500startupsLean UX Design Bootcamp

Enrique Allen, Rick Boardman, Miche Capone, Karl Dotter, Thomas Both, Laura Klein & Janice Fraser + more!

Think

Make

Check

UserEmpathy

LauraKimAye

(Talk)

(Activity)

(Reflect)

UserNeeds

Intro to generative

interviewing

Practice withpartner

Practice synthesizing

empathy map

POV madlib

Distinguish needs

& insights

Make persona of target user(s)Write customer

hypotheses

Show partner POVRefine

questions

Stories

Lessons from:IMVU

DailyAisleBaydin

Debrief

Thursday Day 1

Draft questionsPractice interviewing

UsersSetupCustomer/Problem

Definition

Who are youtarget users?

How to test?

4-4:15

Lean UX

4:15-4:30 4:30-5:00 5:30-6:00 6:00-6:30 6:30-75:00-5:30

BusinessGut Check

Business Needs

Ecosystem MapWrite out business

hypotheses

What are riskiest hypotheses & how

can you test?

Quick review of artifacts we’ll create

PersonasDraw the Person...

Add real namesDescribe what they

look like

Traits...Demographics

Age, Sex, LocationGeneralizable Attitudes

& Characteristics

Needs...What are their pain &

pleasure points?Triggers?

Goals...What do they want to accomplish? How do

they succeed?

Personas

Ecosystem Map

Ecosystem Map

Interview Questions

When you go through the interview check off if you validated any assumptions

Point of View:

• “Tell me about the last time you...”

• “Tell me about an experience you’ve had with...”

• “How did you feel when ____ happened?”

• “What were you feeling at that moment?”

• “Really, can you tell me why that matters?

• “Say more about that...I see... Do you know why you think that?

• “Okay. And that is important because...”

List of hypotheses:

[Insert User...(descriptive)] Needs

[Insert Needs...(verb)]

+

+ Because [Insert Insight...(compelling & surprising)] +

Point of View[User...(descriptive)]

[Needs...(verb)]

[Insight...(compelling & surprising)]

Needs

Because

Now a little soapbox

Design?

• What comes to mind

Jesse Schell on ‘Design’

“Anyone who makes decisions about how the product should be is a designer*. Designer is a role, not a person. Almost every developer on a team makes some decisions about how the product will be, just through the act of creating the product. These decisions are design decisions, and when you make them, you are a designer. For this reason, no matter what your role on a development team, an understanding of the principles of design will make you better at what you do.”

The Right Lean UX Design Method for

the Job“People cling to things like personas, user research, drawing comics, etc.,” notes Dan Saffer. “In reality the best designers have a toolbox of options, picking and choosing methods for each project what makes sense for that particular project.”

Visual Design

Interface - Navigation - Info Design

Beyond the Surface

Visual Design

Interface - Navigation - Info Design

Beyond the Surface

You wouldn’t say that computer engineering is only about the

front-end

Visual - Graphic Design

Interface - Navigation - Info Design

Information Architecture - Interaction Design

Functional Specs - Content Reqs

User - Product - Biz Hypotheses & Objectives

Underlying Tech - IP

Design Goes Deeper Than You Think

Visual - Graphic Design

Interface - Navigation - Info Design

Information Architecture - Interaction Design

Functional Specs - Content Reqs

User - Product - Biz Hypotheses & Objectives

Underlying Tech - IP

Design Goes Deeper Than You Think

There’s a full stack of design disciplines that create the “user

experience”

We All Want to Hit this Sweet Spot

Repeatable Process to Great Design?

Startups don’t repeatedly get

through a whole cycle! (or really have a process)

Design Process for Startups?

Startups Have to Bias Towards This

End

Design Process for Startups?

We aim to improve

design skills on this

end with low-cost, low-res methods

We aim to improve

design skills here through data &

distribution

Design Process for Startups?

Let’s Start with Empathy

Flare Out for Inspiration

Search for Human Values

What is Empathy?

• em·pa·thy: the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another

• you can think through the experience of another by understanding it completely

• you can feel what another is feeling by immersing yourself completely in an experience

Huh?

• Empathy is when you feel what the other person is feeling. You can mirror their expressions, their opinions, their hopes...

Why Empathy?

• to discover people’s explicit and implicit needs so that you can meet them through your designs

• Find meaning & stories

• Uncover latent needs

• The difference between what people say & do

Why Empathy?

“People care about their problems (or pleasures ;) not your F-ING solution”

- Dave McClure

Usability (how easy to use)

How well do you know your ‘user’?

Use (goals your customer wants to accomplish)

Meaning (deep insights about the context of “why?”)

Startup Examples of Empathy?

How to Find Empathy?

• First let’s start with who think your users are...

PersonasDraw the Person...

Add real namesDescribe what they

look like

Traits...Demographics

Age, Sex, LocationGeneralizable Attitudes

& Characteristics

Needs...What are their pain &

pleasure points?Triggers?

Goals...What do they want to accomplish? How do

they succeed?

Do it now!

• Quickly break into teams you got 20 minutes!

