This is a talk I gave to students and community on best practices in customer development for startup's. It's particular emphasis is on the quick, simple, and effective application of design thinking and Lean Startup. Hack Cville is a private co-working and mentoring space in Charlottesville with close ties to UVA. For live and screencast versions of the material, check out: www.alexandercowan.com/speaking .
These are from a lecture I did at UVA's undergraduate school of business (commerce), McIntire. The class was 'Commerce 4681- Entrepreneurship'. It's part of an entrepreneurship track UVA offers. The objective of the talk was to present an applied view of design thinking, Lean Startup, customer development, and agile. No footage, but if you'd like a live or screencast version of the talk you can find them here: www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
These are from a lecture I did at UVA's undergraduate school of business (commerce), McIntire. The class was 'Commerce 4681- Entrepreneurship'. It's part of an entrepreneurship track UVA offers. The objective of the talk was to present an applied view of design thinking, Lean Startup, customer development, and agile. No footage, but if you'd like a live or screencast version of the talk you can find them here: www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
This is a class for businesspeople/MBA that I currently teach at UVA Darden. It's a continuation of Software Design (bit.ly/sw-class). For more on the Software Development class, see bit.ly/sw-dev.
Harnessing the Power of Product Analytics by Dan OlsenDan Olsen
I gave this talk on how to use product analytics to optimize your product at Split Software's Decisions Product Management Conference on October 2, 2018.
Creating New Products- Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA)Alex Cowan
This is an excerpt from www.alexandercowan.com/speaking . For tutorials and templates on how to do all this, you can try www.alexandercowan.com/resources.
The SVPMA provides a great set of services for one of the industry’s most demanding and least understood professions. I particularly enjoyed the informal time I had with the members before and after the event. The talk was titled ‘Creating New Products – Case Study on Application of Proven Principles’.
@ Charlottesville Business Innovation Council- Accelerating Your StartupAlex Cowan
This is a talk I did for entrepreneurs and investors at the Charlottesville Innovation Council (CBIC). For footage on the topics, please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
This is a talk I did for the UVA Innovation center. The center works with researchers at the university to help commercialize their innovations. No footage but for more on these topics please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking
InKnowVision March 2012 HNW Marketing Webinar - The Power of SixInKnowVision
"Power of Six"
-How Six degrees of separation attracts HNW opportunity to you.
-Six Content Ideas that will attract HNW clients.
-Six "must do" face to face meetings that will fill your HNW funnel.
-Why you only have Six months to attract your ideal HNW prospect before it is too late.
Learn more at www.inknowvision.com
Lean Startup Experiment - Build the Right Thing by Learning FastAndrea Darabos
Do you experiment enough in your product development or innovation process? The biggest risk in innovation is to discover too late that you are not solving a relevant problem for your customers, and discovering this too late... Learn 10 tips to improve your experimentation through our template and start reducing risk in innovations right ahead!
InKnowVision February 2012 HNW Marketing WebinarInKnowVision
In this session you will learn how-to:
Grow a sizable loyal network of quality relationships that brings HNW opportunity to you.
Identify and connect with key influencers that will attract HNW clients.
Develop content to fill your HNW funnel.
Create a communication plan filled with strategies to attract your ideal HNW prospect
Learn more at www.inknowvision.com
This is a class for businesspeople/MBA that I currently teach at UVA Darden. It's a continuation of Software Design (bit.ly/sw-class). For more on the Software Development class, see bit.ly/sw-dev.
Harnessing the Power of Product Analytics by Dan OlsenDan Olsen
I gave this talk on how to use product analytics to optimize your product at Split Software's Decisions Product Management Conference on October 2, 2018.
Creating New Products- Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA)Alex Cowan
This is an excerpt from www.alexandercowan.com/speaking . For tutorials and templates on how to do all this, you can try www.alexandercowan.com/resources.
The SVPMA provides a great set of services for one of the industry’s most demanding and least understood professions. I particularly enjoyed the informal time I had with the members before and after the event. The talk was titled ‘Creating New Products – Case Study on Application of Proven Principles’.
@ Charlottesville Business Innovation Council- Accelerating Your StartupAlex Cowan
This is a talk I did for entrepreneurs and investors at the Charlottesville Innovation Council (CBIC). For footage on the topics, please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
This is a talk I did for the UVA Innovation center. The center works with researchers at the university to help commercialize their innovations. No footage but for more on these topics please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking
InKnowVision March 2012 HNW Marketing Webinar - The Power of SixInKnowVision
"Power of Six"
-How Six degrees of separation attracts HNW opportunity to you.
-Six Content Ideas that will attract HNW clients.
-Six "must do" face to face meetings that will fill your HNW funnel.
-Why you only have Six months to attract your ideal HNW prospect before it is too late.
Learn more at www.inknowvision.com
Lean Startup Experiment - Build the Right Thing by Learning FastAndrea Darabos
Do you experiment enough in your product development or innovation process? The biggest risk in innovation is to discover too late that you are not solving a relevant problem for your customers, and discovering this too late... Learn 10 tips to improve your experimentation through our template and start reducing risk in innovations right ahead!
InKnowVision February 2012 HNW Marketing WebinarInKnowVision
In this session you will learn how-to:
Grow a sizable loyal network of quality relationships that brings HNW opportunity to you.
Identify and connect with key influencers that will attract HNW clients.
Develop content to fill your HNW funnel.
Create a communication plan filled with strategies to attract your ideal HNW prospect
Learn more at www.inknowvision.com
Run successful SEO Campaigns on a small budget.
How to convince your clients to move-away from tired, old fashioned SEO techniques and take the plunge into Creative Content. Creative Content doesn’t have to be expensive, Pete has used tactics such as tactics like Content Curation, News-Jacking & Buzzfeed-style list campaigns that cost less than £100 to make but still won coverage on major sites. Learn how to generate ideas, develop content and outreach it on a small budget. This live webinar will specifically examine:
- How to create content on a low budget
- How to find relevant content topics
- How to run brainstorms that generate 100+ ideas in 30 minutes
- How to find and use freelancer writers & designers to create content
- How to pitch to bloggers & journalists
- Useful tools to improve your link building strategy
Be the first to hear Pete's exclusive tips and get a chance to ask him your questions online!
Guest expert
Pete Campbell is the Director of Kaizen.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Sudheer Mechineni, Head of Application Frameworks, Standard Chartered Bank
Discover how Standard Chartered Bank harnessed the power of Neo4j to transform complex data access challenges into a dynamic, scalable graph database solution. This keynote will cover their journey from initial adoption to deploying a fully automated, enterprise-grade causal cluster, highlighting key strategies for modelling organisational changes and ensuring robust disaster recovery. Learn how these innovations have not only enhanced Standard Chartered Bank’s data infrastructure but also positioned them as pioneers in the banking sector’s adoption of graph technology.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
Elevating Tactical DDD Patterns Through Object CalisthenicsDorra BARTAGUIZ
After immersing yourself in the blue book and its red counterpart, attending DDD-focused conferences, and applying tactical patterns, you're left with a crucial question: How do I ensure my design is effective? Tactical patterns within Domain-Driven Design (DDD) serve as guiding principles for creating clear and manageable domain models. However, achieving success with these patterns requires additional guidance. Interestingly, we've observed that a set of constraints initially designed for training purposes remarkably aligns with effective pattern implementation, offering a more ‘mechanical’ approach. Let's explore together how Object Calisthenics can elevate the design of your tactical DDD patterns, offering concrete help for those venturing into DDD for the first time!
GridMate - End to end testing is a critical piece to ensure quality and avoid...ThomasParaiso2
End to end testing is a critical piece to ensure quality and avoid regressions. In this session, we share our journey building an E2E testing pipeline for GridMate components (LWC and Aura) using Cypress, JSForce, FakerJS…
GraphSummit Singapore | The Art of the Possible with Graph - Q2 2024Neo4j
Neha Bajwa, Vice President of Product Marketing, Neo4j
Join us as we explore breakthrough innovations enabled by interconnected data and AI. Discover firsthand how organizations use relationships in data to uncover contextual insights and solve our most pressing challenges – from optimizing supply chains, detecting fraud, and improving customer experiences to accelerating drug discoveries.
In his public lecture, Christian Timmerer provides insights into the fascinating history of video streaming, starting from its humble beginnings before YouTube to the groundbreaking technologies that now dominate platforms like Netflix and ORF ON. Timmerer also presents provocative contributions of his own that have significantly influenced the industry. He concludes by looking at future challenges and invites the audience to join in a discussion.
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Unlocking Productivity: Leveraging the Potential of Copilot in Microsoft 365, a presentation by Christoforos Vlachos, Senior Solutions Manager – Modern Workplace, Uni Systems
Communications Mining Series - Zero to Hero - Session 1DianaGray10
This session provides introduction to UiPath Communication Mining, importance and platform overview. You will acquire a good understand of the phases in Communication Mining as we go over the platform with you. Topics covered:
• Communication Mining Overview
• Why is it important?
• How can it help today’s business and the benefits
• Phases in Communication Mining
• Demo on Platform overview
• Q/A
12. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Entry1
Urinate as they go2
Edges preferred3
Speedy4
PB > cheese5
Empathy
IDEATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
13. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Check & Repair
UV Validation
Relevant Placement
A Better Mouse Trap
Powered by Better Bait
Creativity
1
2
3
4
5
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
14. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
Personas
Problem
Scenarios
?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
15. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
•Women
•Age 28-45
•Have kids
•Socialize with other mom’s
•Online with Facebook
•86% said they’d like to be
more organized
•70% said they’d use an
application that organizes them
IDEATION
16. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
(see http://bit.ly/ywalkman)
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
17. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Mary is a mom by choice. She had a successful
career in accounting, but welcomed the opportunity to
be a stay at home mom. She loves it. But it’s not like
having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She
wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to
interact. Being a mom is a job and she wants to do it
well. That means corresponding with other mom’s on
relevant topics and keeping the family calendar in
ship shape. She posts to Facebook at least twice a
week and responds to other moms’ items more often
than that.
For household stuff, Costco is the go-to place, but
she’ll pick up fresh items at the farmer’s market when
it’s up and splurge at Whole Foods when they’re
having company.
Mary the Mom
IDEATION
19. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
Personas
User
Stories
Problem
Scenarios
?
20. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Drafting
Stories
PERSONAS
STORIES
Epic Stories
Stories
Test Cases
“As a [persona],
I want to [do something]
so that I can [derive a benefit]”
IDEATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
24. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNINGPLANNING
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
What are the key assumptions
required to make this business work?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
How do I definitely prove or disprove
the assumptions with a minimum of
time and effort?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
Am I reacting or am I focused on
validating my pivotal assumptions?
‘Pivot or persevere?’
25. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
[A key assumption about
the business]
[Whether it needs
proving
[Experiment to
prove or disprove]
1
Parents want to better
organize the distribution
of allowances
Yes
* Post the proposition in ads
online
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents have smart
phones
No n/a
PLANNING
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
30. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ORGANIZATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
31. Big Company
Recipes Applied
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
5 Year Plan ==
10x Returns!
X: < Odds at Lotto
VC-Encouraged
Menagerie
X: Too much
too soon
X: Lack of Experience
in Hands-on Discovery
X: Better Luck with
the Lottery
Time to Face the Music
X: New Theories to
Explain Plan v. Actual
X: Fun and Profit-
Unlikely
ORGANIZATION
++
New Idea!
Expanded Team
Revisions to Plan
== Edgy Board
X: Want Lots of
Capital at Work
It Works! Working 5 Year Plan
New HiresFounders Investors Board
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
32. Investors?
Advisors?
Focus on Validated
Learning
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Key Assumptions
ID’ed, Validated
Lower Risk &
Capital Requirement
Resources
As Needed
Clear Focus in
Hiring & Contracting
Roles and Success
Criteria Clear
Progress is Quick
and Measurable
Time to Face
the Music
Validated Learning
Answers Shared
Questions
Fun & Profit
ORGANIZATION
++
New Idea!
Full Tilt at a ‘Pivot or
Persevere’ Moment
Is approach
working or not?
Option for
Non-Traditional
Funding Strategies
Expanded TeamNew HiresFounders Investors Board
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
33. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DEVELOPMENT
Waterfall
Then
Agile
Now
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
34. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Individuals
Interactions
>
Processes
Tools
Working
software
Comprehensive
Documentation
>
Customer
collaboration
Contract
negotiation
>
Responding
to change
Following
a plan
>
DEVELOPMENT
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
35. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DEVELOPMENT
validate feature
relevance with
customers
Past
collaborate with
development
team
Present
observe and
envision what’s
next
Future
36. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN
THINKING
LEAN
STARTUP
CUSTOMER
DEV.
AGILE
personas
problem scenarios
user stories
hypothesis
(assumptions)
experimental design
roles & team
objectives
working product
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
37. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
2007 went out on my own
2008
profitable,
productized
consulting business
2010 software business
2011 scaling!
2013 keep learning,
keep innovating
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
38. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
A LEAN PROGRESSION
CONSULTING PRODUCTS
Validated problem
scenarios with
substantial detail
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
Customer empathy-
more scope, detail on
problem scenarios
39. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET
50-70% of
Enterprise
Software
Implementations
Fail ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
41. How do we do this
more efficiently? Are
we implementing best
practices?
How do we improve
service quality? How
do we verify that?
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
Help me integrate and
standardize the
infrastructure. And show
my people how to use it.
Creating accounts is
taking a lot of time/
money. And there are a
lot of mistakes.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
42. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
SERVICE
DESIGN
PROCESS
AUDIT,
DESIGN
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
43. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
USER STORIES
“As a receptionist, I want to receive an out
of the box set up that’s created against
best practices so I don’t have to set it all
up by myself.”
“As a receptionist, I want to change the
buttons on my phone so they do what I
want.”
PROBLEM SCENARIO
‘I want a good out-of-the-box experience.
And to change the display on my phone.’
PERSONA
Rhonda the Receptionist
IDEATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
44. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
STORY TEST CASE
“As a receptionist, I want to receive an out of the box phone
set up that’s created against best practices so I don’t have
to set it all up by myself.”
Make sure the available templates are
editable in a visual environment usable by
a Product Manager
“As a receptionist, I want to receive an out of the box phone
set up that’s created against best practices so I don’t have
to set it all up by myself.”
Make sure it’s possible to update the
template at install time
“As a receptionist, I want to receive an out of the box phone
set up that’s created against best practices so I don’t have
to set it all up by myself.”
Make sure the template designation is
available in all Loki provisioning interfaces
“As a receptionist, I want to change the buttons on my
phone so they do what I want.”
Make sure it’s possible for the user to reset
to the default template
“As a receptionist, I want to change the buttons on my
phone so they do what I want.”
Make sure the available functions are
filtered by the services assigned to the user
“As a receptionist, I want to change the buttons on my
phone so they do what I want.”
Make sure available functions are filtered
based on the capabilities of the phone key
“As a receptionist, I want a custom configuration on my phone so that I can manage calls in the way I’ve
come to expect.”
EPIC STORY
IDEATION
46. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
MARY THE MOM
About: Mary the mom. . . [Describe like your friend or the beginning
of a short story. What kind of shoes does she wear?]. . .
Thinks: . . .
Sees: . . .
Feels: . . .
Does: . . .
1. List at least 3 personas
2. Describe as much as you can
(5 minute
exercise)
47. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
END USER PERSONAS
Rita
the Reseller
Orson
the Office Mgr.
Ignatius
the IT Guy
Rhonda
the Receptionist
Susan the
Small Bus. Owner
Keith
the Key System User
Amy
the Assistant
Simone
the Standard User
Chuck
the Call Center Agent
Esteban
the Executive
Mikuko
the Mobile User
Cindy
the Call Center Manager
48. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ENTERPRISE PERSONAS
Nietzsche
the Network Eng.
Paola
the Provisioner
Sidney
the Sys. Admin.
Percival the
Product Manager
Sven
the Salesperson
Anthony
the Applications Eng.
Itzhak
the IT Developer
Frank
the Field Eng.
Sam
the Support Eng.
Saul
the Site Developer
Fritz
the Field Eng. Manager
Bruce
the Business Owner
50. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
Visual device management emerged from
general industry activity and follow-on work
at Leonid
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
Leonid can create a compelling,
useful, supportable visual device
management solution.
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
Lab work followed by limited
commercial release.
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
Did we validate the ‘existential’
propositions? Was it supportable?
Bankable?
‘Pivot or persevere?’
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
51. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
“Parents want to better organize the distribution of allowances”
Priority: [1 for existential; 2+ for others]
Needs Proving?: [yes or no]
Experimentation: [how will most quickly, cheaply prove or disprove]
* Bonus Question: How do these relate to your personas?
1. List at least 3 assumptions
2. Note as much as you can on experiments
(5 min.
exercise)
52. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PRIORITY KEY ASSUMPTIONS
NEEDS
PROVING?
