Building an Minimum Viable Product? Wanna do it better, smarter, faster? 8-week online training program for smart startups

project-based training for Lean Teams

Are you familiar with Lean Startup? Do you want to build your Minimum Viable Product better, smarter and faster? MVP Design Hacks is for you.

Hi - Im Amy Jo Kim, Social Game Designer & Co-founder of Shufflebrain

Amy Jo Kim social game designer, Shufflebrain co-founder

Hi Im Amy Jo Kim - game designer, musician, startup coach, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Shufflebrain. *

shufflebrain.com smart games for a connected world

At shufflebrain, weve worked with startup, game studios and media companies to bring their early ideas to life. *

Eric Ries The Lean Startupweve learned what works...to increase your chances of success, minimize time through the Build-Measure-Learn cycle

Through trial-and-error, weve learned a lot about what works. for example, the iterative prototyping and build-measure-learn cycle from Lean Startup describes how every hit game or product Ive worked on came to life.

...and what doesnt

Tweety Birdfounder, PuddyTat Inc.I need slick, finished-looking screens to really test my product with customers

Weve also seen a lot of promising products stall out, go sideways, and fail to reach their potential. Weve identified common themes like an early focus on finished-looking graphics and UI, which can dramatically slow down a Lean Team

Ive got a hot idea - whats the most efficient, effective way to validate my assumptions?

knowledge + tools + shortcuts + coaching = MVP Rocket Fuel

Why doesnt love to save time? Were passionate about helping startups work faster and smarter. Weve packaged up our BEST tools, tips and practices into an online training course thats based on how we successfully collaborate with clients worldwide.

I tested my MVP with real customers - now I know what they want and needOur mission: help Lean Teams build a faster, smarter MVP

Were excited to share this powerful tools and techniqes to save you 100s of hours of wasted time, and help you turbo-charge your build-measure-learn loop.

ClarifySurvey InterviewDesignBuildTestIterateValidate

MVP Design Sprints our secret sauce

As you probably know, theres a lot of great content available on Lean Startup methods and our program delivers a curated collected of great resources, along with original content. What sets this program apart is our secret sauce a series of MVP Design Sprints that quickly and effectively give you the customer insights you need to test your value prop and move forward confidently.

1: Clarify your product strategy & key assumptions

Unmet NeedsValue PropUnfair AdvantageEarly CustomersEarly Metrics Your SolutionKeyAssumptions

If youve drunk the Lean Startup koolaid, you know that validating your assumptions is a cornerstone of Lean practice.. In our first sprint, we clarify our product strategy and key assumptions using a shortcut called the MVP Canvas. This 1-page document is a handy way to clarify, update and communicate the key drivers of your early product strategy.

2: Survey customers to find enthusiastic early adopters

I can supplement your dinner when I get home.

5-10 questions designed totest customer assumptionsand Identify early adopters

Next, well survey potential customers to get feedback on our assumptions, and start to identify enthusiastic, articulate early adopters. Youll use MVP Canvas answers to help write your survey questions, and get Instructions, Templates and sample documents to accelerate your progress. At the end of the week, well learn the patterns and triggers to look for when analyzing Survey results.

3: Interview customers to identify needs & select Testers

3-5 open-ended questionsdesigned to surface unmet needsand Identify early customers

In this sprint, youll select the best dozen or so survey responses, and conduct 5-min Speed Interviews with them all. This process will quickly surface behavioral and psychological patterns, which youll note and summarize. From this subject pool, youll choose 5 articulate, enthusiastic early adopters to test your prototype on.

AbilityThey get it without hand-holdingOpportunityThey use technology frequently during the dayFeedback Theyll give you exhaustive, ongoing feedbackCo-creation Theyll help you bring key social systems to lifeEvangelism Theyll spread the word when its time to scaleWhy focus on tech-savvy Early Adopters?

4: Design an engaging, evolving Product Narrative

Now gthat youve collected early customer insights, and selected your MVP Testers, youre ready to design. Using the Players Journey framework, youll create an engaging, evolving Product Narrative that captures what youve learned so far in research, and applies it to your MVP Design.

5: Build an early prototype of your Core Loop 6

At the heart of any engaging product is a strong Core Loop, Once youve thought through and sketched out your Players Journey, youll zoom in on Stage 2, and build an early prototype of your Core Loop.

