Agile and Design Thinking a Romeo Juliet Story

8/10/2019 Agile and Design Thinking a Romeo Juliet Story

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Copyright 2014 COWAN+

Agile & Design Thinking:A Romeo & Juliet Story

COWAN +

AgileDesign


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ALEX COWANAlexanderCowan.com

@cowanSF

ABOUT ME

Entrepreneur (5x)Intrapreneur (1x)


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@cowanSF

ABOUT ME


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ABOUT ME

www.alexandercowan.comALEX COWAN

AlexanderCowan.com@cowanSF


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OUR SUBJECT

AgileDesign ALEX COWANAlexanderCowan.com@cowanSF


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Empathy Creativity

DESIGN


@cowanSF


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@cowanSF

AGILE

IndividualsInteractions

>ProcessesTools

Workingsoftware

ComprehensiveDocumentation>

Customercollaboration

Contractnegotiation

>

Responding

to change

Following

a plan>


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OUR SUBJECT



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TRAGEDY OCCURS TOO OFTEN



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TRAGEDY OCCURS TOO OFTENThe Commerce Family The Implementation Family

aka marketing, sales,product management

aka engineering, operations,project management


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TRAGEDY OCCURS TOO OFTEN- WHY?The Commerce Family The Implementation Family

?we measure our efciency locally

we want to feel we're completing our output


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WHAT'S ESPECIALLY HARD FOR THE FAMILIESThe Commerce Family The Implementation Family

1. Connecting with customer needs

2. Managing uncertainty

3. Describing for implementation

1. Implementation strategy

2. Managing changes in need

3. Distributing actionable inputs


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WHAT'S ESPECIALLY HARD FOR THE FAMILIESThe Commerce Family The Implementation Family

bigger families,

bigger disconnects


@cowanSF


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4 WAYS TO MAKE IT BETTER, MAKE IT WORK

1: IMPROVEDINPUTS

2: STORY-DRIVENCOLLABORATION

3: TESTORIENTATION

4: BACKLOGDISCIPLINE


@cowanSF


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1Creating High Quality Inputs


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Copyright 2014 COWAN+STORIES

Epic Stories

Stories

Test Cases

As a [persona],I want to [do something]so that I can [derive a benet]

AGILE USER STORIES- WHATIS


@cowanSF

Who is this user?What makes them tick?

Who's an example of

such a person?

Why do they want to do this?What's the benet/reward?

How will we know of it'sworking?


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DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS


@cowanSF


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DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS


@cowanSF


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NOT A GOOD PERSONA

Women Age 28-45

Has kids Socialize with other moms Online with Facebook 86% said theyd like to be more

organized

70% said theyd use anapplication that organizes them


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Women Age 28-45

Has kids Socialize with other moms Online with Facebook 86% said theyd like to be more

organized

70% said theyd use anapplication that organizes them

NOT A GOOD PERSONA

Bullet points are almostnever vivid or detailed

Stock photo- not real

This is a hugepopulation- not exact

These responses are fakeactionable- survey responses

like this are unreliable


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A BETTER PERSONA

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 its not like having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She

wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to interact. Being amom is a job and she wants to do it well. That means corresponding

with other moms on child education and keeping track of what works.

She posts to Facebook at least twice a week and responds to other

moms items more often than that.

She has a few blogs and publications she reads regularly

Mary the Mom


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A BETTER PERSONAthe use of a rst name helps

w/ vividness (a little)

these full sentences look like agood start towards something

vivid and detailed

this is a real photo of arelevant person taken with an

iPhone in the real world

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 its not like having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She

wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to interact. Being amom is a job and she wants to do it well. That means corresponding

with other moms on child education and keeping track of what works.

She posts to Facebook at least twice a week and responds to other

moms items more often than that.

She has a few blogs and publications she reads regularly

Mary the Mom


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DISCOVERY & LEARNING: THINK-SEE-FEEL-DO


@cowanSF


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Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

VARI

ED

ivid The persona shouldmake anyone who readsit feel like theyveactually met this person.


