Talk first given at the Bath Digital Festival 2017 hosted by Cookpad ‘Customers don't know what they want’, but the truth is neither do you...yet! In this session you will learn an outcome and iterative approach to product development, helping you to develop your product to exceed customer expectations and validate you are solving the right problems along the way. Using some examples of successful products, both well known and closer to home, Philip will run through some easy-to-apply product management principles that any team can put into practice to create products that delight customers and provide real world value.

1. bathdigitalfestival.co.uk#BDF2017 @bathdigital
Headline sponsors: Category sponsor: Event host:
Science Not Ego
An outcome and iterative approach to product development

2. Philip Pantelides
@philipantelides
#ScienceNotEgo

3. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Product Management - WTF?
Product
Manager

4. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
You are not Steve Jobs...sorry…

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...but you could be more like Henry ford
Henry Ford
“If I had asked people what they
wanted, they would have said faster
horses.”

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How?

7. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Scientific Product Manager’s toolkit
1. Understand the current state and the desired state AKA Vision
2. Peeling back the onion or 5 x Why? AKA First principles
3. The scientific method AKA Strategy

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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision
a. Jobs to be done
b. Problem and solution space
c. Product value mapping

9. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
al
#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision
a. Jobs to be done
b. Problem and solution space
c. Product value mapping

10. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1a. Jobs to be done
Customers don’t just buy products they
“hire” them to do a job

11. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1a. Jobs to be done
Jess
32
1 Child
Nurse
Reads novels
Bob
43
Single
Builder
Reads the Sun

12. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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1a. Jobs to be done
Solution / What Job / Why
People don’t want a
¼ inch drill...
...they want a ¼ inch
hole
JTBD

13. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision
What is the customer currently doing and the
problems they are facing?
What reality currently looks like to them?
What is the customer trying to achieve?
What does their desired state looks like?

14. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision
$
Phone X

15. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision

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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
A. Jobs to be done
B. Problem and solution space
C. Product value mapping
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision

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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1b. Problem & solution space mapping
Solution Space
(product)
‘I need somewhere to keep all my notes on the go’
Problem Space
(jobs)
‘I need an easy way to express my design ideas’

18. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
a. Jobs to be done
b. Problem and solution space
c. Product value mapping
1. Understand the current state & desired
state AKA Vision

19. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
1c. Product value mapping
Importanceofneed
Not worth it!
High competitionStrong opportunity
Satisfaction with alternatives

20. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Not worth it!
1c. Product value mapping
Importanceofneed
High competitionStrong opportunity
Satisfaction with alternatives
Songs on the go
Colour screen
Storing a large library of music
Easy navigation
Extensive back catalogue
Portability
Sound quality

21. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Scientific Product Manager’s toolkit
1. Understand the current state and the desired state AKA Vision
2. Peeling back the onion or 5 x Why? AKA First principles
3. The scientific method AKA Strategy

22. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
First Principles
Noun
1. the fundamental concepts or assumptions on which a
theory, system, or method is based.
"I think we have to start again and go right back to
first principles"

23. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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First principles are a key part of a product manager’s
toolkit when tackling complex problems, where there
may be many variables or assumptions in place.

24. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Scientifically solve problems and create solutions beyond
what would be possible when using a comparative
approach based on convention, analogy or previous
experiences

25. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
‘Facebook / Amazon /
Google did it that
way’
‘My mum would
never use that!’
‘Our competitors are
doing this’
‘Donald Trump will
never become
president’

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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Convention, analogy or
previous experiences
= Good Products
First Principles thinking = GREAT Products

27. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Why is this important for Cookpad?
We are the only species biologically adapted to eating our
food cooked - Dr Richard Wrangham - Harvard
Anthropologist
BUT
People are time, skill, money poor when it comes to food

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Why is this important for Cookpad?
Complex problem!

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Where are first principles used?
Aristotle
Physics - 384–322 BCE
"the first basis from which a
thing is known"

30. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Where are first principles used?
Descartes
Cartesian doubt - 1641
“I think therefore I am”
1. Accepting only information you know to be true
2. Breaking down these truths into smaller units
3. Solving the simple problems first
4. Making complete lists of further problems

31. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Where are first principles used?
Henry Ford
“If I had asked people what they
wanted, they would have said faster
horses.”

32. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Where are first principles used?
Elon Musk and
Henry Ford
“What would it cost to build a
car/rocket/EV if I broke it down to its
most basic materials and found a
more efficient way to put it together?”

33. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Where are first principles used?

34. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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“I think generally people’s thinking process is too bound by
convention or analogy to prior experiences. They’ll say, “We’ll
do that because it’s always been done that way.”
“[With first principles] you boil things down to the most
fundamental truths…and then reason up from there.”
— Elon Musk

35. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Ok Philip, but I’m not Elon
Musk, Aristotle (...or Greek)!
Now what?

37. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
2. Peeling back the onion or 5 x Why?
AKA First principles
Ask “are we sure that is true?”
until the answer is yes.
Outside in
Truth
Start with what you know to be
true
Inside out
‘Humans need to eat
cooked food’
E=mc2

38. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @bathdigit
al
#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Scientific Product Manager’s toolkit
1. Understand the current state and the desired state AKA Vision
2. Peeling back the onion or 5 x Why? AKA First principles
3. The scientific method AKA Strategy

39. bathdigitalfestival.co.
uk
#BDF2017 @bathdigit
al
#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
3. Scientific Method AKA Strategy
a. Setting hypothesis
b. Testing (riskiest assumptions first)
c. Measure and iterate

40. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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3. Scientific Method AKA Strategy
Classic Lean

41. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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3. Scientific Method AKA Strategy
Design Sprint

42. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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3a. Setting hypothesis

43. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
3b. Riskiest Assumption Tests
Don’t build an “MVP”
(Minimum Viable Product) do
Riskiest Assumption Tests (RAT)
http://bit.ly/2lDw6RW

44. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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3b. Riskiest Assumption Tests
“Maximising the rate of learning by minimising the time to try
things.”

45. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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3c. Measure and iterate
• Define your measures (OKRs etc.) upfront
• Quantitative = What
• Qualitative = Why
• Look at your results objectively
• Test with real customers!
• Build on your hypothesis

46. bathdigitalfestival.co.
uk
#BDF2017 @bathdigit
al
#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Scientific Product Manager’s toolkit
1. Understand the current state and the desired state AKA Vision
2. Peeling back the onion or 5 x Why? AKA First principles
3. The scientific method AKA Strategy

47. bathdigitalfestival.co.
uk
#BDF2017 @bathdigit
al
#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Practical Product Examples
Washing Machines and Online Credit

48. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Environmentally Friendly Washing Machine
Energy In
Energy Out
Sound, heat, rotational
Spin cycle = highest energy usage
Electrical

49. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Environmentally Friendly Washing Machine
F = ma
F=m⍵2
r
v=⍵r
= (mv2
)
r
r
Force = Mass X Orbital Velocity2
X Radius
m
r

50. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Environmentally Friendly Washing Machine
F=m⍵2
r

51. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Environmentally Friendly Washing Machine

52. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Online credit - current state
NI Number?
Household
income?
Mortgage
payments?
Other credit?Dependants?
Occupation?

53. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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#BDF2017 @philipantelides@bathdigital
Online credit - desired state

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Online credit - back to first principles
Q1: Why are multiple pieces of information needed to run a credit check?
A1: So you can understand a customer’s payment history, amount owed, length of
history, types of credit
Q2: Why do you need to know this information?
A2: So you can calculate the risk to the bank in lending the customer credit
Q3: Why do you need to calculate risk?
A3: So the bank can work out how much money is safe to lend

55. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Online credit - back to first principles
Therefore we can be sure:
Credit rating is a function of risk to work out
how much money is safe to lend

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Online credit - The scientific method
Risk model
testing and
iteration

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Online credit - From first principles

58. bathdigitalfestival.co.
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Tying it all together
1. Establish the status quo and the desired outcome
2. Strip back external biases to what you know to be true
Well done you have applied scientific, first principles thinking to
product management!
3. Build up a set of hypothesis and test them in order of importance
until the theory is watertight

59. bathdigitalfestival.co.uk#BDF2017 @bathdigital
Thanks to our festival and category sponsors

60. bathdigitalfestival.co.uk#BDF2017 @bathdigital
and to our supporters!

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bit.ly/cookpad-jobs

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