INTRODUCTIONTOTHE
LEAN DEFINITION PROCESS
Cindy Solomon and Malcolm Knapp
Startup Product Academy andThe Engineer Accelerator
10/8/17
WHO WE HERE
Cindy Solomon Malcolm Knapp
Founder, Movement for Product
Excellence by Design, SUPA Product Academy
Global Product ManagementTalk Podcast
Organizer, SUPA ProductTalk meet ups, ProductTherapy,
Product Summit Conference,
Contributing Author, 42 Rules of Product Marketing and
Guide to Product Management & Marketing Body of
Knowledge
30 years in tech, web development services, software
product marketing & management at Apple,Vadem,
NetObjects, start-ups, & SMBs
Founder: The Engineer Accelerator, MFHK Consulting
Creator: Lean Definition Process
15 years as a consultant and teacher, front end design,
electronics design, implementation, and testing for SMBs,
technical, maker education, soft and process skills training.
WHO AREYOU?
Developers, programmers, coders
Product managers, product marketers, program managers
Founders, CEOs, creators
Designers, UX, UI
WHAT WE WILL DOTODAY
• Motivation for the Lean Definition
• Structure of the Lean Definition
• How can this process benefit you
ILL DEFINEDVISION?
THE PROBLEM
• Unreasonable Expectations
• Feature Creep
• Underscoping
VAGUEVISION
DEFINEDVISION
Vision
Material
Mechanical
Product
ID
Informational
Electrical
DEFINEDVISION
Vision
Material
Mechanical
Product
ID
Informational
Electrical
LEAN DEFINITION
Product Space Enumerated Product
LEAN DEFINITION
• Vision coupled to product
• Build one product
SYSTEM BLIND?
THE PROBLEM
NOVISIBILITY
• Show Stoppers
• Design Conflicts
INFORMATIONAL SPACE
INFORMATIONAL HIERARCHY
REPRESENTATION
Sketches
Systems Blocks
Interfaces
State Machine
Flows
Characteristics List
IS DOES
LEAN DEFINITION
• 360°Visibility
• Single text file
• Single page vector graphic
• Single isometric graphic (for physical products)
PROCESS
IntegrateKickoff
Synchronize Freeze
Unknowns
Revealed
Unknowns
Resolved
Generative Questions
Generative Questions
FREEZINGTHE DEFINITION
Unknowns
TimeFreezeKickoff
Unfreezing the Definition
CROSS FUNCTIONAL
INCOMPREHENSION?
THE PROBLEM
Lost in translation
THE PROBLEM
INCOMPATIBLE LANGUAGES
• No buy in
• Team desynchronization
LEAN DEFINITION
Needs
Functionality
Task Set
TRANSLATIONNeeds
Functionality
Functionality
Task Set
Schedule
and
Budget
Effort
TRANSLATIONFunctionality
Per Function
Complexity
Relative Risk
Overall
Complexity
LEAN DEFINITION
• DefinesVision - Sets expectations, controls feature
creep, truer project scope
• Enables 360°View - reveals show stopper and
design conflicts
• EasesTranslation - facilities buy in and team
synchronization
cindy@startupproduct.com
malcolm@engineeraccelerator.com
Cindy Solomon
Malcolm Knapp
One Day Class
December 3rd
introleandef.eventbrite.com
Thanks!

Introduction To The Lean Definition Process