dotting i’s
Doesn’t matter unless it
helps prove (or disprove)
your pivotal assumptions
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

37. PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Subject
all your
activities +
metrics to
that litmus
test.
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

38. CONCIERGE MVP AND LEAN STARTUP
Get paid for
customer
discovery.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

39. PLANNING WITH LEAN AT LARGE
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
Experimentation
1
[A key assumption about [Whether it needs
proving
the business]
[Experiment to
prove or disprove]
1
Parents want to organize
the distribution of
Yes
allowances with an app
* Post the proposition in ads
online
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents want to link
allowances to chores
Yes
* Show prototypes with choices
* Test in beta
2
Parents have smart
phones
No
n/a
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

40. VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN
Hypothesize
Learn
Personas
Personas
Experiment
Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
Lean at Large
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

41. PLANNING WITH LEAN AT LARGE
Let’s not
argue.
Let’s assume.
Then test.
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

42. PLANNING WITH LEAN AT LARGE
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

43. ONLINE SELF-CARE- BUSINESS TELEPHONY
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

44. ONLINE SELF-CARE
PERSONA
PROBLEM SCENARIO
IMPLEMENTATION
Saul
Percival
&
the
the
Product Mgr. Site Developer
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
Percival
Bruce
&
the
the
Business Owner Product Mgr.
SAML SSO
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

45. ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
1
End users want to log in
Yes!
and do self-care
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
Yes
Experimentation
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

46. ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
1
End users want to log in
Yes!
and do self-care
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
Yes
Experimentation
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

47. ONLINE SELF-CARE
PERSONA
PROBLEM SCENARIO
IMPLEMENTATION
Saul
Percival
&
the
the
Product Mgr. Site Developer
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
Percival
Bruce
&
the
the
Business Owner Product Mgr.
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
SAML SSO
Focus on
customer admin
experience
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

48. Take II- DASHBOARDS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

49. ONLINE SELF-CARE
PERSONA
PROBLEM SCENARIO
IMPLEMENTATION
Saul
Percival
&
the
the
Product Mgr. Site Developer
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
Percival
Bruce
&
the
the
Business Owner Product Mgr.
Orson the
Office Manager
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
SAML SSO
Focus on
customer admin
experience
‘I still don’t get it.’
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

50. ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
1
Customer admin’s will
do self-care with training Yes!
and awareness
Focus on training customer
admin’s,
see if they nibble
1
Presenting all the users
of interest on the 1st
page will engage these
admin’s
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
Yes
Experimentation
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

51. DASHBOARD
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

52. ONLINE SELF-CARE
PERSONA
PROBLEM SCENARIO
IMPLEMENTATION
Saul
Percival
&
the
the
Product Mgr. Site Developer
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
Percival
Bruce
&
the
the
Business Owner Product Mgr.
Orson the
Office Manager
SAML SSO
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Focus on
customer admin
experience
‘I still don’t get it.’
One click access
via ‘Dashboard’
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

53. DESIGN THINKING - STORYBOARDS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

54. DESIGN THINKING - STORYBOARDS
BEFORE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

55. DESIGN THINKING - STORYBOARDS
AFTER
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

56. DESIGN THINKING- STORYBOARDS
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec feugiat magna
erat, eget mattis turpis bibendum in. Curabitur eget adipiscing dolor. Morbi
cursus luctus rhoncus. Cras sagittis cursus libero sit amet ullamcorper.
Phasellus vitae consequat enim. Vivamus in tortor sit amet nibh molestie
tristique sed vel neque. Nunc sed dictum ligula. Quisque sollicitudin neque
mauris, at vulputate odio fringilla ut. Pellentesque mattis at risus et volutpat.
Nunc tristique adipiscing neque vel ornare. Donec a pretium metus, vitae
adipiscing augue. Morbi ac suscipit tellus. Vestibulum gravida molestie est vel
vehicula. Phasellus eleifend nisi cursus nunc facilisis egestas.
Aliquam venenatis et libero commodo convallis. Donec accumsan elit non turpis
pulvinar, id sodales purus blandit. Phasellus tristique fermentum nunc in feugiat.
Maecenas eget varius est, id malesuada est. Fusce vitae nunc purus. Nam
vehicula eros vitae sapien scelerisque auctor. Maecenas et justo ac libero
dictum dapibus. Etiam volutpat erat eget ante ullamcorper placerat. Maecenas
convallis massa aliquam ullamcorper posuere. Phasellus nulla est, rhoncus
blandit dapibus sit amet, facilisis at orci. Nulla facilisi. Maecenas ultrices justo
quis nibh sagittis tempor. Pellentesque id semper turpis.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

57. A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
Onboarding
R etention
How do they first
find out that you,
your proposition
exist?
How do you break
through the noise
floor?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

58. A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
Onboarding
R etention
What is it that
engages them
with your
proposition? How
will you connect?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

59. A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
Onboarding
R etention
Are you connecting
with an important
problem scenario?
Is your VP better
enough than the
alternative?
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

