creating products that people love

CREATING PRODUCTSTHAT PEOPLE LOVE

TOM NGUYEN, ADOBE / @TOMNG

HOWDY

1. FOCUS ON PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS2. SIMPLIFY

3. ITERATE QUICKLY

“ONE OF THE SIMPLEST, MOST CREATIVE, MOST JOYOUS

APPS EVER WRITTEN”–DAVID POGUE

1. FOCUS ON PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS

EVERY GREAT PRODUCT IS GREAT AT SOLVING A

PROBLEM FOR PEOPLE.

BUT WHO ARE WE HELPING?

WHO DO YOU TALK TO FIRST?

AN AVERAGE USER, RIGHT?

NOPE.

THE WORST THING:MOST PEOPLE ARE NICE

X + 1!I WOULD TOTALLY USE IT!

IT'S EASY TO GET PEOPLE TO TELL YOU“I'LL USE THAT IF YOU BUILD IT”

BUT IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET PEOPLE TO USE A NEW PRODUCT

JUST TO SOLVE A MINOR ANNOYANCE.

THERE’S A BETTER WAY

YOU LEARN MORE QUICKLY AT THE EXTREMES

STARTUPS?

STEP 1. TALK TO NONPROFITSSTEP 2. ???????????

STEP 3. PROFIT!!

YOU CAN’T TRUST WHAT PEOPLE SAY

(FOCUS GROUPS STINK)

BUT YOU CAN TRUST WHAT PEOPLE DO

HIGH NEED + LOW RESOURCES = WORKAROUNDS

WORKAROUNDSWHAT PEOPLE DO TELLS YOU MORE THAN

WHAT THEY SAY

WOOHOO!

WHY TELLS YOU MORE THAN WHAT

SO WHY WERE YOU WILLING TO SPEND $10K ON THOSE TWO MINUTE VIDEOS?

WHY IS YOUR BIGGEST SHOVEL TO GET TO DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

CUSTOMER SEGMENTSPEOPLE WITH LIMITED RESOURCES THAT

WANT TO PERSUADE, EXPLAIN, OR INSPIRE AUDIENCES EFFECTIVELY ONLINE.

PROBLEM

UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITIONPUBLISH AN ENGAGING, IMPACTFUL

PERSUASIVE VIDEO THAT CAN BE EASILY SHARED IN 30 MINUTES

2. SIMPLIFY

PRACTICE RADICAL SIMPLICITY

1. IDENTIFY THE CONSTRAINTS2. DO THE DUMBEST THING THAT MIGHT

POSSIBLY WORK

CONSTRAINTS DRIVE CREATIVITY.

SO HOW DO WE TEST IT?

AN MVP BY ANY OTHER NAME…

MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

TEST THE RESULT,NOT THE PRODUCT

FAKE IT BEFORE YOU MAKE IT

SHOW PEOPLE BEFORE YOU’RE PROUD

ALWAYS START BY CHEATING.

WE WERE WRONG

IT’S OK TO GET IT WRONGWHEN YOU CAN FIX IT FAST

SCAFFOLDING

3. ITERATE QUICKLYITERATION MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER

HELPING MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE

1. FOCUS ON PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS2. SIMPLIFY

3. ITERATE QUICKLY

BUILD GREAT THINGS

THANK YOUSTAY IN TOUCH: @TOMNG