The Role of Product Development, Fluxx

Friday 9th November Paul Dawson, Partner at Fluxx Walking the line: The Role of Product Development Product development is, or at least should be, a user-centred discipline, but often has a strained relationship with the design teams that have to bring that product to life. We’ll look in this session at what the role of Product Development is, how more and more companies are thinking of their digital services as ‘product’, and the very thin line Product Development has to tread in the user-centred design process between empowering a design team, and potentially alienating them altogether.This document and its content is Copyright ©2012 Paul Dawson and UCD UK Limited. No rights are claimed overthird party images, all of which are used under ‘fair use’ and whose origin is acknowledged wherever possible.flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Walking the line: The Role of Product Developmentflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

The boring cred’s bitflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

A product & service innovation company Setting Strategy & Developing & validating Innovation practices & Vision products long term changeflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Ideal outcomes from this session? How to get better briefs that allow you toDigital UX explore interesting opportunities and less dispute with the people who are ‘leading’ itProduct How to get closer to the product you had envisioned, and create greater harmony withdevelopment. the team tasked with making it greatProduct design “wtf ?”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

There are two types of organisation in the worldflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Develop, design and sell productsflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Behave like they are a product company Dont behave like a product companyflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

‘Product’ is what is on the shop floor ‘Product’ is what we doflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

New Product Development (NPD)  Strategy  Ideas and insight  R&D Concepts  Developed & Validated Concepts (Desirability, Viability, Feasibility)  Partnerships and organisation  Design & Build  Operateflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

The ‘Non Product’ Approach  Strategy  Ideas and insight  R&D Concepts  Developed & Validated Concepts (Desirability, Viability, Feasibility)  Partnerships and organisation  Design & Build  Operateflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Fortunately, most digital projects I’ve worked on start here:flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

But then they go one of two ways: Exciting, interesting, innovative. Empowered, creative, inspired What if… An exploration of why What new opportunities there might be within it New ideas, ‘blue sky’ thinking,… Well, they seem to have made up their minds, we’ll just get on and be the wireframe monkeys shall we? Wireframes Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’ Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myselfflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

What if companies who know they are product companies did not behave like product companies?flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

An imaginary new product “A new range of luggage specifically for the family” The budget is set The board is all behind itflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Stage 1: Research When product companies don’t behave like product companiesflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Stage 2: Envisioning When product companies don’t behave like product companiesflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

We could pre-load them with things people needflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

We could do niche products for specialist audiencesflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Hey, what if the suitcase became a mode of transport?!flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Hey, what if the suitcase actuallybecame the holiday?

But then… But suddenly… The more radical thinking simply gets dropped as it can’t be validated Ideas may be good, they might not. Nobody is in a position to judge before time starts running out. “We’ve got a whole stack of “Product Owner” basics to do first”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Agile approaches in non-product thinking companies… Things we know we can do The unproven ideas domain Things we know our customers valueflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Stage 3: New ideas get pushed to the back and we focus in on the basics, having no time, resource or remit to progress our half-formed ideas, no matter how brilliant they were…flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

but… We have bright people, all eager to unleash their creative juices and we lost them quite early on…flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

The Line Anything is possible Exciting, interesting, innovative. Empowered, creative, inspiring Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’ Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself I have a very tight, prescriptive briefflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

We might have had the ‘right ideas’flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

but we haven’t been able to ‘make those ideas right’flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

What we needed was an inspiring brief with real possibilitiesResearch & Insight: Now design something magnificentA clear product proposition: “Design a suitcase that children and parents will love.We know that hassled parents and kids will love a ride-on case. We can save tired parent arms and tired toddler legs and make travel fun.”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

And that’s what product development isflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Product Development is pure UCD But it doesn’t design interfaces, and it’s not concerned with usability or ergonomics desirable feasible viableflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Product Development’s Goals 1. To flesh out and validate product and service propositions Desirable: Customers will find value in it Feasible: We can make it work Viable: It can be an economic success 2. Prove that this is the right thing to do, kill it early, or learn enough to turn it into the right thing to do 3. To arm a design and build team with all they need to get the product designed and built in the right wayflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

But what many product development teams miss is… That once they’ve ‘developed’ the idea into a product, the customer experience still has to be designed (because generally, they’re a bit crap at doing that bit!)flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

I’ve been on both sides ProductDigital UX development .flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Words that strike terror… “We’ve developed a new brand, and the branding agency have done some mock-ups” “We’ve had a product design “The CEO had a consultancy designer mock working on it” something up”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

“Here’s how it could look”flux[x] Movie UI Design by Jayse Hansen @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Getting the wrong side of the line only leads to conflict… “Ha, they’re so wrong. This is a much better idea.” “Arrogant tossers, they just don’t get it!”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Today’s Line Anything is possible Exciting, interesting, innovative. Empowered, creative, inspiring Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’ Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself I have a very tight, prescriptive briefflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Setting out to raise the bar Anything is possible Exciting, interesting, innovative. Empowered, creative, inspiring “Mmmm. Nice concept, full of possibility. Will be fun to see how we make it work.” Demotivated, dis-spirited, ‘done to’ Detailed, monotonous, not thinking for myself I have a very tight, prescriptive briefflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

So two key questions: How do you do this cost-effectively? We already think we don’t have enough time for design – how do you make it worth investing in? How do we ensure this process does not entirely alienate design and development teams?flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Three answers Focus on generating facts, not opinions; and be lean about it Enable and equip your design & build team, don’t tell them what to do Don’t be precious – about your ideas, or being rightflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Focus on generating facts, not opinions; and be lean about itflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Flux[x] Labsflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

insight idea feasibility design & manufacture distribution developmentflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Easy to do, and Starting to invest Hard to do, and a no risk time & money lot of risk d i s t r i man b ufac u ture t design & i development o n feasibility insight Ideaflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Easy to do, and Starting to invest Hard to do, and a no risk time & money lot of risk man ufac ture design & development feasibility insight Ideaflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