60. A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
Onboarding
R etention
What is absolute
minimum set of
actions required by
the customer to
have you deliver
on their problem?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

61. A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
Onboarding
R etention
How do they
become a regular,
habitual user? How
will you know if
that’s happening?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

62. A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
Onboarding
R etention
How do you
deepen their
involvement?
Investment? How
do you get them
talking about it?
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

63. AIDA(OR) ON A STORYBOARD
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing

64. 1. Using the squares, create an AIDA(OR)
storyboard (10 min)
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

65. 1. Pick your top persona
2. Detail Think-See-Feel-Do (10 min.)
MARY THE MOM
About: . . .
Thinks: What do they think about your area of endeavor?
Sees: What observations do they likely make?
Feels: How does it really make them feel?
Does: What do you actually see them doing today?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

66. (5 min)
Area
Examples Questions (‘Enable Quiz’)
Understand the Buyer’s Operating
Environment
- What is your current process for vetting
engineering candidates?
- Do you ever hire candidates who later turn out
not to have been good hires?
- What are the different reasons a candidate
might turn out to be a bad fit”
- Probe around cultural fit, personality,
technical skills, ability to communicate, team
player, etc.
- How many tech hires have you made in the past
3 years? How many were bad and what was
their break down by bucket?
- What happens when you find out someone is a
bad hire?
- Can you think about the last candidate you hired
that turned out to be a bad (tech skills) hire?
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

67. (3 min)
Area
Understand the Buyer’s Learning
Environment
Examples Questions (‘Enable Quiz’)
- Do you have any ideas on how you might
prevent this from recurring? Are there things
you’ve seen at other companies that worked
better?
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

68. DEVELOPMENT
Then
Waterfall
Now
Agile
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

69. VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN
Hypothesize
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
User Stories
Test Cases
Learn
Experiment
Product & Promotion
Business Model
Canvas
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

70. AGILE FOUNDATIONS
Individuals
>
Processes
Working
software
>
Comprehensive
Documentation
Customer
collaboration
>
Contract
negotiation
Responding
to change
>
Following
a plan
Interactions
Tools
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

71. AGILE USER STORIES
Drafting
Stories
PERSONAS
Epic Stories
Stories
Test Cases
“As a [persona],
I want to [do something]
so that I can [derive a benefit]”
STORIES
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

72. AGILE USER STORIES
EPIC STORY
“As a receptionist, I want a custom configuration on my phone so that I can manage calls in the way I’ve
come to expect.”
STORY
“As a receptionist, I want to receive an out of the box phone
As receptionist
set up that’s created against best practices so I don’t have
myself.
to set it all up by myself.”
TEST CASE
Make sure the available templates are
editable in a visual environment usable by
a Product Manager
Make sure it’s possible to update the
template at install time
Make sure the template designation is
available in all Loki provisioning interfaces
Make sure it’s possible for the user to reset
to the default template
“As a receptionist, I want to change the buttons on my
phone so they do what I want.”
Make sure the available functions are
filtered by the services assigned to the user
Make sure available functions are filtered
based on the capabilities of the phone key
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

73. AGILE & LEAN
Past
Present
Future
validate feature
relevance with
customers
collaborate with
development
team
observe and
envision what’s
next
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

74. 1. Write 3 agile user stories (10 min)
“As a [persona], I want to [do something] so that I can [derive a
benefit]”
ex 1: “As a receptionist, I want a custom configuration on my phone
so that I can manage calls in the way I’ve come to expect.”
ex 2: “As a receptionist, I want to receive an out of the box phone set
up that’s created against best practices so I don’t have to set it all up
by myself.”
ex 3: “As a receptionist, I want to change the buttons on my phone so
they do what I want.”
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

75. FULL CIRCLE
Who?
THINK
SEE
FEEL
!
DO
PERSONAS
What?
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS
What if?
How?
!
VALUE
USER
PROPOSITIONS
STORIES
& ASSUMPTIONS
Scale?
How?
..
/
Pivot?
WIREFRAMES/
PROTOTYPES
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

76. Collaboration
Basic
Technical
Literacy
...
(VARIOUS) MGMT.
...
ANALYTICS
SEO
(VARIOUS) DESIGN
...
...
...
PHP
JAVA
PYTON
RUBY
Specialties
UNIX SYSADMIN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AGILE
As Product Owner
SOFTWARE
FUNDAMENTALS
Model-View-Controller
ARCHITECTURE
FUNDAMENTALS
App. & Platform Integration
ROLES & SYSTEMS
In a Technical Team
Personas
Stories
Foundation
Concepts
Development
DESIGN
THINKING
ITERATIVE
MANAGEMENT
CUSTOMER
DEVELOPMENT
Discussion
AGILE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

77. bit.ly/econ138
www.alexandercowan.com/venture-design
www.alexandercowan.com/startup-sprints
@cowanSF
acowan@alexandercowan.com
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing