3 Gifts My Users Gave Me
Alexandra Draghici
@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
● In the form building business
since 2011
● Working on
since 2015

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Happy user Meh user Angry user

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
1. The gift of building solid roadmaps
2. The gift of teaching efficiently
3. The gift of working in a happy team

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps
A
B
C
D ● Generating ideas
● Validating ideas
● Prioritizing new
features/opportunities

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Weekend activities
Go biking
Play tennis with Dorina
Read “Do you talk funny?”
Steal a car
Plan the next work sprint
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps
(3 hours)
(6 hours)
?
?
Value Effort

3
2
1
@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Weekend activities
Go biking
Play tennis with Dorina
Read “Do you talk funny?”
Steal a car
Plan the next work sprint
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps
(3 hours)
(6 hours)
?
?
Value Effort

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps
Generating ideas
● You
● The users of your product
● Competitors’ users
● Your team
● Your boss
● Any other stakeholder

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Validating ideas - Value
● How many users would find this
feature useful?
● What would they be able to achieve
through it?
● How much would they be willing
to pay for it?
● Does this feature match the scope
of my product?
● Is it a feature that will boost the
overall product image?
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Validating ideas - Effort
● How many developers are needed for
a good implementation?
● How much time will it take them?
● What type of maintenance will this
feature need?
● What kind of support resources
will be required?
● How easy will it be to
communicate the benefits of this
feature?
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
User validation techniques
● Interviews with power users
● In-app surveys
● Frontend polls
● Competitor research
● Minimum viable features
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Prioritization
Value vs. effort
=> The most valuable roadmap
1. The Gift of Building Solid Roadmaps

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
2. The Gift of Teaching Efficiently

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
● We are more knowledgeable than our users.
● We understand terms differently.
● We express ourselves differently.
● We are culturally different.
● We lead separate lives.
=> What matters is the unbiased information.
2. The Gift of Teaching Efficiently

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
● Are you sure that’s what the user meant?
● Are you reading between the lines?
● Are you using the simplest words to explain the solution?
2. The Gift of Teaching Efficiently

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Being a good teacher
=
communicating valuable information in a way that
relates to the person who is receiving it.
2. The Gift of Teaching Efficiently

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Buy a carton of milk. If they have eggs, buy ten.
buy_milk();
if(eggs == true) {
buy_milk(10);
}
3. The Gift of Working in a Happy Team

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
A team without a context
is usually not a happy team.
3. The Gift of Working in a Happy Team

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
A x B = C
3. The Gift of Working in a Happy Team

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
● Who are we doing this for? Jerry.
● What does Jerry do? He gives programming workshops.
● Why does he need our forms? Register attendees + collect payments.
● Are his tickets priced differently? Yes.
● Can you sign up multiple attendees through the same form submission? Yes.
3. The Gift of Working in a Happy Team

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
Price level x No. of attendees = Total amount → PayPal
3. The Gift of Working in a Happy Team
Let’s do this!

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici

@WordCampFinland
#WCHEL
@CaptainFormWP
@lxdraghici
THANK YOU!