Prezi product strategy - a framework for fixing a balloon

Change proposition
Assignment case

Áron Barócsi
2013.08.02.

Change proposition | Prezi Assignment Case by Áron Barócsi

1

Preface

As a candidate for a position, I was asked to picture myself at Prezi as a product manager

(PM). I had to propose a change that I would make along with an implementation plan. This
was called a prompt and quick assignment without deep technicalities. To shine light on my
way of logic and product development process. So I started to wonder about change.

A change is the difference between two values; it is really just a delta. Hence, to design a

change we should know the start and the end. The specification lacked a real business case I

was accommodated to when it comes to assignments. There was no company strategy
involved, no fragments of insights given I could have started to think about. There were no

solid conditions providing constraints to be used as facts.

There I had it. Nothing to start from and no target to reach so I realized that it’s really not

about proposing a change but about thinking about the entire model and structure of the

issue as such. It is about to deliver some valuable framework in which a proposed change
would be feasible.

I have created large amount of products in my life, however those involved me not solely as a
product manager, but as a - sort of - multi-functioning dogsbody: many roles mixed including

designer, leader, developer and consultant. Even the products I have worked on could have

had split in to two segments: existing products with clear state and goal or utterly

entrepreneurial ones with extreme uncertainty 1 of success.

In this case, we have a product that is far from entrepreneurial phase, but as the assignment

says, it has neither current state nor goal assigned. It is kind of like being before a twist for an

existing business. Continue and start struggling to maintain status quo, or take another leap.

Having these in mind, I have decided to not only act here as a PM, but as a strategic analyst as

well. Thus, the assignment is structured in two major sections. In the first one I position the

company within the industry, try to discover the basic forces and rules, derive possible
outcomes and solutions. In the second section, I setup some simple conditions based on the

results from the analysis of the first, and propose a specific change. As a result, it is possible

to clarify any change using the framework and transform it into a product or feature along

with demonstrating the entire process reflecting all the corresponding elements.
1

Terminology from Eric Ries


2

Disclaimer
Throughout this paper I will have assumptions, some very basic biologic, chemical and economic
‘feel like’ statements structured in a lazy philosophical system that are not pursuing scholar
completeness.
Only important and assignment related characteristics of the business will be presented here.
Corresponding citations of ideas are precisely indicated.
I will use childish analogies to help me understand what others and I have said.
For an existing professional this document might seem to be a way to bullshit myself through
the task by using elaborate and endless sentences stating the obvious. Nevertheless, it can be a
basic and easy to understand handbook to other colleagues who seek bigger picture.


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Part I.: [_from, _to] ....................................................................................................................................................4

1.1

Shocks & Strategy ...........................................................................................................................................4

1.2

Prezi resources ................................................................................................................................................7

1.1.1

Resiliency .................................................................................................................................................4

1.1.2

Greed’n’Go ................................................................................................................................................5

1.3.1

Some quantum physics .......................................................................................................................9

1.3

Energy levels and value ................................................................................................................................9

1.3.2

1.3.3

1.3.4

1.4

1.4.2

1.4.3

2

Radiation in business ....................................................................................................................... 10

Summary................................................................................................................................................ 10

Why? How? What? ....................................................................................................................................... 11

1.4.1

1.4.4

1.5

Are we any different ............................................................................................................................9

Why .......................................................................................................................................................... 11

How? ........................................................................................................................................................ 13

What? ...................................................................................................................................................... 15

Summary................................................................................................................................................ 15

How does this framework look like? ................................................................................................... 17

Part II. [way] ............................................................................................................................................................ 19

2.1

Climbing the tree.......................................................................................................................................... 19

2.1.1

2.1.2

Example #1: ‘We are not THAT cash flow positive man!’ ................................................. 19

Example #2 – Day Ø. ......................................................................................................................... 22


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Part I.: [_from, _to]

1.1 Shocks & Strategy
1.1.1

Resiliency

I am sure there are many methodologies about steering a business to success, but regardless

of them, I would emphasize my opinion on the importance of strategy and mission. As said

many times before, nature is all about finding and persisting balance. Moreover, this balance

is being adjusted continuously: every participant tries to find supply and/or compatible

demand. Resources with consumption. Balance is all about the rates of producing and

consuming goods. However, like in any controlled system, an external shock may cause

serious wave of swing in the rates. If it was only a one-time shock, the function of the rates

would not change, the system can absorb it, and the absorption capacity depends on reserves

– excess capital. Simplest way to put it: piled up food serves as a savior next year, when there
is not enough food produced this year. Problem arises when the rate function changes and

the “shock wave” turns out to be a persisted one. Survival requires either the production or
the consumption side to persist change in their rate functions. Nevertheless, changing rate
functions require excess capacities. Without capital or excess resources, it is almost

impossible reach asylum. Even though having a capital means no real victory. The type of the

capital is the real question. If we consider stakeholders in our business, we can easily

recognize, that each interacting stakeholder is a producer-consumer connection that is

possibly exposes our business to shocks.

It is the evergreen saying that you cannot buy everything with money. Even if you could, it

would cost you much more than buying it with the compatible counterpart. You can buy back
your angry personnel with salary. Yet he will not ever be as loyal as before. Assume you have

a barbershop. You might upset your hairdressers emotionally once and they would leave not

accepting any salary increase. They would take all the clients not looking back, leaving your

business lose everything, because clients would go to a hairdresser person and not brand.
Double loss. You really could have piled up some emotion capital to act as a buffer between

you and your stakeholders. Clients and employees in this case.

Each stakeholder has an array of different dimensions of demands and supplies when

interacting with your business. Any type can be quantified in number$, but dimension
matters.


Let’s put it this way: 1 smile = 1 smile (this cost 0$). However 1 smile = $100 (at least).

1.1.2

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Greed’n’Go

An interesting feature of nature is the way it finds resources. What are resources anyway?
What are we doing with them anyway? Why are we consuming at all? What happens when we
do so? We are subject to chemical reactions; ultimately, our body transforms instable
elements to more stable ones. On a cellular level, it is all about atoms, ions, electrons, protons

etc. All are passive processes. On a larger scale, is it any different? Chemical reactions do not
seek future safety, nor pump up savings and never remember past shocks. They only do what
is the best for them in the next step; we can kind of think over it as a greedy algorithm. Go for

the next best optimal step. As we zoom out to different levels of the nature, reach humans,
can start wondering, what works at the atomic level, can it be different on the macro scale?
Are not we simply doing the same? Optimizing a function or an array of functions.

Let’s say, I am stuck in the desert and need one bottle of water to get to the next oasis. I am

sure that the next oasis is in front of me in direction A with capacity of one bottle. In direction

B, there is another one with capacity of 0.5 bottle. Therefore, as I am greedy, I would choose
oasis A and forget B. However if I had not been that greedy and gone for B I might then went
from B to C and discover an oasis with capacity of 10 bottles. However without excess
resources – working capital as water I would not be able to take that venture.

In businesses it’s kind of the same: should we pursue immediate optimums for profit (or for a
given KPI) or look for further steps (aka. use a different algorithm to seek optimum

considering the total space of the business as a graph representation of decisions) and take

the short term loss for longer term profit? LEAN 2 method sometimes results a kind of

amoebic product, satisfies the short-term needs of the user with seeking local optimums

iteratively. Each step will eventually reduce the possibilities for the next step, since each one
can select from the subset of the same cohort (users of the product) with the next feature. It is
like getting deeper and deeper in a niche music genre; only the experienced fans are able to
listen to it. It is possible to avoid it by constantly looking for new entrants and ask them about

what they want, so they would be able to drive your product where the market is at right
now. However, that is beginning to become not that LEAN.

2

It is a popular way to iteratively manage your startup by Eric Ries again.


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I believe that businesses pursue value creation. Each change (even from zero to first product)
is an iterative step, a new micro-business with its own micro-investments, micro-risks and

the corresponding cute little micro features always relative to each other.

It is really just about choosing the right path (feature list) in the desert (market) for the next
oasis (stable P&L) by balancing resources and risks. The more we know about the path and

the more resources we have to risk, the more return we have. Therefore greedism is not that
necessary all the time and can have better impact to invest in larger leaps.


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1.2 Prezi resources

How valuable is Prezi? When clever investment consultants are talking about company
valuation we usually check financials, tangible and intangible assets, value the brand and

dream about steep projection curves of growth. If I had similar type of customers and an
existing product that could be upgraded with Prezi like features, would I pursue an M&A or

simply develop it? How costly would it be for me now to take over? Even in case of M&A what

parts would I keep? What is the stakeholder matrix is like at Prezi and what kinds of
resources are racked up (as mentioned in 1.1.1)?

I listed all the most important assets, described them, evaluated how harmful are they or how
hard to be reproduced by a possible competitor and then gave it a score. Of course these are

not based on real-data, but in regard of the case it’s would be satisfactory to have

assumptions.