• Write out as many personas as possible!

PersonasDraw the Person...

Add real namesDescribe what they

look like

Traits...Demographics

Age, Sex, LocationGeneralizable Attitudes

& Characteristics

Needs...What are their pain &

pleasure points?Triggers?

Goals...What do they want to accomplish? How do

they succeed?

How would you validate those

personas?• When you talk to users do they accurately

fit any of your personas?

• Which personas are most valuable for your businesses in the short & long term?

Now time to zoom out from your

personas

Ecosystem Map

Ecosystem Map

Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development

Ecosystem Map

• Map out all the players in your ecosystem on Post-Its

• This could be BD relationships, competitors, platforms, channels

Ecosystem Map Connections

• Now start to place them into different parts of your business model

• Then draw relationships between each entity

• Draw solid lines for direct value and dotted lines for indirect value

Ecosystem Map Assumptions

• This map shows you your assumptions about each player, now lets list them out

• Then highlight your most riskiest assumptions (tech, market, team)

• Which relationships in the ecosystem do you have any leverage, potential for high impact, unique advantage?

Ecosystem Value & Growth Hypotheses• Now circle relationships you want to focus

on over the next 3 months to reduce risk

• Write unique value hypothesis statements for each player

• Write growth hypothesis statements for each player

Value hypothesisTests whether a product or service really delivers value to customers once they’re using it.

Example: We believe that people like....[eg persona/ ecosystem partner] have a need for...[eg action/behavior]

We know we will have created value if...[eg quantitative measurable outcome or qualitative observable outcome] which will contribute to our...[key performance indicator]

Growth hypothesisTests how new customers will discover a product or service eg from early adopters to mass adoption.

Example: We believe that people like....[eg persona/ ecosystem partner] will want to share our product or service when...[eg use case with motivation/ability/triggers]

We know we will be on track to grow if...[eg quantitative measurable outcome or qualitative observable outcome] which will contribute to our...[key performance indicator]

Test Your Hypotheses?

• How would you test these ecosystem hypotheses?

How to else find Empathy? (& validate your

personas)

• One way is to interview...

There’s lots of ways of asking questions

• To generate stories and inspiration

• To evaluate and assess

• To test and isolate variables

Interview Tips• 1st RULE: You do not say ‘usually’ when asking a

question.

• 2nd RULE: You do NOT say ‘usually’ when asking a question.

• 3rd RULE: If someone says “I think” or states a belief or seems to prefer one thing over another, then the conversation is NOT over. Ask why that’s important.

• 4th RULE: Only 10 words to a question.

• 5th RULE: One question at a time.

More Interview Tips

• 6th RULE: No binary questions, no leading questions.

• 7th RULE: A conversation started from one question will go on as long as it has to.

• 8th RULE: If you’re the only one interviewing, then you HAVE to use a voice recorder to capture!

• ...

Seek Stories

• “Tell me about the last time you...”

• “Tell me about an experience you’ve had with...”

Talk about feelings

• “How did you feel when ____ happened?”

• “What were you feeling at that moment?”

Follow Up with “Why?”

• “Really, can you tell me why that matters?

• “Say more about that...I see... Do you know why you think that?

• “Okay. And that is important because...”

Demo

Your Turn

• Draft questions that help you better understand your users without directly asking them about your product (5 min)

Interview Questions

When you go through the interview check off if you validated any assumptions

Point of View:

• “Tell me about the last time you...”

• “Tell me about an experience you’ve had with...”

• “How did you feel when ____ happened?”

• “What were you feeling at that moment?”

• “Really, can you tell me why that matters?

• “Say more about that...I see... Do you know why you think that?

• “Okay. And that is important because...”

List of hypotheses:

[Insert User...(descriptive)] Needs

[Insert Needs...(verb)]

+

+ Because [Insert Insight...(compelling & surprising)] +

Find a partner

• Time permitting

• Interview them (10 min each)

Refine Questions

• Time Permitting

• Refine questions, look for categories & themes to dig deeper into (5 min)

Interview Arc

Now how do we synthesize?

• Circle ‘needs’ your notes (look for verbs, quotes, actions, behaviors)

• Circle ‘insights’ in your notes (stories about the context)

Look for Inconsistencies

What they say?

What they say about what

they do ?

What they actually do!

A gap between what they say & do is the design opportunity?

Capture Share

Saturate & Group

Empathy Map

Journey Map

Define the opportunity

Define

• This actionable problem statement (often referred to as a POV) is the guiding statement that focuses on the insights that you uncovered from real users.

POV Madlib

• Go back to your persona & ecosystem players

• Describe your user + need + surprising insight

• Pick a user individually, divide and conquer

• 10 min!

Point of View[User...(descriptive)]

[Needs...(verb)]

[Insight...(compelling & surprising)]

Needs

Because

Find a partner

• Time permitting

• Share with your team (2 min each)

Don’t take my word for it- let’s introduce:

• @LauraKlein, usersknow.com,

• http://www.slideshare.net/LauraKlein1/building-empathy

• @KimSheBlue, dailyaisle.com

• @AyeMoah, baydin.com

Prep for tomorrow• Refine your point of view(s) & prepare a

question(s) to brainstorm?

