How to Ensure Your Backlog Will Deliver Customer Value

How to ensure your
backlog will deliver
customer value
DAN OLSEN
APR 11, 2019
How To Ensure Your Backlog
Will Deliver Customer Value
Dan Olsen Apr 11, 2019

My Background
Copyright © 2019 @danolsen
n Engineering: submarine design
n Stanford MBA
n Product Management leader at Intuit & startups
n CEO & Cofounder, TechCrunch winner YourVersion
n Product Management consultant
n Founder: Lean Product Silicon Valley
Twitter: @danolsen
My slides: https://dan-olsen.com

Agile answers the question:
“How should we build the product?”
Agile doesn’t answer the question:
“What product should we build?”

What Is Your Team’s Limiting Factor?
n What if you had world’s fastest velocity?
n What if your code was the highest quality?
n What would be the limiting factor in
delivering customer value?

Discover Define Design Develop
Who is the customer?
What are their needs?
How will we meet their needs?
How will we be better?
What is our feature set?
What is our UX?
Usability & delight
User testing
Build it
Product Process: The 4 D’s

How should we decide
what product to build?

That’s Why I Wrote

The Product-Market Fit Pyramid

The Lean Product Process
1. Determine your target customer
2. Identify underserved customer needs
3. Define your value proposition
4. Specify your MVP feature set
5. Create your MVP prototype
6. Test your MVP with customers

Transportation within 100 miles of my home
Soccer Mom Speed Demon
Carry kids & gear
Safety
Fuel economy
Go fast
Looks cool
Makes me look cool
Target Customer Has Distinct Needs
High-level need
Target Customer
Detailed needs
Ideal Product
Soccer Parent Speed Demon

Russians: pencil
Space pen: $1 M R&D cost
Example
n Ability to write in space
(zero gravity)
Problem Space vs. Solution Space
Problem Space
n A customer problem, need
or benefit that the product
should address
n A well-written user story
Solution Space
n A specific
implementation to
address the customer
need or requirement

Avoid solution pollution
by asking “Why?”

Keep User Stories in Problem Space
Relegate solutions to subtasks
User story 1 (problem space)
n Subtask 1.A (solution space)
n Subtask 1.B (solution space)
n Subtask 1.C (solution space)

User Story with Subtasks Example
As an airline traveler, I want to filter search
results by how long the flight is so I can easily
see the shortest flights
n Add slider UI control to specify max flight time
n Expand API method to add flight time as input
n Add index to flight time column in database

Problem vs. Solution Space: Product Level
Problem Space
(user benefits)
Solution Space
(product)
TurboTax
TaxCut
Pen and
paper
Prepare
my taxes

Problem vs. Solution Space: Product Level
Problem Space
(user benefits)
Solution Space
(product)
Prepare
my taxes
File my
taxes
Check my
taxes
Maximize my
deductions
Reduce my
audit risk

Solution SpaceProblem Space
Problem vs. Solution Space: Feature Level
Save time filing
taxes
Save time
preparing taxes
Maximize my
tax deductions
Check my
return
Reduce my
audit risk
Help me
prepare taxes
Empowerment/
Confidence
Save Time
Save Money
Tax Interview
Wizard
Audit Risk
Analyzer
Tax Return
Error Checker
Tax Data
Downloader
Electronic Tax
Return Filing
Tax Deduction
Finder

Prioritizing Needs: Importance vs. SatisfactionImportanceofUserNeed
User Satisfaction with Current Alternatives
Low High
Low
High

Low High
Low
High
Not Worth Going After

Competitive
Market
Low High
Low
High

Competitive
Market
Opportunity
Low High
Low
High

Creating Customer Value
ImportanceofUserNeed
User Satisfaction with the Product
Low High
Low
High
Area =
Customer
Value
Created
Area =
Opportunity
to Create
Customer
Value

Users Rated 13 Key Features in a Survey
Recommended reading:
What Customers Want by Anthony Ulwick
Great
Bad

Kano Model: User Needs & Satisfaction
Need
not met
Need
fully met

User Satisfaction
User Dissatisfaction
Need
not met
Need
fully met

User Satisfaction
Performance
(more is better)
Delighter (wow)
Need
not met
Need
fully met
Must Have

User Satisfaction
Performance
(more is better)
Delighter (wow)
Need
not met
Need
fully met
Must Have
Needs & features
migrate over time

What is Your Value Proposition?
n Which user benefits are you providing?
n How are you better than competitors?
Must Have Benefit 1
Performance Benefit 1
Delighter Benefit 1
Delighter Benefit 2

Competitor A Competitor B You
Must Have Benefit 1
Delighter Benefit 1
Delighter Benefit 2

Must Have Benefit 1 Y Y
Performance Benefit 1 High Low
Performance Benefit 2 Low High
Performance Benefit 3 Med Med
Delighter Benefit 1 Y -
Delighter Benefit 2 - -

Must Have Benefit 1 Y Y Y
Performance Benefit 1 High Low Med
Performance Benefit 2 Low High Low
Performance Benefit 3 Med Med High
Delighter Benefit 1 Y - -
Delighter Benefit 2 - - Y

What were Instagram’s
Unique Differentiators?

Instagram Value Prop
Other Photo
Sharing Apps Instagram
Must Haves
Performance benefits
Delighters

Other Photo
Must Haves
Let me share my photos Y Y
Delighters

Other Photo
Must Haves
Post my photos quickly Low High
Delighters

Other Photo
Must Haves
Post my photos quickly Low High
Delighters
Make my photos look good
(filters, square aspect ratio)
N Y

Must have
Performance Delighter

For Each Benefit: Brainstorm Features,
Then Break Features Into Chunks
Must
Have 1
Performance
1
Delighter
1
Delighter
2
Must
Have 2
Performance
2
Performance
3
Benefits:
M1A P1A D2AM2A P2A
P3B
Features:
P1B D2BP2B
P3C
P3A
P1C
P1D

Write User Stories and Subtasks
n User story 1 (problem space)
n User story 2 (problem space)

Thank You!
@danolsen
dan-olsen.com
meetup.com/leanproduct
Happy to connect on LinkedIn

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