VALIDATED LEARNING 
Òscar Vilaplana 
dev@oscarvilaplana.cat 
Paylogic 
August 2014
VALIDATED LEARNING 
A Tale of Business, Vanity 
and Medieval Torture 
Òscar Vilaplana 
dev@oscarvilaplana.cat 
Paylogic 
August 2014
Progress
Learn
we failed
we failed 
but at least we learned something
Failed
Learned
Learning is vital
What works?
What works? 
What do customers want?
What works? 
What do customers want? 
Right path?
Goals
Demonstrate progress
Demonstrate progress 
Discover truths
Demonstrate progress 
Discover truths 
Prevent failure
Can
Should
Sustainable
Break down & Test
Did it make the product better?
How do we know?
Plead guilty
Trial by ordeal
208
?
2/3
Teaching the garden 
to weed itself
Make truth reveal itself
Is there interest?
Expertise
Knowledge
Progress
According to plan
According to plan 
High quality
According to plan 
High quality 
Expected costs
If nobody wants it,
If nobody wants it, 
High quality, done in budget
If nobody wants it,
If nobody wants it, 
High quality, done in budget
tchair → 36.8°C
tchair → 36.8°C 
$ → 0
Experiment
Experiment: product
Experiment: product 
Solve real problems
Experiment: product 
Solve real problems 
When ready, it has already customers
Questions
Do customers have this problem?
Do customers have this problem? 
Would they buy a solution?
Do customers have this problem? 
Would they buy a solution? 
From us?
Do customers have this problem? 
Would they buy a solution? 
From us? 
Can we build it?
Answers
Identify
What should we test?
What should we test? 
What are the riskiest parts of the plan?
What should we test? 
What are the leaps of faith?
Build-Measure-Learn
MVP
Min product for a loop turn.
Min product for a loop turn. 
Min effort and dev time.
Min product for a loop turn. 
Min effort and dev time. 
Lacks essential features.
Min product for a loop turn. 
Min effort and dev time. 
Lacks essential features. 
Measurable impact.
Minimum
3rd party Apps? 
Carrier choice? 
3G? 
iChat? 
Calendar? 
WiFi sync? 
Word/Excel docs?
Any additional work 
beyond what was 
required to start learning 
is waste. 
No matter how important 
it might have seemed at the time.
Vanity Metrics
Changes
Changes 
Increase of sales
Changes 
Increase of sales 
More Changes
Changes 
Increase of sales 
More Changes 
More increase of sales
Learn
Baseline
Baseline 
Tune
Baseline 
Tune 
Pivot or Persevere
Kanban
Include validation: more productive
Include validation: more productive 
Why build feature not part of test?
Include validation: more productive 
Why build feature not part of test? 
Why build story unless well understood?
Learn more
Learn more
Thanks

Lean Software Development: Validated Learning