lean startup customer discovery tips

Lean  UX  Customer  Discovery  What  to  do  when  you’re  “getting  out  of  the  building”  

http://www.slideshare.net/lanehalley   http://www.luxr.co        License:  Creative  Commons  Attribution-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  United  States        

What  can  we  learn  from  users?  

• Where  will  our  product  fit  in  their  work  or  life?  • What  problems  will  our  product  solve?  • When  and  how  will  our  product  used?  • What  features  are  important?  

How  to  frame  an  effective  conversation  

Before  • Identify  who  do  you  want  to  talk  to  and  what  you  want  to  learn  

During  • Use  conversation  starters  instead  of  prepared  questions  • Listen  more  than  you  talk  • Capture  your  observations  (index  cards  work  well)  • Collect  artifacts  (photos,  screenshots,  work  product)  • If  you  have  something  to  show/demo,  do  it  after  the  open-­‐ended  conversation  

After  • Debrief  and  share  what  you’re  learning  with  your  team  

DO’s  and  DON’TS  

• DO  Spend  time  with  your  users  “early  and  often”  • DO  Create  a  conversation,  not  an  interrogation  • DO  Maintain  a  “beginner’s  mind”  • DO  Use  your  visits  for  multiple  purposes  • DON’T  Ask  what  features  people  want  • DON’T    Ask  users  to  talk    theoretically  about  what  they  might  do  

Identify  the  need  behind  the  feature  request  

• User:  What  I  really  need  is  feature  x…”  • You:  “If  you  had  feature  x,  what  would  that  allow  you  to  do?”  

Where  do  you  find  users  to  talk  to?  

• Licensed/registered  users  • In-­‐line  Web  recruiting  • Conferences  and  industry  events  • Special  interest  groups/user  groups  • Market  research  firms  • Craigslist  • Friends  and  Family