Core Loopsbuilding habits from the ground up

6: Test your prototype with early customers

structured interviews designed to gatheractionable feedback on your prototype & value prop

Now all your hard work recruiting early customers is going to pay off. Youll show your Core Loop prototype to your 5 hand-picked MVP Testers, and get their collective feedback on the experience and value prop.

7: Iterate your design with customer insights

Turn insightsintoJob Storiesderived fromEarly Customers

Once youve collected and analyzed your Testers reactions, youll iterate your design and prototype with these new-found customer insights and if you have time, test again to keep moving through the build-measure-learn cycle.

8: Validate your assumptions & decide what to build next 5Unmet NeedsUpdated Value PropUnfair AdvantageEarly CustomersEarly Metrics ValidatedAssumptionsUpdated Solution

We finish the program by updating the MVP Canvas and validating the original product assumptions. This is a simple, effective way to see what changed and what didnt and communicate your learnings and product plans to your team.

There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.Peter Drucker

document that translatesresearch-driven customer insightsintoproduct strategy & design decisionsWhat is a Product Brief?

If this sounds like what you need, I hope youll join us for the Fall or Winter session. Goto MVPDesingHacks for more info. Until then - Happy Hacking!

MVP Design Hacks solves the Founders Dilemma

My ability to project confidence & sell my vision is what gets my startup off the ground......but to build a smart MVP, I need to think like a scientist - not a salesperson

Weve worked with a lot of startup teams, and know how hard it can be to project the confidence needed to raise interest and money, and attract co-workers who believe in hour vision. That confidence is what gets your project off the ground but it can also get in your way when its time to build a smart, high-learning MVP.

from hot idea to verified prototype in record time

MVP Sprints + Templates & Resources + Online Coaching

Ourt mission is to save hundreds of hours of wasted time and help you think like a scientist not a salesperson as youre developing your MVP. We do this with Design Sprints, Time-Saving Templates, and convenient online Resources and Coaching.

Case Study: Toyco

EARLY CUSTOMERSUNMET NEEDEARLY ADOPTERSKEY ASSUMPTIONSOUR SOLUTION

UNFAIR ADVANTAGEEARLYMETRICSKEY ASSUMPTIONSVALUE PROP

People who already post messages and share pictures

A digital community where members connect with each other and share their love of building toys

Our knowledge and data about members habits and tastes lets us create unique personalized value Length of RentalSatisfactionRetention

connect with other like-minded adults

Want to increase time spent on toy rental website

Members WANT to build connections with each other in a digital community.Toyco MVP Canvas: Pre-Testing

Discovery first exposureOnboarding learning the ropesHabit Building AKA core loopMastery - AKA Elder Game

When I use Toycos service I want to find resources to feed my kids Lego habit so I can keep my kid happily occupied with a healthy habit When I first see Toycos video channel I want to quickly know what kind of videos are theret so I can let my kid roam free without worryWhen I visit Toycos video channel I want to show my kid new, relevant videos so I can know that my kid is happily entertained and wont need my helpWhen I submit a video to Toycos channel I want quick submission feedback so I can know if my video will show upToyco Journey Narrative

EARLY CUSTOMERSUNMET NEEDEARLY ADOPTERSKEY ASSUMPTIONSToyco MVP Canvas: Post-TestingOUR SOLUTION

UNFAIR ADVANTAGEEARLYMETRICSKEY ASSUMPTIONSVALUE PROP

People who already post messages and share pictures People who shoot & upload videos

A digital community where members connect with each other and share their love of building toysA curated video collection - by kids, for kids - focused around creative uses of building toys.

Final MVP = custom Youtube channel, seeded with a contest

Our knowledge and data about members habits and tastes lets us create unique personalized value Length of RentalSatisfactionRetention

connect with other like-minded adultsshort videos that teach new skills and stimulate kids creativity

Want to increase time spent on toy rental websiteKids havehabit that parents want to feed with curated videosMembers WANT to build connections with each other in a digital community.Members want wholesome video content that keeps their kid occupied. In particular, videos of new things to build with existing sets helps our business AND our members lives.

Ready for Rocket Fuel?Fall Session starts Oct 6 2014Winter Session starts Feb 9 2015

http://mvpdesignhacks.com

If this sounds like what you need, I hope youll join us for the Fall or Winter session. Goto MVPDesingHacks for more info. Until then - Happy Hacking!