1. Table: Assets

Comment

Users (new vs.
returning)
Product, knowhow
Structured,
monetize able
content
Brand

Network

Liquidity

Competitiveness

Retain level of users

Can be taken away at any time with same
set of features

Developed code,
infrastructure

A tech company would easily reproduce it

User generated, BI

Score

This would be difficult to reproduce

0/5

0/5

4/5

Established recognition

Mostly costly and factor of time

The Bells networking
effect for products

A bigger network involving Prezi users
would immediately kill this one (currently
no internal no external network is present)

0/5

CF+

Does not matter considering possible
competition

0/5

5/5

3

According to Porter’s forces, from the five major components the threat of new entrants is

high, since there is no real value in the product that is seriously lacking innovation and

patents. In addition, another threat is the substitute product line along with competitive
3

This will be referred in 1.4.1 since it’s was only a temporary asset buble consumed destructively


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rivalry and some of the bargaining power of customers (which in this case is really the cost of

switching is low). Even though Prezi is cash flow positive, there are some dimensions where
it cannot be accounted for any capital.

Putting it another way, Prezi has a nicely created trendy brand that had “capital” in a form of
high rate of early adapters using the software. However, the rates are clearly deteriorating in

terms of new vs. returning vs. active users. In a sudden moment, we could have realized that
this company has only acquired 25M early adapters using it only to differentiate themselves
from other boring presentation 4.

The entrance is relatively cheap to the online idea sharing market that I would not even call
market anymore. We are talking about the complete change of communication let it be verbal,

written or visual. These tools are suddenly becoming commodities and the knowledge
retaining platforms will prevail. Online markets clearly do have convergence: we must

recognize the core of the problem Prezi solved before, and whether this problem still exists in
a different manifestation, or has it shifted since Prezi introduced the online presentation
along with its basic collaborative features.

Will people really try to communicate through visual elements, or it will be something else
that would matter in the future? We can develop phones even larger internal storage when it

is really about bandwidth and cloud storage and we will not solve any problem with that. We

can implement lot of things in Prezi if it is not sexy anymore as such. We might enable

collaboration for a single subset of co-workers in a sort of static interaction when it is really

about crowd-sourcing and continuous iterative content development. We might also increase
feature and product noise with drawing tools when it is really about the speed of structuring

ideas with existing visual representations. The list is long and it is about time to find out the
most important factors that influence the sort order.

This is called fashion which indeed is a strongly brand related business through aggressive
marketing within the fashion industry. This is a speculative presumption.

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1.3 Energy levels and value
1.3.1

Some quantum physics

In 1913, Bohr refined the Rutherford model describing the behavior of the electron around

the atom. It had many properties, however the interesting part is that the radiation. Each time
an electron moves from higher radius orbit to lower it goes to a smaller energy level and

some radiation happens proportional to the energy level. This was slightly before the era of

quantum mechanics, however later on this was further modified and they realized that the

quantum of energy was photon which is being radiated. Same happens when we have a

nuclear fusion in a power plant, or even happening right now in our daily lightning device, the
Sun.

Each particle seeks stability and each bonding (let it be ionic or covalent) pursue lower

stability level thus create photons in a form of radiation. Is this any different on the macro
scale? Do not we seek opportunities to fulfill something like that? Our nature as a life form

consists of finding instable resources. Through digestion these resources are transformed to a
more stable level and we produce energy in a form of many ways of other chain of instable
mechanisms and eventually radiation in a form of heat.

1.3.2

Are we any different

Of course, we can indicate that humans do not do this exclusively, because they have big shiny
and smart brains that are not based on ancient instincts! That brain rather represents the

perceived world integrated from time zero from the point of view of the given substance so it

can do calculations on its aggregated intelligence and act as an ever-evolving function to

optimize a given issue. One might claim that because we have this advanced brain, we,
distinguished humans ultimately seek some kind of self-actualization at the top of Maslow’s
pyramid and not some kind of pitiful resource.

This is only illusion due to complexity, our brain acts as the resource seeker on the ndimensional space (including time). It enables or inhibits muscle motion according to the

incoming and stored signals, like an extremely complex and dynamic transistor array with an

ever-evolving structure. Brain does the very same as primitive life forms just has some extra
representational and buffering capacity to circulate and process information.


1.3.3

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Radiation in business

I am not sure whether this is happening on the macroeconomic level by rule, but in business

life, we might find some analogies. M&As conducting M aka fusion when successful, results in
radiation as it does in a sun from 1.3.1 . Two companies when merged, reaches a more

relaxed state at a lower level and emitted a number of workers by laying them off. This is for
the benefit of everyone, the laid off workers simply try to find different holes in other

companies (ions-) to be attached to.

In our everyday life you can see this phenomenon when supply and demand is met. We do
need a glass of water and someone has it. We have a scarcity in our system and someone has
an excess. They are connected through an interface, which is called problem. In atomic scale,

the problem is the one dimensional representation of excess and scarcity of energy. In

business world is a problem vector acting as an interface between its compatible excesses and

scarcities. When I’m buying a watch, it’s a resolution of the problem: I’m having scarcity in

knowing the time, having it accessible all the time, having this information acquired along
with a good sensation (because it’s a Hubris ). The company has the answer by producing a

watch built with these features (excess).
1.3.4

Summary

When it comes to Hubris the following happens: they create excess resource of features by

manifesting a watch. It targets a problem vector in the watch market space. The problem

vector has a compatible customer (with compatible demand vector of scarcities) who would
buy the watch. This is the chemical interaction where counterparts become in a more relaxed
state. The radiated energy in this case: non-utilized value 5.

We are talking here about capital not addressed or recognized. The kind of asset we did not realize
during the transaction like what Prezi did by not retaining information.
5


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1.4 Why? How? What?

Simon Sinek has a great way of putting 1.3 in a simple way. He drew circles. Concentric ones.

He focused on many cases and sought the cause of success. Through many cases from a topdown approach he concluded the same result. Designing a product is about solving a

problem. Thinking in a way like this will create useful things thus adding value.

By defining Why are we doing anything we can realize How we should do it and finally end up

What we would call a successful feature, product. All we need to do is to think about the
problems (identify the problem space) that we are capable of solving as a company by using

our assets and capital. Think of the users that we would be able to reach out for and what is

their problem 6.

In this section, my suggestions are logical nevertheless absolutely hypothetical and created in
favor of the Prezi case, analyzing the actual state and proposing something if we were starting
from scratch backed up by the resources in 3.2 / 1. Prezi asset table
What
How
Why
1. Figure: Simon Simoneks Why? How? What?

1.4.1

Why

From the Prezi.com homepage: ‘We help people share ideas’. This is a mission statement, but
can it be translated to problem(s)? What problems do people have in 2013 that is connected

with sharing ideas, when sharing is a commodity? It is almost integrated into every second of
our life. Idea in this context is a content, sharing it is commodity. Commodities are usually the
best response to a problem evolved from innovation through business scale to a next

Consultative selling however is based on the reserved version of this assumption. It has a product
and looks for a problem (client) that it solves.
6


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iteration of standard of living. Is this collaboration then? What? Collaboration is present
since the beginning of the web. There are plethora of visual and not-that-visual-yet-still-

effective collaboration tools like interactive whiteboards, chat, tweet, videos, images, fact

evolution by many scholars through [*]pedias and wonderful versioning platforms from
simple cloud storages to GitHub where real fast paced evolution of open sourced ideas
happen.

There is a harsh conclusion. Referring to one well-scored asset (brand) in 1. Figure: Prezi

assets, existing Prezi only solved one real problem, and that was differentiation through

fashionable 7 resolution of boring and static PPT issues. This kind of visual communication
due to rapid increase of such tools become obsolete and the capital of such people (with a
kind of a blown bubble) had been destructively consumed during the years (except the
profits in cash) because no other value were retained 8.

In this world, it is hard to re-define the problem that Prezi would solve with staying in this

field or even industry. Is there any problem here, other than integrating the different existing
elements, services, products into one value chain? That is adding marginal value thus would
be short living, and would retain no value.

We need to identify the problem space that Prezi could solve using its capabilities, and

therefore we need to present a set of conditions in which we can define an algorithm that is
able to help us select various decision graphs (strategies) that would best adhere to our
customer needs.

1.4.1.1

Neural. Network.

When wondering about presentations of ideas it is usually not the facts that the idea uses as

building block what is interesting, but the way it emerges. Like the zooming feature in Prezi
that shows people the thought-flow and connections between the steps that would construct
a whole idea. In our minds, a neural network is constantly building and destroying thoughts
and ideas. The strongest would eventually fire some action potential out of our brain

throughout our mouth or any other interface we use to communicate. This action potential

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8

As also stated in 1.2 in the aspect of built capital, here in the aspect of problem solving
Subjective recognition


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would then be transformed, received, and processed by audiences’ internal neural network
(brain) and if the joke were interesting, the feedback would be a decent ROTFL.

However picturing the partial process of the way we think is not the visualization of our idea,

but the part of our neural network. Each consequence in our creative thinking is the result of
multiple a priori consequences of previous network members associated (bunch of neurons).

Each human entity is part of a collective neural network since it is able to store, process and
emit information at a given weight. And just is it’s happening in our brain humans are

creating connections in constantly evolving ways but it’s all about increasing speed and
compatibility.

1.4.1.2

‘Because we connect ideas’

Hence if we were able to put a part of our brain in a standardized form on a medium through
a simple yet powerful interface that would enable others to receive and continue the idea.

The system controlling the process can augment these steps and create the connections

automatically. Our Prezi presentation is ultimately a brain map that is a directed graph. To
this directed graph, we have a possibility to connect. Continue and develop the idea. Fork the

idea, like forking a code in GitHub. It does not apply to every presentation, but this kind of
method and thinking of ideas as a collective as such, where all of us are heading. Prezi right
now is just the visual and partial representation of individuals brain maps. If Prezi really

wants to solve a problem, it is to help people connect ideas and therefore let thoughts to

evolve. Let a community around an issue get one step higher in its level of development. Prezi
can do it by becoming their neurotransmitter.

1.4.2

How?

The problem will be solved by introducing a methodology to compound and connect existing

ideas in the way they think its best, with a linear option to fallback to static presentation of

the idea itself.

Prezi will let users to have their presentations treated by local mindmaps. Graphs of facts.

Prezi will let these graphs manipulated. For example the beginning of one presentation be


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connected to the 10th slide of another presentation hence forming a new, extended series
(map) of thoughts.

Endless and countless logic of chain and added information structuring would be created, a

neural network with real added value on which anyone could run their own calculations and
generate implications. It is just connecting ideas.

This picture shows three ideas (thought graphs) however we can create at least six distinct
2. Figure: Interconnected fact graphs

presentations out of it, by only letting users to connect. It will be clear, that B2 is an important
fact, which the community used to evolve into more ideas so the open sourcing was

successful. It is also an interesting to see when designing our C idea that someone had almost

did the homework because what happens when we insert and put a keyword X to C2? Prezi

looks for all slides that have output connection enabled by the user and matches. Therefore, it
will turn out that B3 is also tagged with X with and can be concluded to C3.

In San Francisco, the sky is always dull 9and people hate red colors, but do jogging every

1.4.2.1.1

Example: Frisco Pee

morning to pee down from the Golden Gate Bridge. Another presentation about the structure

of Golden Gate Bridge is being made by a tourism agency. The agency discover that there is a

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This is one possible addition why Amanda likes her monthly visit to Hungary.


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possible connection from their sequence of facts to a different sequence of facts, so they can
now offer a program to the tourists: Morning running pee watching on the Golden Gate
Bridge. How cool is that, and it happens without creating a single slide.

At the UN summit for starving children there is a presentation (again, directed conclusive

1.4.2.1.2

Example: UN Summit

graph of facts) on how to solve the issue. Let us say, there are five introductory fact slides and
at slide 6 a solution offers a way of transportation to be used by creating a new kind of
mounting on the scooters.

Independently happening (meanwhile): another inventor would then have this conclusive

fact either as an input to analyze or further develop the innovation, either as a conclusive

slide when the innovation is presented to prominent investors that 3D printing has this very
nice outcome. In developing countries they can give money to increase production and call it

CSR, so 3D printing is not just hot but is a possibly way to enter markets where poorness is
abundant but lacking massively produced goods.

In each case both presenters win, since at the sixth slide the system would show

interconnected slides with the highest ratings.

1.4.3

What?

Prezi would do it by shifting from its existing set of tools to a real time idea creation and

management network. On this platform thoughts and ideas can be constantly developed.
People, companies and organizations can generate value by injecting and connecting their
knowledge in the form they like.

1.4.4

Summary

I believe that problems are driving business. Where we find problem, we can create value.

Each problem (or problem space) must be compatible to our capabilities 10. Each problem

space and our capabilities form a mission. During the life of the company, there will be
conditions to meet by which we will have strategies formed. After that, we can have all the

planning, P&Ls, target customers etc. Nevertheless, all would be under this umbrella that is
provided by the problem space.

That we like to do as a company without being something else just for the sake of money. Doing
something else we (company people) would then be a level of prostitution. In this case the company
should decompose and employees better seek other ventures.
10


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The new mission is to be the neurotransmission of the collectives’ brain conducted and
fostered by Prezi. Done through intentionally built connectors (graph edges) between
containers of classified (tagged) information (graph points: thoughts).

Therefore, we are not talking about presentations and slides anymore but about a wellstructured, directed information network, a graph of ideas that can be reused, processed and
analyzed. It is sort of the Facebook for ideas.

This mission is a space holding multiple problems that can be solved by Prezi through

iterative steps of implementing features. Each feature outcome determines the next step in
the decision tree, which eventually shows us multiple strategies to create the best product.


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1.5 How does this framework look like?

At 1.4, I have proposed a problem space and a shift in strategy that would let Prezi meet
hypothetical convergence of future problems that a user would expect Prezi to solve.

The following table shows the current workflow of a Prezi creation in an extended way that
would be compatible with the problem space in 1.4. Each workflow steps can be broken down
to existing and new features. Therefore, we can see that the concept behind the entire design

of the product using the framework is like this cycle:

Identify problem
solving processes

According to feedback
re-validate problem
space

Start implementing
features

Break down process
steps to interdependent
features

A decision tree is
created (tree path =
strategy)

3. Figure – product design cycle

This method secures that we would not add features that are not relevant for the actual
problem. This method ensures that we generate value for us and for the user so the Hubris

watch from 1.3.1 will be a perfect fit for our client. The current table tries to solve the

problem space in 1.4 with additional 11 features that will augment 12 it, independently co-exist
to make the workflow step more efficient but not indispensable.

The table does not indicate existing features that will be not affected, since this problem space is
compatible with the existing one as it is will be addressed later during shift management case.
12 Interdependent features are NOT marked on this table but will be referred later and connected to
each other on a case by case basis.
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2. Table: Problem space characteristics
User

Primary manipulation

Secondary manipulation

Data preparation and primary
content input

Available

 Prezi.live
14
 Prezi.fy
15
 Prezi.app: 3rd party import plugin
 Prezi.app: 3rd party visualization
widgets
16
 Tag the actual graph fact thus add
input or output reference
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 PRZML

 Modify facts resulting new version, but
the same graph
 Fork new graph by continuing from one
step
 Connect fact to compatible facts
 Connect a sub-graph to another sub-graph
 Modify directions of the graph
 Add comments
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 Understand / Fail to understand mark
 Refine tags

 Classified, reusable content
 New features implemented by others:
plugins, widgets and PRZML apps
making Prezi more open and adaptive
to changes in adherence to the
problem space within this table.

 Intelligent information / idea network
 Aggregated know-how
 Constant aggregation of know-how
 Ability to evolve the efficiency of the
comment results high-quality

 Ever increasing classified network of
collaborators
 Directed problem solving interactions
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 Advanced graph processors from other
businesses that transform existing knowledge
to other discoveries

 Classic AD placement by having well
structured profile data and information
with possible freemium model attached
 Premium services to expand more or hide
parts of your graph

 Classic AD placement by having well structured
profile data and information
 B2B exposure of API to do research on a larger
volume

features

Capital built

Cash
Monetization

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Sharing, connecting and promoting the content,
either as a whole or partially

Result

 Conventional share solutions
 Disseminate through connected graph
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participants new/modification information
 Invite professionals from LinkedIn to
collaborate
 3rd party disseminators and processors

User as stakeholder and
revenue source

description

Additional transformation of
information by adding external
resources or using miscellaneous tools
rd
to add 3 party content

This is the primary information
which is presumably exists at
the beginning of the project in
the users brain

Step

Secondary manipulation of the prepared
Prezi. This can be done either by the user,
another user, community or automated
generation of new data

Dissemination

The consumable form of the
information

Real-time information and idea
connection platform with
continuously integrated
methods that add new
intelligence. Open source
methodology powered by
professionals, scholars and
their collaborating audience
counterparts.

