the bad idea terminator - qcon london 2015
TRANSCRIPT
The Bad Idea Terminator
Melissa Perri @lissijean
melissaperri.comQCon London 2015
@lissijean#qconlondon
Melissa Perri ProdUX Labs
melissaperri.com @lissijean
@lissijean#qconlondon
@lissijean#qconlondon
Software companies are suffering the same fate…
@lissijean#qconlondon
Idea Product/Market fit
Iterating
We start off testing and iterating…
@lissijean#qconlondon
Idea Product/Market fit
Iterating Build
BuildBuild
but we get stuck building and not validating.
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The Build Trap
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@lissijean#qconlondon
pressure from higher up
arbitrary deadlines
“building is working” mentality
Building is the easy part. Figuring out what to build is hard.
@lissijean
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Feature ideas
are not your baby.
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@lissijean#qconlondon
manage product life cycle
product specifications
work with development team
gather business requirements
create user stories
create wireframes
prioritization
manage KPIs across products
manage stakeholders
create product roadmaps
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Narrow the focus
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How do you become the
Bad Idea Terminator?
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What we normally do…
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It starts with a request.
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
“Our customers want a mobile app.”
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@lissijean#qconlondon
Here, build this.Meh.
VPPM
or sometimes it’s more like this.
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Gather requirements
Write Specs
Design
Develop
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DO NOT WANT@lissijean#qconlondon
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Where did we go wrong?
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Didn’t recognize bias.MISTAKE NUMBER ONE
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3 Types of Bias
Causality Curse of Knowledge
Anchoring
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The copycat experience.
“We built a mobile app before and it was successful.”
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The copycat experience.
“Everyone has a mobile app, we need one too.”
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Notice differences between customers and business.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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You’re the expert.
“The customers want all the data
possible.”
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Change perspective.THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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Put yourself in your user’s shoes.
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“All my clients are asking for this.”
What was said vs reality.
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What was said vs reality.What was said vs reality.
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Always ask for data. THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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Feature Request Form
1. What feature you would like to build.
2. What KPI will this change? By how much?
3. Is there any other value for this change?
4. What is the business priority? 5. Is this dependent on any other changes?
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Solution with no problem.MISTAKE NUMBER TWO
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Why?
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Focus on the problem.THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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Is this a problem we can and want to solve?
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Building without testing.MISTAKE NUMBER THREE
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Committing too early to one solution.
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@lissijean#qconlondon
Consider many solutions.THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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Investing too much and not letting go.
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Test the most viable ones.THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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Customer Feedback
Investment
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Small, data driven experiments to make sure people are interested.
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1. Do they have this problem?
2. Are they interested in solution idea?
3. Are they interested in solution?
3 Key Experiments to Run
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1. Do they have this problem?
Talk to your customers.
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“I don’t feel comfortable meeting people that way.”
“I don’t feel comfortable meeting people that way.”
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“I wish someone would give me steps.”
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1. Do they have this problem?
Talk to your customers.
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2. Are they interested in solution idea?
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3. Are they interested in solution?
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No success metrics.MISTAKE NUMBER FOUR
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We build and launch with no measures of
success.
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@lissijean#qconlondon
Set goals early.THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…
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What KPI are we affecting?
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How much value do we need to capture to make this worth it?
learning = success
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Idea Launch
Risk of continuing with a bad idea goes up
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1. Recognize Bias 2. Focus on the problem 3. Test ideas quickly 4. Define success
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“Our customers want a mobile app.”
@lissijean#qconlondon
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
Mobile app is a solution, what’s the problem?
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
What KPIs are we affecting?
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
How do we make sure this is a problem?
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
Do we want to solve this problem?
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
How can we test this quickly?
@lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
How do we measure success?
@lissijean#qconlondon
The faster you kill the bad ideas, the more time you can devote to the good ones.
Melissa Perri [email protected]
produxlabs.com melissaperri.com
@lissijean
Melissa Perri [email protected]
produxlabs.com melissaperri.com
@lissijean