Product Discovery Stories: when and how to use a discovery sprint to validate your ideas
1. Discovery Sprint Stories
Thomson Reuters
Presenters: Matt Engstrom, Jonathan Wentz, Kevin Burns
Product Conference Twin Cities April 29, 2019
REUTERS / Jason Reed
2. The Agility Journey @ Thomson Reuters
“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It
gives you the test first and the lesson
afterward.”
— Oscar Wilde
3. 3
The Agility Journey @ Thomson Reuters
Mindset – Values – Principles - Practices
Products Projects
Why – Who – What - How
Shared TR
Agile Culture
Shift Agile Conversation Left
Outcomes Output
Product Agility Dojo
6. Consider doing a Discovery Sprint if…
You have big ideas but aren’t sure if these ideas resonate with
your customers.
You have big ideas but aren’t sure how best to design their
implementation.
You are testing new products and/or new markets.
7. We’re gonna build &
test a realistic prototype
in 5 days.
We sometimes modify this.
51. FM T W T
If you do 3 sprints in a row…
FTWT FT
…they won’t all take 5 days.
52. 52
Focus on User Interactions
Story mapping keeps us
focused on users and their
experience, and the result is a
better conversation, and
ultimately a better product.
User Story Mapping, Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product – Jeff Patton
Good story conversations are about
who and why, not just what.
53.
54. “I wish we could work like this all the time”
“Great team work and collaboration with business”
“Having business experts come explain what they do was very valuable and huge
learning opportunity…it allowed us to build deep understanding of product quickly”
“I loved how we removed role divisions…ideas come from everyone, not just the
business”
“Removing distractions was very valuable”
“While there are maybe 100 things we could have done differently or better, it was
undoubtedly one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences I can remember.”
What teams say about the experience…
55. • 100% team dedication (especially business owner) was crucial and led to each
individual being invested in the outcome of the product
• A neutral facilitator was key to sticking to a tight schedule, maintaining focus,
and creating urgency to force decisions
• Humility - find out where we were wrong and how we can be better
• Knowing we can change it afterwards, nothing is written in stone
• Tech involvement - contributing to recommendations, addressing early feasibility
concerns, planning code approach early
Key Insights
56. Consider doing a Discovery Sprint if…
You have big ideas but aren’t sure if these ideas resonate with
your customers.
You have big ideas but aren’t sure how best to design their
implementation.
You are testing new products and/or new markets.