Enable classified content aggregation during live presentations which is basicly a plugin enabling graph elements to have forms displayed at various events (for example: upcoming questions like it
was explained in the Mentillate concept)
14 Create prezi from existing webpages or webpage elements. Import, classify and recognize these elements.
15 Enable business participants to add own plugins to i/o to the Prezi platform.
16 By tagging the user classifies the fact seen (importing can automatize tagging from footnote 14.) By classification user gets access to additional graphs and intel as well as additional exposure that was
explained in 1.4.2.1.2
17 XSLT to PRZML: create new kind of rendered visual content from a webpage. New format for developers to visualize content through Prezi.
18 Each modification works like methods seen in GitHub – comment, fork, implement, test and then push. Even 3rd party connectors can be added like connect a specific graph to SlideShare!
19 Additional way to refine the understandability of the content in the most simple way just give a mark of your understanding level even during Prezi.live
20 This way, Prezi will be able to constantly ping their customers and have not only a prezi owner accessed but all related graph owners (partially and observers) to get notified and become active
21 It can be a plugin to any of the scholars citation network. Can be a LinkedIn correlation pattern analyzer. Can be an industry research for any coexisting solution that is more competitive for a
problem. Can be a way to analyze the main input relations to a product through Bayesian inferences.
13


2

19

Part II. [way]

2.1 Climbing the tree

2. Table: Problem space characteristics shows us a framework in which we can define

arbitrary strategies depending on any constraint. The good thing about this framework is that
this would eventually make any strategy to stay inside the problem space thus solve

something that would generate constructive value to the user. As Prezi is a company with a

mission we have the problem space tied to it, hence the columns (mission elements) and
rows would be intact, but the number of examples inside the cells can grow infinitely.

In the next few paragraphs, I will illustrate how a tree is created within this framework by

picking up some existing examples from the table and evaluating them from the perspective

of a PM.

Each illustrative example will go through the following major steps indicated in 3. Figure –
product design cycle.
2.1.1

Example #1: ‘We are not THAT cash flow positive man!’

Finance realized that the company would not have enough revenue next year due to

2.1.1.1

Synopsis

diminishing returns from premium subscriptions. CEO and CMO after some research figured

out that for Prezi entering the display ad market would be a good step. CPO (Chief Product
Officer  If there would be 3 products only of them we could say…wait for it…C3PO!) is asked

to respond to this issue.

The company needs a different source of revenue stream

2.1.1.2

Constraint


20

CPO asks PMs about this madness of entering the AD market. They would go and see the table

2.1.1.3

Building the tree

and figured out that this problem space has a solution for displaying ads! They also provide a
feature dependency chain:

1. Primary content generation

2. Graph fact tagging and I/O reference (terminology now: frame – a collection of facts)
3. Optional: Modification, forking, connecting and commenting

4. Graph processor that is able to match user profiles with classified content and AD to
be displayed

For this example case, we assume all dependent preconditions are met and strategy had

2.1.1.4

Preconditions

already shifted to the new problem space.

2.1.1.5

1. Build a small business case 23 about this step. Indicate value proposition and how it
Climbing 22

would integrate in the problem space and how it would modify the actual strategy

(tree). Describe the basic use case of the feature both in perspective of the customer
and the business partner. Suggest market standards and trends both in perspective
of implementation and business models.

2. Discuss with related team members and associates. This involves team forming and
leadership skills to motivate each team member toward the success of the iteration.

3. Present to the company and wait for relevant feedbacks

4. Minimum Viable Product24 in this case would be a Prezi presentation with Ads

placed, served, viewed and clicked. MVP would consist of precisely selected high

performing Prezi with matching AD content.

This assignment omits the project management (Agile, XP, Scrum etc.) steps, those are purely
implementation and not subject to the PM role.
23 Use a simple paper or to get the iPhone of one-page-plans, the magnificient Product Canvas 
22


21

5. KPI will serve here as constraints that would enable us to measure the MVP success

and to learn about how to optimize further the implemented feature. In this case, we

would measure the following dimensions:
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

Average time on same slide with Ad,

Average time overall,
CTR,

Click on banner close,

After closing banner click on disturbing / Upgrade to pro etc. responses,
Clicking on responses at all

Moving Ad by user to different allowed slots on the screen to get a hint of less
disturbing places

6. Critical values would be measured after having the variables marked as KPI-s

adjusted in each A/B or other method of testing and there are no dynamic changes in

the variables. This means for example, we have a set of variables; we adjust them
until we receive an array of acceptance variables (in this case average times, CTR,
close clicks and response types) with values that are satisfactory.

7. Define Leap of faith 24, which in this case has the condition that shows us our
customers and their consumers would not be distracted because of AD placements.