@cowanSF


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VARI

ED

ivid


@cowanSF

If the persona doesntinform how you sell stuffand build stuff, whybother?

ctionable


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VARI

ED

ivid


@cowanSF

eal Good personas arentcreated in cubicles. Gowhere the persona is andobserve.

ctionable


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VARI

ED

ivid


@cowanSF

eal

ctionable

Make sure you can identifyand target these personas,or you wont be able to nda use for them.

dentiable


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VARI

ED

ivid


@cowanSF

eal

ctionable

dentiable Everyone is not yourcustomer. Make sure thepersonas are distinct so youcan apply relevant focus.

xact


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VARI

ED

ivid

eal

ctionable

dentiable

xactetailed

People are complicated

and so good personasare usually prettysubstantial.


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A LITTLE GAME FOR BETTER PERSONA DISCOVERYDay in the Life

we look at a few photos for a given persona

you make some guesses about themthere are no right answers BUTthere is a right process: observe and infer

OBJECTIVE: get a feel for whats real; start to create something vivid

(not a full picture, just snippets)


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OUR CAST

Sally theSingle Mom


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WAKE UP!


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WAKE UP!


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GEARING UP FOR THE DAY


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AT WORK


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AFTER WORK


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PRE-BED


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BED


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GEAR


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IF I HAD 3 EXTRA HOURS


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ABOUT SALLY THE SINGLE MOM

Whats her favorite kind of music?Band/composer?Where did she buy her last pair of shoes?What movie did she last see?What did she drink with dinner last night?If she had a dog, what kind?Whats her favorite magazine?


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NEEDFINDING


@cowanSF


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@cowanSF

XPROBLEM SCENARIO

NEEDFINDING


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@cowanSF

XWhat job(s) are you doing forthe customer?What existing need orbehavior are you fullling?

PROBLEM SCENARIO

NEEDFINDING


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@cowanSF

?

X

ALTERNATIVE(S)

PROBLEM SCENARIO

NEEDFINDING


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@cowanSF

?

X

If they currently usespreadsheets, watch them

use it and get a copy of it.If they currently put notes on thefamily fridge, ask about it,photograph it.

ALTERNATIVE(S)

PROBLEM SCENARIO

NEEDFINDING


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@cowanSF

YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS !

ALTERNATIVE(S) ?

PROBLEM SCENARIO X

NEEDFINDING


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@cowanSF

X

Are they better enough than thealternative(s)?

!

?

YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS

ALTERNATIVE(S)

PROBLEM SCENARIO

NEEDFINDING


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and they have a certainPROBLEMS(S)

where theyre currently usingcertain ALTERNATIVE(S)

and I have a VALUEPROPOSITION thats better enoughthan the alternatives to cause thepersona to act (purchase, use, etc.).

A certain PERSONA exists

NEEDFINDING: THE PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS

!

?

X


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PERSONASPROBLEM SCENARIOSVALUE PROPOSITIONS

STORIES

Epic Stories

Stories

Test Cases

As a [persona],I want to [do something]so that I can [derive a benet]

AGILE USER STORIES- WHATIS


@cowanSF


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INVEST IN AGILE STORIES

Independent

NegotiableValuableEstimableSmallTestable

Could this beimplemented on astand-alone basis or

does it presupposeother content?


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Independent

NegotiableValuableEstimableSmallTestable

Stories are not specs.This is an input for you toarrive at an optimalimplementation with thedeveloper, not afunctional requirement.


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Independent

NegotiableValuableEstimable

SmallTestable

What problem scenariodoes this address?How have youvalidated your value

proposition for it?


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Independent


SmallTestable

How hard is this vs.the teamsexperience? Is itdiscrete enough?


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Independent


SmallTestable

A big part of what makesagile (and lean) work is theuse of small batches withmeasurable results. Makesure your stories are broken

down to workable sizes.


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Independent


SmallTestable

How will you know if

its working in a waywhere you canvalidate its value?


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CHILD STORIES

A) As an HR manager, I want to get a list of topics relevant to an open position from the functional

manager so I can set up a relevant and complete quiz for screening.B) As an HR manager, I want to browse the quiz banks [of available questions] so I can make sureIm subscribed to all the necessary topics for my quiz.

C) As an HR manager, I want to purchase additional quiz banks so I can add additional technicaltopics to my quizzes.

D) As an HR manager, I want to create a custom quiz banks so I can add custom questions thefunctional manager wants to add to the quiz.

E) As a manager, I want to set the quiz up for a possible recruit to use.

F) As an HR manager, I want to make the candidates scores available to the functional manager,along with the rest of my notes.

EPIC STORY

EXAMPLE: AGILE USER STORIES

As the HR manager, I want to create a screening quiz so that I can understand whether I want tosend possible recruits to the functional manager.


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EPIC STORY

EXAMPLE: AGILE USER STORIES

As the HR manager, I want to create a screening quiz so that I can understand whether I want tosend possible recruits to the functional manager.


@cowanSF


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STORYBOARDING AN EPICAs the HR manager, Iwant to create ascreening quiz so that Ican understandwhether I want to sendpossible recruits to the

functional manager.


@cowanSF


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PERSONA MEETS HALLWAY CONVERSATION

So, I think feature [xyz]should really be at thetop of our list

Yeah?

Tell me about the user.Who are they? What arethey doing right now?


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NEEDFINDING MEETS HALLWAY CONVERSATION

Here are a list of SEOkeywords related to theexciting new solutionwe built

What problems does thissolve for the customer?What words do they useto describe it?


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2 Enabling Story-Driven Collaboration


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@cowanSF

AGILE FOUNDATIONS

USER STORIES

DISCUSSION

DEVELOPMENT

VALIDATION

PERSONASPROBLEM SCENARIOS,ALTERNATIVESPROPOSITIONS


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KEEPING IT TOGETHER

In-doc links topersonas andproblemscenarios/

neednding

Ditto forwireframes


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X

PROBLEMSCENARIOS &ALTERNATIVES

What?

PRODUCT &PROMOTION

/

CUSTOMERDISCOVERY &EXPERIMENTS

Tell me?

DESIGNING A VENTURE (VENTURE DESIGN)

PERSONAS

Who?

USERSTORIES &PROTOTYPES

How?

Scale?

Pivot?

VALUEPROPOSITIONS& ASSUMPTIONS

What if?

!


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VENTURE DESIGN (IN REVERSE)

!PRODUCT &PROMOTION

USERSTORIES &PROTOTYPES

Did the implementationdeliver on the story?

/

CUSTOMERDISCOVERY &EXPERIMENTS

How did thecustomer/userreact?

VALUEPROPOSITIONS& ASSUMPTIONS

!

Was theimplementedstory relevant tothe proposition?

X

PROBLEMSCENARIOS &ALTERNATIVES

Is problemrelevant? Is thepropositionbetter vs.alternatives?

THINK SEE

FEEL DO

PERSONAS

Do weunderstand thisperson? Whatmakes themtick?


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COLLABORATION MEETS HALLWAY CONVERSATION

We have an amazingnew thing now whereusers can [x] their [y]

Cool. Who does this?Whats the trigger?

Whats the rst thing thathappens?Then what?How do we know if theyhave a good outcome?


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3 Staying Focused on Validation


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EVIDENCE-BASED INNOVATION VIA LEAN STARTUP

Do I have real evidence from my buyerthat this is compelling?

01 ID EA!

What are the key assumptions requiredto make this business work?

02 HYPOTHESIS

How do I denitely prove or disprove theassumptions with a minimum of timeand effort?

03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIG N

04 EXPE RIM ENTATION

Am I reacting or am I focused onvalidating my pivotal assumptions?

Pivot or persevere?


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CASE STUDY: DROPBOX

OPPORTUNITYUnderlying demand and supportinginfrastructure ready for a great le sharingapp.

CHALLENGEBuilding a great cross-platform app.required VC funding. VCs saw a spacewith lots of existing competitors strugglingto get traction.


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CASE STUDY: DROPBOX

Persona

ProblemScenario

Alternatives

Value Prop.

Tom the Techie- early adopter who works on projects that require swapping a lot of les between ashifting network of collaborators.

Its difcult to share les between a network of collaborators, particularly if theyre: big or numerous orchange a lot.

Many existing products, but none of them super compelling and widely adopted.Also, custom setups which work but are cumbersome to set up and maintain.

A le sharing service that truly feels transparent to the user across all major platforms- OSX, iOS,Windows, etc.

What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

That you can bootstrap?

That doesnt require software at all?


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THE WIZARD OF OZ MVP

Result: Excellent traction andconversion to sign-ups.

Strong validation signal.

Created a synthetic demotailored for early market(techies), promoted it, andmeasured email sign-ups.


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DOCUMENT UX ASSUMPTIONS AS YOU GO

Lets assume.Then test.

Lets notargue


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EXAMPLE ASSUMPTIONS & EXPERIMENTS

brand lattice UI:

Drag and drop isnt yet in common use.Would users get it?

Noted as key assumption and became earlyfocal item in user test


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ITERATING BASED ON TEST RESULTS70% of usersdidnt get thedrag and dropin this version

This change inthe annotationwas enough sothey got it


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THE MTP

P

inimum

estableroductT

M


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PARING AWAY ASSUMPTIONS VIA MTP

Pivotalassumptionsabout

relevance

Do they care?

Tacticalassumptionsabout

usability

Can they use it?


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It has rough edges. We should x it before weshow people.

Just show it to volunteers onuser testing. Do it soon.

What if smoothing out thoserough edges is 100% waste

because there are deeperusability issues?


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We only have a few people right now in our targetmarket (persona).

If you can get close in terms ofprole, just give the user testinga try.


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VALIDATION MEETS HALLWAY CONVERSATION

Im super excited about[this idea]. Im workingon the business case tosell management so wecan start building

Sound neat.

Whats the centralproposition? Maybetheres a way we canbootstrap some proofpoints.

That would super chargeyour business case.


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4 Planning The Work, Working the Plan


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@cowanSF

THE BACKLOGStory

Backlog

RELEASE X

P R I O R I T Y

ITERATION 01

ITERATION 02

. . .

ITERATION N

Story Asize = x

Story Bsize = y

Story C

size = z

Story Dsize = a

Story N..size = c

Story Esize = b

. . .


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@cowanSF

THE STANDUP

1. What did I accomplishlast [period]?2. What do I plan toaccomplish [this period]?3. What's impeding my progress?


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@cowanSF

AGILE MANAGEMENT IN 4 FUN & EASY STEPS

SET AN ITERATIONUsually 1-4 weeks, shorter isprobably better in thebeginning. Stick to the list inthis period.

2. ExplicitIteration

CREATE STRONGSTORIESInputs matter a lot. They'reusually preceded by qualitydesign research.

0: Strong Stories

PRIORITIZE A LISTMake it a little longer than youthink you can achieve- thatway if someone gets stuckthey can move to somethingelse.

1. Prioritized ListTRACK WITHSTANDUP'SEven if it's on email, do thestandup daily or at least weekly.

3. RegularStandup's


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VALIDATION MEETS HALLWAY CONVERSATION

Oh! I just [talked to acustomer, read a blog,saw a demo] and I have agreat new idea. Can we

just put it in right this

second?

We can denitely put itin if you think it'simportant.

Let's write a story for itthat's anchored in aproblem scenario and ifyou want you can put itat the top of thebacklog for the nextiteration.


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HERE'S TO A HAPPY ENDING!


@cowanSF


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[email protected]

@cowanSF

www.alexandercowan.com/venture-design

Slides: bit.ly/ac2SUGAR

www.alexandercowan.com/startup-sprints

FINI

Agile and Design Thinking a Romeo Juliet Story

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