New Venture Crash Course UVA ILab Q4'15

Design Thinking & Software
7 Things You Can Do on Monday
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ABOUT ME
Entrepreneur (5x)
Intrapreneur (1x)
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 COWAN+
ABOUT ME
www.alexandercowan.com
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
4 PROBLEMS DESIGN THINKING CAN SOLVE
Order Taking
vs.
Consulting
Building
vs.
Designing
Papering Problems
with Software
vs.
Solving Them
Big Batches
vs.
Iteration
Spur Innovation by
Starting with the Individual
DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
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 an
application that organizes them
NOT A GOOD PERSONA

This is a huge
population- not exact
These responses are fake

actionable- survey responses
like this are unreliable
Women
points are almost
Age 28-45 Bullet
never vivid or detailed
Has kids
Socialize with other moms
Online with Facebook
86% said theyd like to be more
organized
70% said theyd use an
application that organizes them
Stock photo- not real

A BETTER PERSONA
Mary the Mom

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 a
mom 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
A BETTER PERSONA
the use of a first name helps
w/ vividness (a little)
Mary the Mom

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.
these full sentences look like a

good start towards something
vivid and detailed
But its not like having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She
wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to interact. Being a
mom 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.
this is a real photo of a

relevant person taken with an
iPhone in the real world
She has a few blogs and publications she reads regularly
LITTLE GAME FOR DIAGNOSING PERSONAS
Day in the Life

we look at a few photos for a given persona
(not a full picture, just snippets)
you make some guesses about them
there are no right answers BUT
there is a right process: observe and infer
OBJECTIVE: get a feel for whats real; start to create something vivid
SVEN THE SALESPERSON: A DAY IN THE LIFE
WAKE UP!
** create fake
email account,
fake email to them
WAKE UP!
ON THE JOB
LUNCH BREAK
FINISHING UP
UNWINDING AFTER WORK
DINNER
WINDING DOWN & BED
ON THE ROAD
ABOUT SVEN THE SALESPERSON

Whats his favorite kind of music?
What do you think he looks at to set his agenda
for the next day?
What movie did he last see?
How much do you think he uses his PC vs. his
mobile? Which in which situations?
If he had a dog, what kind?
What one change in his company CRM could
most change his life for the better?
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: THINK-SEE-FEEL-DO
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Stay Focused on What Matters by

Anchoring to Problems, Not Solutions
AVOID THE TWIN ANTIPOLES OF DESIGN FAILURE
Doing precisely what

the user asks
P
A
N
Assuming you know whats best

and ignoring the user
NEEDFINDING
PROBLEM SCENARIO
What job(s) are you doing for
the customer?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
NEEDFINDING
PROBLEM SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVE(S)
If they currently use spreadsheets,

watch them use it and get a copy of it.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
NEEDFINDING
PROBLEM SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVE(S)
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS

Are they better enough than
the alternative(s)?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
NEEDFINDING: THE PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS

A certain PERSONA exists
and they have a certain PROBLEMS(S)
where theyre currently using certain

ALTERNATIVE(S)
and I have a VALUE PROPOSITION thats

better enough than the alternatives to cause the
persona to act (purchase, use, etc.).
X
?
!
Manage Uncertainty by Framing

Everything as an Experiment
YOUR SOLUTION, THE EXPERIMENT

01 IDEA!
Formulate from problem scenarioalternatives-value proposition trios
02 HYPOTHESIS
6.a PIVOT
experiments
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
disprove
hypothesis
Organize against value

propositions
Progressive testing
with users
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 PIVOT OR PERSEVERE?
6.b PERSEVERE
experiments
prove hypothesis
Change approach or scale

up? (The quicker you get to
this point the easier it is to
make changes.)
Drive to Relevant Outcomes by

Learning to Observe
DESIGNING FOR OBSERVATION & TEST

DOES IT WORK?
What are the results of
phase-appropriate
usability testing.
0 Day
30 Day
DOES IT STICK?
Post deploy, are users
engaged at expected
levels? If not, why not?
DID IT MATTER?
Is it delivering on the
target propositions? If not,
why not?
90 Day
EXAMPLE: UNITED CHILDRENS THEATER

Activity: Donor Development
PROBLEM SCENARIO
Implementing learned
best practices on
account development
tasks & keeping those
aligned with corporate
objectives
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
Self-generated
spreadsheet for
account tracking on
shared drive
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
0 Day: ?
The Salesforce
implementation will help
with best practice sales
and time management
with structure and
automation around
tasks like* lead scoring to
prioritize calls
* simple creation of
follow-ups and related
notices to help prioritize
work

PROBLEM SCENARIO
best practices on
account development
objectives
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
Self-generated
spreadsheet for
account tracking on
shared drive
VALUE PROPOSITION
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
prioritize calls
work
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
0 Day: Development
Manager inputs last 5
prospects; they go into
fields as designed
without additional
support or questions
30 Day: ?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
best practices on
account development
objectives
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
Self-generated
spreadsheet for
account tracking on
shared drive
VALUE PROPOSITION
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
prioritize calls
work
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
0 Day: DM inputs last 5
prospects; they go into
fields as designed
without additional
support or questions
30 Day: logins on at
least 18 working days
90 Day: ?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
best practices on
account development
objectives
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
Self-generated
spreadsheet for
account tracking on
shared drive
VALUE PROPOSITION
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
prioritize calls
work
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
90 Day: Definitive
results on sales
execution against
strategic market plan
+ Result: 80% new
growth is in Accounts
types in target
segments
- Result: Most growth is
not in target segments
and the underlying
reason can be identified
in Opportunity postmortems
Create High Quality Discussions by

Writing Great Agile User Stories
AGILE USER STORIES- WHATIS

Epic Stories
Who is this user?

What makes them tick?
Who's an example of
such a person?
Stories
Test Cases
As a [persona],
I want to [do something]
so that I can [derive a benefit]
Why do they want to do this?
What's the benefit/reward?
How will we know of it's
working?
STORIES
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
AGILE USER STORIES: NOT A SPEC.

DEVELOPMENT
VALIDATION
DISCUSSION
USER STORIES
PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIOS,
ALTERNATIVES
PROPOSITIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
KEEPING IT TOGETHER IN GOOGLE DOCS

In-doc links to
personas and
problem
scenarios/
needfinding
Ditto for
wireframes
CONTROLLER
to figure
Stay on Track withthe
thissmarts
Mantra:
out what to do
ALWAYS BE TESTING
WHAT ARE WE TESTING?
Action : )
Motivation
Action Line
Inaction : (
Ability
(Usability)
source: adapted from BJ Foggs Behavioral Model
WHAT ARE WE TESTING?

DONT RUIN YOUR
RESULTS BY TRYING
TO TEST BOTH AT
THE SAME TIME
Motivation
Proposition
Testing
(ala Lean
Startup)
Ability
(Usability)
Usability
Testing
source: adapted from BJ Foggs Behavioral Model

TESTING MOTIVATION: DROPBOX

OPPORTUNITY
Underlying demand and supporting
infrastructure ready for a great file sharing
app.
CHALLENGE
Building a great cross-platform app.
required VC funding. VCs saw a space
with lots of existing competitors struggling
to get traction.

Persona
Tom the Techie- early adopter who works on projects that require swapping a lot of files between a
shifting network of collaborators.
Problem
Scenario
Its difficult to share files between a network of collaborators, particularly if theyre: big or numerous or
change a lot.
Alternatives
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.
Value Prop.
A file 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?

Created a synthetic demo
tailored for early market
(techies), promoted it, and
measured email sign-ups.
Result: Excellent traction and
conversion to sign-ups.
Strong validation signal.
WOULD IT WORK IN THE ENTERPRISE
YES!
Persona
Sven the Salesperson
Problem
Scenario
Its (logistically) hard to get contracts signed on the road, at client sites.
Alternatives
Bring pre-printed contracts

Try to arrange signature on site with customer facilities
Value Prop.
A simple application that allows for routing approved contracts to customers for e-signature.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

That doesnt require software at all?
USABILITY TEST SUITES: A PROGRESSION

Exploratory
Assessment
Validation
DESIGN
DESIGN
DESIGN
TEST
PROTOTYPE
TEST
It looks like this

approach will
fundamentally work.
PROTOTYPE
TEST
The implementation
is sound and ready
for fine-tuning.
PROTOTYPE
Ready
for prime
time.
IF USABILITY TESTING, MOTIVATION SUPPLIED

Your software paints
virtual walls. Tell them
youd like to see the
wall yellow and
observe what they do.
(If you want to test motivation,
start with interviews, then
MVPs, experiments.)
EXAMPLE PROTOTYPE: eLoad
ITERATING BASED ON TEST RESULTS

70% of users didnt
get the drag and
drop in this version
This change in
the annotation
was enough so
they got it
Balance Design and Implementation:

Stop Writing So Much Software
A BALANCED APPROACH
source: adapted from The Designing for Growth Field Book

A BALANCED APPROACH
Product
Hypothesis
Brainstorming/
Ideation
Personas
Problems
Alternatives
Design Research
(interviews, etc.)
Assumptions &
Experiments
MVPs
Motivation Testing
Usability Testing
User Stories
Comps
Prototypes
Working Software
source: adapted from The Designing for Growth Field Book

THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS
Scale?
Who?
THINK
FEEL
What?
SEE
DO
What if?
Tell me?
How?
/
Pivot?
PERSONAS
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
& ASSUMPTIONS
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
USER STORIES &

PROTOTYPES
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS (IN REVERSE)

Is problem relevant?
Is the proposition
better vs.
alternatives?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
THINK
SEE
FEEL
DO
PERSONAS
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
Was the
implemented story
relevant to the
proposition?
Did the implementation

How did the
customer/user react? deliver on the story?
!
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
& ASSUMPTIONS
/
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
USER STORIES &

PROTOTYPES
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
ITS PROCESS, ITS PRACTICE
Some techniques are more effective than others.
Personas
But they all require substantial, consistent exertion.

FINI
Hypothesize
Learn
Experiment
View this deck
bit.ly/design4it
Use (and/or Contribute to)

Enterprise SW Playbook
bit.ly/playent
Check out
Venture Design
bit.ly/vdesign
Use Customer
Discovery Handbook
bit.ly/cdhandbook
Twitter!
@cowanSF
Get in touch
acowan@alexandercowan.com

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New Venture Crash Course UVA ILab Q4&#39;15

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Design Thinking & Software

7 Things You Can Do on Monday

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

4 PROBLEMS DESIGN THINKING CAN SOLVE

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS

DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS

NOT A GOOD PERSONA

NOT A GOOD PERSONA

These responses are fake

Stock photo- not real

Mary the Mom

Copyright 2014 COWAN+

Mary the Mom

these full sentences look like a

this is a real photo of a

She has a few blogs and publications she reads regularly

Copyright 2014 COWAN+

LITTLE GAME FOR DIAGNOSING PERSONAS

Day in the Life

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

SVEN THE SALESPERSON: A DAY IN THE LIFE

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

UNWINDING AFTER WORK

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

WINDING DOWN & BED

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

ABOUT SVEN THE SALESPERSON

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

DISCOVERY & LEARNING: THINK-SEE-FEEL-DO

Stay Focused on What Matters by

AVOID THE TWIN ANTIPOLES OF DESIGN FAILURE

Doing precisely what

Assuming you know whats best

If they currently use spreadsheets,

YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS

NEEDFINDING: THE PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS

where theyre currently using certain

and I have a VALUE PROPOSITION thats

Manage Uncertainty by Framing

YOUR SOLUTION, THE EXPERIMENT

Formulate from problem scenarioalternatives-value proposition trios

Organize against value

Change approach or scale

Drive to Relevant Outcomes by

DESIGNING FOR OBSERVATION & TEST

EXAMPLE: UNITED CHILDRENS THEATER

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

DESIGNING FOR OBSERVATION & TEST

DESIGNING FOR OBSERVATION & TEST

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

DESIGNING FOR OBSERVATION & TEST

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing

DESIGNING FOR OBSERVATION & TEST

Create High Quality Discussions by

AGILE USER STORIES- WHATIS

Who is this user?

AGILE USER STORIES: NOT A SPEC.

KEEPING IT TOGETHER IN GOOGLE DOCS

Copyright 2014 COWAN+

New Venture Crash Course UVA ILab Q4'15

New Venture Crash Course UVA ILab Q4'15