AD placement needs many practicing itself however many industry standards,

examples and researches do exist from which PMs would be able to choose the right

one to start with. Leap of faith with this MVP is about having convergence to industry
rate CTR-s and banner close clicks with average time overall and on the slide values

intact.

8. Optimization and release will have a slightly different product with real system
behind optimizing Ad placements, content matching etc. This is where optimization
phase kicks in with introducing additional variables such as user response types,
optimal banner positions, freemium model usages.

24Terminology

and method from The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.


2.1.2

22

Example #2 – Day Ø.

Shifting the strategy to the new problem space has a first step! The first step is the

implementation and testing of the problem space itself! The following example
demonstrates this as well.

‘No more slogan!

2.1.2.1

Synopsys

No more excuses!

No more blinding our eyes and baring our asses to the world!’

Shifting gears: Prezi wants to change and see if it can be the neurotransmitter of the world.

2.1.2.2

Constraint

The current Prezi mission and feature set is fortunately the subset of what Prezi actually is
able to offer and problem space it could operate.

Connect Ideas
Evolve Ideas
Share Ideas
(current)

‘We have the power!

2.1.2.3

Preconditions

We have the resources!
We have the energy!

Let's get together and wreck shit!’

This vague requirement consists of many complex interdependent features according to the

2.1.2.4

Building the tree

table. However we are lucky as if Frodo had been able to use eagles to fly into Mordor, but
Tolkien obviously hated the lazy midgets as it HAPPENED AGAIN AFTER LOTR BUT
SOMEWHAT BEFORE: in the Hobbit!.


23

Almost every corresponding feature depends on the sole viability of content classification
aka tagging. Which is also would serve the entry point if the constraint of building content

capital with the synopsis: ‘guys, we are FUBARed of crappy prezis we know sh**t about so lets
classify ‘em HELL’

2.1.2.5

Climbing
1. Cont’d after boring first steps in 2.1.1.5
Interview participants should be explained the concept of idea connection and idea

2. Mock n Roll: interviews with existing users

spreading through the similar Prezi network. How beneficial would it be for them?

How would they best understand their problem and the solution? How would they

use it, and how our tests would be best conducted online? We would like to learn the
following to build up an MVP test:

•

•
•
•
•

User wants to let similar users know about his slides and use it as reference

User wants to get much more relevant viewers and exposition to professionals

User wants to get more knowledge by having Prezi showing all possibly matching
work (as depicted in 2. Figure: Interconnected fact graphs)

User wants to see the real big picture about how many ideas are depending upon
his and how many is he using

User would want to have this phenomenon referred as <connecting idea>

3. Minimum Viable Product should be a Prezi where people classify their frames and

connect them to similar prezis. After successful interviews and further

communication with professionals and Prezi experts, a feature video can be made
and a mocked system could be designed to conduct the tests. There are many ways to
implement suck mocked system; however, users can meet the feature:
•

•

Explicit, where there is a popup showing off the new feature.

Implicit where there is a new UX item, which is integrated into the workflow, so

the user cam use it. In this case, we need to prove that the user would tag the

content. Hence, we need to have each frame tagged on creation. When the user

creates a frame, a collapsible placeholder is displayed with the tools to tag and

connect. While typing tags, the user is shown that there are X prezis that would


24

potentially connect and Y prezis that would this frame could connect to (refer),

and Z number of frames that could be directly used. Adding a tag or connecting

eventually leads to conversion.

4. Refine Mock before rolling out to massive users, test the mocked system again with
different set of interview participants and adjust the test accordingly.

Video views per user (first rolled out to returning users) and CTR to test version.

5. KPIs
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Measure closes, ask not now, later, not interested. (explicit can be part of the

funnel )

At production end (publishing, sharing) show the video and the feature again,
measure CTR (explicit can be part of the funnel)

Collapsing the tagging & connecting tool at first appearance

Clicking on the tool

Average Tags per frame

Average tags per presentation

Input connections disabled on the frame (enabled by default)
Output connections (referencing) made

Big picture checked (how the users prezi looks when all primary connections are
visible)

6. Leap of faith which in this case our average tagging should meet industry standards

and connections should be around the value of a social network at its beginning
weighted by the frequency of visits by a Prezi user and for instance Facebook.

In the case, this MVP proves to be true, the product will need elaborate work on optimizing

2.1.2.6

Conclusion

the displaying and processing of the information.

However, this tiny leap of faith would then serve as an open door to an entire set of different

and useful features operating in the well-referred problem space and seamlessly steer Prezi
from its actual state in the era of building knowledge-based societies.

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