MVP = Minimum Viable Product Q: What is the absolute minimum we can do to see if people actually value our product?flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Dim and Painful, but we got Dragon’s Dendistant past there… People insight Bankrupt bought it factory Rob Law’s facts were concept Give it to generated by putting the press his product in the hands of the press, manufacture and sure enough they design & loved it. development Dodgy distribution Licensee feasibility liquidated catchesflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

He believed strongly because he had generated real facts So what do the opinions of the dragons matter?! The toughness of his journey was testament to the fact that his MVP could not be that minimalflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Fortunately… This now happens in days, or maybe weeks, but certainly not months. The Lab’s job within a product development cycle is to generate evidence-based learning, to help get the ideas right, and make good decisions based on factsflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Basic InsightWe found it really hard to find a whiteboard thesize we want and think that other people willhave the same problem. labs

This leads to a value hypothesis that we can begin to test “We think that people will value apremium service that makes and installs whiteboards to a precise set of dimensions.” labs

1. Make a site that calculates the cost and puts customers in touch with us. 2. Get a phone!If people valuethis service asmuch as we do. Volume of people searching for it on Google Requests for pricing labs People who buy

The first MVP (c .2 days) labs

The 2 nd MVPlabs

The Lab’s LearningsThis is a viable, small, localbusiness.It would be a good idea to makethe whiteboards erasable!It is possible in a week to proveout a digital & physical businessin a lean way labs

“The High Street Bank”A real life case study labs

Amongst others, we created oneexperiment designed to testsomething that had been debatedfor ages at the bank labs

It was a thorny subject.It involved using customers’personal data to do something wethought they would like and value. labs

But would they accept it, or wouldthey go nuts and call the Daily Mail? We put it live in a few weeks in an MVP toseveral thousand real customers who didn’t know it was just an experiment. labs

But before we did… labs

It was usability tested It panned! Only 24% of people said they would do itlabs

How many ACTUALLY did it in real life? 96% of people just jumped right on in! labs

“What people say they will do and what they actually do is often very different and can be greatly affected by their level of awareness of the task at hand”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

The fluxx ‘Tested User’ Framework True Market ResearchIdea/Concept ethnography (quant and qual) MVP/LeanProduct/Service Market Intelligence Maturity Level and behavioural data Partial/Fully A/B Testing Usability Testing Developed Multi-variate testing Prototype Testing Is the User Unaware aware of the test? Awareflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

The fluxx ‘Tested User’ Framework Proving an idea A wide variety ofIdea/Concept one way or the opinions, ideas and other storiesProduct/Service History Maturity Level Partial/Fully Optimising where Usability Developed there are multiple options Is the User Unaware aware of the test? Awareflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

The outcome of which is… Armed with facts, a product development team can simply ‘tell’ they don’t ‘sell’ It’s hard to argue with, & people don’t want to It’s equally obvious how to apply that data to influence the design later onflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee @poleydee

A key point here though is… An MVP does not a design make Which leads us to: Enable and equip your design & build team; don’t tell them what to doflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Briefing the team means focusing on the outcome “Nice concept, full of possibility. Will be fun to make it work.”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Briefing the team Present the trail of evidence • A user-centred journey • Help the team understand the insight on which the product was founded • Don’t hide any facts • Show your wrong turnsflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Briefing the team Describe, don’t prescribe What it should be like, not what it should look likeflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Create useful assets. Things that will enable, not confine your design team Draft Personas If you don’t know these, then the product you’ve developed isn’t worth the Omnigraffle it’s visualised on! Product and Experience Principles Distil your experience of the product development learnings into principles that will help guide the design and build teamflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

What we don’t say: “Yeah, we already prototyped it” Product development should never be testing a UI, or a brand VI We ask questions like: • Is the content valuable to our audience? • Is the function that it performs valuable? • How easy or low cost does it have to be to become, in order to become valuable?flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Which has led us to a uniquedesign principle: Make it as bad as you can get away with (So long as you don’t get in the way of the core testing objective) “I’ve never been asked to make my work ‘more sh*t before!”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

How do you brief in how a product ‘feels’? I’ll give you a briefing I’ve used many a timeflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Let me tell you why I love Virgin Atlanticflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

After a briefing like that, it should be easy to sum it up as something as simple as: Brilliant basics, magic touches … and a number of other principles to which a user experience or product would have to conform in order to be the one that we believe customers will loveflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Finally Our brief must be full of possibility “It’s clear to us that people want a degree of serendipity; for the finding of information to have a ‘fuzzy edge’ that allows them to stumble on something that they love, but weren’t expecting”flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Creating a product design brief with possibility Always guide, never prescribe Set principles, not guidelines Design experiments, not UI Say how it feels, not what it does In short: Let the design team design it…flux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Finally: Avoiding the ivory tower Don’t be precious – about your ideas, or being rightflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Talk about the dead endsExperiments never fail or succeed, theymerely have outcomesflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Take input wherever you can Regularly take time to gather intelligence, ideas and product thoughts from everywhere you can, and credit your sourcesflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Be inclusive Get the design and development team to develop the MVP A RapidStart approach looks to get an experiment out in under two daysflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Product Development can be a state of mind, not a department For complex products where there is a high degree of uncertainty, it’s an upfront investmentflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Product Development can be a state of mind, not a department For new features in existing products, it can become a ‘spike’ in the existing processflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Playing to each other’s strengthsflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

Phew…  paul@fluxx.uk.comflux[x] @fluxxstudios @poleydee

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The Role of Product Development, Fluxx

by Fluxx on Nov 09, 2012

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