Download - The UX of Minimum Viable Products

@andersramsay | #agileux UX Singapore 2013

The UX of Minimum Viable Productsby Anders Ramsay


What is a Minimum Viable Product?


What is a Minimum Viable Product?

The shortest path from idea to validated learning.

#agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013

An entire organization is struggling to use a 20-year-old internal enterprise system.


Pain points- Entering data into wrong fields.- Changes sometimes not saved.- Data often needing to be re-entered.- Often manually renaming/moving files.- Some departments refusing to use the

system saying they’d never get any actual work done.


“Cool, let’s do some research, model some personas, create a deck of wireframes, and

start building the new system…”


“Cool, let’s do some research, model some personas, create a deck of wireframes, and

start building the new system…”

“No, let’s conduct an MVP experiment:

Find one pain point, try removing it, and see

what we learn...”


The MVP/Shortest Path to Validated Learning:


Offered riches both in user and tech learning. Could be implemented quickly.A success, even if it failed.



vi·a·ble /ˈvīəbəl/Adjective1. Capable of working successfully; feasible: "the proposed

investment was economically viable".2. (of a seed or spore) Able to germinate.


“A minimal viable product is...a rolling series of releases that iterate and improvebased on a mix of data and vision/judgment.”

—Giff Constable, Interaction 2011


Focusing on learning over features...

Persist or Pivot?

MVP #1 MVP #2 Persist or Pivot?

...etc.Experiment and learn

Experiment and learn


MVP vs Product VisionOne step toward a destination on the horizon.


How does this impact UX design?


Changing how we collaborate

Adopt Agile UX methods to enable fast/high quality cycles of work.

Whole team ideation and visioning

Effective workshops

Pairing across roles/disciplines


Changing what we measure

“Is this user-friendly?”


Changing what we measure

“Is this user-friendly?”

“How much would you pay for this”“How much time would this save?”

vs


Broadening our design focus

Designing and testing product viability.

Designing and testing user experiences.


MVP Design Patterns


PainkillerTry removing a high-value, low-cost pain point.


Fa$t MoneyTry shipping only what you think people will pay for.


Wizard of OzTry manually simulating system output.


Go Ugly EarlyTry shipping with the most bare-bones UX possible.


Fake Storefront (Archetypal Lean Startup landing page)

Try marketing the product as if already completed.


Be the software (aka “Concierge”)

Try manually simulating the user experience.


Which pattern should I pick?- What offers the most learning at the lowest cost?

- What best tests your riskiest assumptions?

- Expect to use a combination of patterns.


Bottom line- Designing MVPs is a craft in its own right.

- Broadens the meaning of UX design.

- Requires melding virtually all aspects of Agile/Lean UX.- A great measurement of your skill level as a modern UX’er.


Thanks!andersramsay.com@andersramsay#agileux

Presentation:http://bit.ly/ux-of-mvps

http://bit.ly/uxofmvps

http://bit.ly/uxofmvps

Download - The UX of Minimum Viable Products

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