• How might we...[insert prompt]?

• Bring in any copies of any sketches, wireframes etc and prepare questions for mock interviews/testing

• Recruit remote users for Saturday & in-person users for Sunday

Debrief

Think

Make

Check

Uses & Features

(Talk)

(Activity)

(Activity) Themed Release?

Friday

Sketch User & Biz needs

Ian McFarland

Re-Visit POVs

12-12-30 12:30-1:30 1:30-2:30 2:30-3:30 3:30-4:00 4:30-5:00 5:00-

RapidPrototypes

Tara Kelly

Sketches in context &

storiesabout use

Choose context that

triggers most use

Make featuresWireframes

Wireframe CheckMetrics Check- KPIs

Low-fiLow-tech Prepare for

Saturday

Practice walkthroughs

Test with real users & Product

Design Guild

Guerrilla Testing

Stories

Debrief

Get Visual

Agile <3 UX

Sketch Warmup

Agile + Lean UX

Ideation

How to Brainstorm

Framing Brainstorm

Prioritize based on tech feasibility,

business & distribution viability

Introducing Ian McFarland

• Group CTO at Digital Garage

• Former VP of Tech at Pivotal Labs

• @IMF

Now that you have a POV

• Let’s talk about ideation

Ideation

What’s Ideation

• Ideation is the process of idea generation. Mentally it represents a process of “going wide” in terms of concepts and outcomes. Ideation provides the fuel for building prototypes and driving innovative solutions.

Why Ideate

• Ideate in order to step beyond obvious solutions. We ideate to harness the collective perspectives and strengths of our teams. We ideate to create fluency (volume) and flexibility (variety) in our innovation options.

Examples of from Startups?

Bad Brainstorming• Everyone thinks they already do it

• Not a regular meeting

• Not something you take “formal notes” at

• Not a presentation

• Shouldn’t feel like “work”

• It’s actually a tool that needs skill

How to Kill a Brainstorm

• The boss gets to speak first

• Everybody gets a turn

• Experts only please

• Do it off-site

• No silly stuff

• Write down everything

How NOT to Brainstorm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttWhK-NO4g8

How to Brainstorm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1h5L_0rFz8&feature=related

Brainstorming Tips

• One Conversation at a Time

• Go for Quantity

• Defer Judgement - NO Blocking

• Build on the Ideas of Others

• Encourage wild ideas

• Be Visual

• Stay on Topic

• Headline!

Ideation

Tip: don’t make HMWs? too narrow or too broad

Your Turn - Frame the Brainstorm

• From your POV...come up with a few “how might we...? statements

• How might we trigger [insert persona, POV] to do [insert verb, behavior]?

Find a partner

• Brainstorm 7min

• Cluster, group, & build on excitement

Switch with your partner

• Brainstorm 7min

• Cluster, group, & build on excitement

How do you synthesize?

Imp

act

Easy HardExecution

Low

High

Plot Ideas

Prioritize & Vote

• Vote based on tech feasibility, business & distribution viability

Prototyping

Let’s start with sketching

• @karldotter, dojo.com

• http://www.slideshare.net/k4rl/sketching-leanux

Now let’s test your prototypes

Setup a scenario

When you go through the interview check off if you validated any assumptions

User:

• Goal/task 1

• Goal/task 2

• Goal/task 3

List of hypotheses:

[Insert description of interviewee (add if they fit your persona or POV)]

The Designer Fund

New user experience. e.g. User discovers link on Facebook //Have interviewee login to Facebook and click on Fan page newsfeed

Tech/OS/Browser:

Scenario 1:

[Insert tech savviness/usage level; OS; Browser]

Setup a Scenario

• Get your prototype ready

• Draft a scenario (5 min)

Interview & Test

• Find a partner

• Brief them on your scenario & show them your prototype

Feedback Capture

Things people liked or found notable

Questions that the experienced raised

Constructive criticism & changes

+

?Ideas the experienced

spurred

Backlog In Progress Validated

No bucket can contain more than projects at a time

The Designer Fund

Built

Kanban Board

A

B

C

D

E

F

Prep for tomorrow• http://www.slideshare.net/LauraKlein1/who-do-i-talk-to-

now-diy-user-research-for-startups?

• http://www.slideshare.net/rick/lean-ux-bootcamp-500-startups-intro-to-usability

• Pick questions, scenarios tools & do remote interview/test

• Pick questions, scenarios, & do in person interview/test

Stories to wrap up

• @theozero, highscorehouse.com

• @helloxander, getpunchd.com

• @enriqueallen, designerfund.com

Feedback on the bootcamp

• Like...• Hands on activities

• Succinct concepts, handouts, & tories from other entrepreneurs

• Interviews and testing with real people

• Wish...• More examples from each activity

• More facilitators available

• Improved email prep before bootcamp

• How to...• Show qualitative & quantitative tradeoffs

• Show examples that are contextual to market/consumer audience

• Keep lists of resources and links maintained

Appendix