EXPERIMENTATION
1
End users at large want a visual tool
to manage their phones
No
- Already proven by prototypes from
partner
1
Giving the capability to end user
admin’s will do more good than harm
Yes - Beta testing with customers
1
The design and architecture are
supportable in current customer
environments
Yes
- Lab testing with customers...but really...
- Field testing at scale
1
The target price point is bearable by
the market
Yes
- Initial sales negotiations
- Mainline (post beta) sales
2
The capability makes sense with end
users (vs. admin’s)
Yes
- Some proxy data on overall activity by
user type
- Customer interviews
- Beta testing
2
(Various makes and models of
phones are worth investing in)
Yes - Advanced orders
PLANNING
53. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
Orson the
Office Manager
‘I still don’t get it.’
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
One click access
via ‘Dashboard’
Focus on
customer admin
experience
IMPLEMENTATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
54. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
End users want to log in
and do self-care
Yes!
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
55. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
End users want to log in
and do self-care
Yes!
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
56. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Take II- DASHBOARDS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
57. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
Customer admin’s will
do self-care with training
and awareness
Yes!
Focus on training customer
admin’s,
see if they nibble
1
Presenting all the users
of interest on the 1st
page will engage these
admin’s
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
58. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DASHBOARD
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
59. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Good ≠ Viral
PLANNING
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
60. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Fixed: product development, G&A
Variable: field teams, support
BroadSoft
Other resellers
Integrators
Other network system
vendors
Product development
Large account mgmt.
Consulting
Custom Dev.
Actionable insight
on cloud UC
Best practice recipes
Dev. Team
Licensing
Maintenance & Support
Consulting
Custom Development
Dedicated personal
assistance
BroadSoft
SIPhon Networks
Direct
Reduced time & risk to
get to market
Reduced cost
Implementation of
learned best practices
Large/incumbent
Medium/competitive
Small/niche
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
61. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Licensing
Maintenance & Support
Consulting
Custom Development
Dedicated personal
assistance
BroadSoft
SIPhon Networks
Direct
Reduced time & risk to
get to market
Reduced cost
Implementation of
learned best practices
Large/incumbent
Medium/competitive
Small/niche
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
62. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Fixed: product development, G&A
Variable: field teams, support
BroadSoft
Other resellers
Integrators
Other network system
vendors
Product development
Large account mgmt.
Consulting
Custom Dev.
Actionable insight
on cloud UC
Best practice recipes
Dev. Team
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
63. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Fixed: product development, G&A
Variable: field teams, support
BroadSoft
Other resellers
Integrators
Other network system
vendors
Product development
Large account mgmt.
Consulting
Custom Dev.
Actionable insight
on cloud UC
Best practice recipes
Dev. Team
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
65. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Theses
Growth?
Retention?
Supportability?
Ongoing investment?
Competition?
Hypotheses
Does anyone want this?
Are we the people to do it?
Pivot or persevere?
PLANNING
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
66. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ORGANIZATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
68. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Who’s the audience? What’s the problem scenario?
How will it help you sharpen your personas? Problem scenarios?
How will it help you validate or invalidate pivotal assumptions?
What would be the next steps?
What would a concierge product test
look like?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
69. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DEVELOPMENT
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
70. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DEVELOPMENT
LOKI
PORTALS
ITERATION 01 ITERATION 02 ITERATION 03 ITERATION 04
ITERATION 01 ITERATION 02 ITERATION 03 ITERATION 04
LOKI
PROVISIONING
LOKI BPM
DOC’S &
INFRASTRUCTURE
A
ITERATION 05
ITERATION 05
D
E
C
G
Predictive
Content
B
F
Predictive
Content
Predictive
Content
Predictive
Content
Adaptive
Content
Adaptive
Content
Adaptive
Content
Adaptive
Content
72. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
MAKING PROGRESS
IDEA!
Positioning
Statement?
Field Work & Analytics
Ideation & Design
Product Development
General Management
Pivotal
Assumptions?
Field
Discovery
Still Learning?
Field
Validation
Draft
Prototype
Quicky
Prototype?
Yes?
Confident?
No?
Create
User
Stories
Done?
Customer
Definition
Personas?
Problem Scenarios?
New Learning?
Define
MVP
CUSTOMER
VALIDATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
73. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
BUY THE BOOK
A practical primer for anyone
wanting to actually implement
today’s best practices in product
development (available online or
at any major retailer)
VISIT THE SITE
Free talks, tutorials, and
resources for product
development and new ventures.
MORE?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF