2. Build the Right
Product with
Lean UX
CF PM Lunch
October 25, 2017
Mike Long, Design Manager at
Pivotal
@mblongii
Agenda:
My Background
What is Lean UX?
Uncertainty / Fidelity
3 Stages of Product Development
Choosing the Right Fidelity
Q&A
5. 5 Principles of Lean
1. Value
a. How much value does a Customer place on our product or service?
2. The value stream
a. End-to-end product lifecycle and all of the waste involved
3. Flow
a. If the value chain stops at any point, waste will occur
4. Pull
a. We do not make anything until the customer orders it
5. Perfection
a. Continuously remove the root cause of poor quality from production processes
http://www.maskell.com/lean_accounting/subpages/lean_manufacturing/lt_the_principles_of_lean_manufacturing.html
6. 5 Principles of Great UX
1. Be contextual
a. Ensure that users are aware of where they are in their journey
2. Be human
a. Provide human interactions over machine-like interactions
3. Be findable
a. Establish a strong information scent
4. Be easy
a. Consistency, clarity, a strong visual hierarchy
5. Be simple
a. Avoid distractions, jargon, and long loading times
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/11/fundamental-principles-of-great-ux-design-how-to-deliver-great-ux-design.php
7. Lean UX Manifesto
We are developing a way to create digital experiences that are valued by our end users. Through this work, we hold
in high regard the following:
Early customer validation over releasing products with unknown end-user value
Collaborative design over designing on an island
Solving user problems over designing the next “cool” feature
Measuring KPIs over undefined success metrics
Applying appropriate tools over following a rigid plan
Nimble design over heavy wireframes, comps, or specs
As stated in the Agile Manifesto, “While there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”
https://datavizblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/lean-ux-manifesto.png
8. As uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Increase Fidelity As We Learn
The goal is to keep our
learning cycles running
continuously so we can
learn faster than the
market. We do this by
keeping fidelity low when
uncertainty is high.
9. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
10. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
11. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
12. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
13. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
14. an Idea
Empathy
a Product
Stickiness
more Ideas
GrowthAs uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Talking To Humans
15. “We’d love to get
feedback on a thing
we’ve made to keep
more than one CF
foundation updated.”
“Could you tell us a
story about the last
time you tried to keep
more than one CF
foundation updated?”
Problem Vs. Solution Interview
16. “We’d love to get
feedback on a thing
we’ve made to keep
more than one CF
foundation updated.”
[solution interview]
“Could you tell us a
story about the last
time you tried to keep
more than one CF
foundation updated?”
[problem interview]
Problem Vs. Solution Interview
17. How to Screw Up User
Interviews
DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
18. 1. We treat speculation as confirmation
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
19. “What different systems
or methods have you
tried in the past?”
“Would you use this?”
“Would you pay for it?”
“Would you like it?”
1. We treat speculation as confirmation
20. 2. We lead the witness
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
21. “What was that
experience like of
buying movie tickets
online?”
“We don’t think most
people really want to
book tickets online, but
what do you think?”
2. We lead the witness
22. 3. We just can’t stop talking
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
23. “Could you tell us a
story about the last
time you were trying to
achieve zero-downtime
deployment?”
“The feedback so far
has been great. There’s
this one customer who
we’d love to connect
you with, but in the
meantime let me tell you
their story real quick.”
3. We just can’t stop talking
24. 4. We only hear what we want to hear
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
25. “Hey Francis, I’ll take
notes while you
interview so you can
focus on digging into
something they say that
we might not expect.”
“Hey Chuck, let’s listen
for signals that they
might want the large
trencher because we
can sell them a bigger
maintenance contract.”
4. We only hear what we want to hear
26. 5. We treat a single conversation as
ultimate truth
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
27. “Hey, Cory! Acme feels
these pains. However,
I’m concerned that the
problems are unique to
them. Let’s interview 10
more customers to get
more validation.”
“Hey, Bob! Acme just
said they’re really
feeling these pains. Let’s
fill the backlog and build
a thing!”
5. We treat a single conversation as ultimate truth
28. 6. Fear of rejection wins out
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
29. “Hey, Sam! Let’s write
up a doc that explains
our learning goals and
share it with all the
teams for feedback.”
6. Fear of rejection wins out
“We don’t know how to
find people to talk to.”
“What if the account
team says ‘no’ to the
site visit?”
30. 7. We talk to anyone with a pulse
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
31. 8. We wing the conversation
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
32. 9. We try to learn everything in one sitting
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
33. 10. Only the designer does qualitative
research
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
34. 11. We did user interviews our first week,
but haven’t felt a need to do it since
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
35. 12. We ask the user to design our product
for us
HOW TO SCREW UP USER INTERVIEWS
36. It’s a quick read, Mike.
My former boss at neo
wrote a really good (free)
book on this topic:
TalkingToHumans.com »
37. How to interview in a non-directed, friendly way. (Practice!)
“Tell me about the last
time you…”
“When was
that?”
Start with:
Dive deeper:
“What happened
next?”
“With whom?” “Tell me more
about…”
Some ideas:
…found fun stuff to do in SF just to kill a few hours.
…commuted up from the South Bay.
…asked a developer to delete their app.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
48. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS METHODS METHODS
3 Stages of Product Development
49. an Idea
Empathy
a Product
Stickiness
more Ideas
GrowthAs uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Paper Sketches
50.
51.
52. an Idea
Empathy
a Product
Stickiness
more Ideas
GrowthAs uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Digital Sketches
53.
54. an Idea
Empathy
a Product
Stickiness
more Ideas
GrowthAs uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Functional Prototypes
55.
56. Growth
Our product and users fuel growth
organically.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Sharing Experiments
● Acquisition
● Activation
● Retention
● Referral
Empathy
Find a consistent set of painful
problems that exist and a solution our
customers will adopt.
● 6-20 Problem Interviews
● 6-20 Solution Interviews
● Solution Sketches
● Persona Definition
● Interviews Completed
● Interview Score
an Idea a Product more Ideas
METHODS
METRICS
Stickiness
We've made something that keeps
customers coming back.
● Marketing Experiments
● Feature Experiments
● Acquisition
● Activation
● Retention
METHODS
METRICS
METHODS
METRICS
The Metric Informs The Method
57. Lean UX Hypothesis
We believe that
[doing this]
for [these people]
will achieve [this outcome].
We’ll know this is true when we see
[this market feedback].
Validated Hypothesis:
“Our solution for these people
matters because we have this
measurable evidence.”
Assumption:
“We built a thing that matters.”
58. As uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Recap: Increase Fidelity As We Learn
The goal is to keep our
learning cycles running
continuously so we can
learn faster than the
market. We do this by
keeping fidelity low when
uncertainty is high.
59. an Idea
Empathy
a Product
Stickiness
more Ideas
GrowthAs uncertainty decreases, fidelity can increase.
talking to humans
paper sketches
digital sketches
functional prototypes
a Product
Recap: Talking To Humans