How to figure out what to build next.Pivotal Senior Designers discuss the process of figuring out what direction your product should take.

1. © Copyright 2017 Pivotal Software, Inc. All rights Reserved. Version 1.0
11/29/2017
Daphne Lin
Roxanne Mustafa
Voices of Product Meetup
Processes for Figuring Out What to
Build Next

2. Roxanne Mustafa
Product Designer
@mustrockux
rmustafa@pivotal.io
Designers @ Pivotal Labs
Daphne Lin
Design Manager
@daphnelin
dalin@pivotal.io
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

3. Our goal is to enable
teams to build successful
products using modern
principles and practices.
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

4. Cover w/ Image
Principles and Practices
■ Agile Development
■ Lean Product Management
■ User Centered Design
■ Extreme Programming
■ Balanced Team
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

5. When was the last time you were
unsure of product direction?
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

6. Discovery &
Framing
A collaborative process that takes
place prior to software development
which involves a flexible set of
activities designed to ensure we’re
building the right thing.
What is it?
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

7. What are the
problems?
Is this solution
valuable?
Is this solution
easy to use?
Exploratory Validation Usability
User-Centered Design (UCD)
Design
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

8. Exploratory Validation Usability
User-Centered Design (UCD)
Uncertainty Clarity
Time
Design
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

9. Exploratory Validation Usability
User-Centered Design (UCD)
Uncertainty Clarity
Time
Design
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

10. Discovery + Framing Approach
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

11. Who Takes Part in the D+F? Balanced Teams
Will our users use
this?
Will this help
the business?
Can we
build this?
Product
Desirable
Feasible Viable
Product
Management
Development
Design
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

12. Discovery: What problem are we solving?
Objectives
To gain a deep understanding of the business needs,
user goals and technical complexity of a proposed
product.
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

13. We learn about
internal goals and
business needs.
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

14. We identify the
riskiest assumptions
to test early and often
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

15. We start by
understanding user
context through
ethnographic
research
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

16. We synthesize what
we’ve learned to
identify top pains and
opportunities
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

17. Framing: How are we solving this problem?
Objectives
To gain the ability to prioritize features of the product
through deep empathy for the user, business &
technology.
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

18. We generate ideas
for each of our top
problems using
“How Might We?”
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

19. We prioritize ideas
using business
needs, user pains,
technical
complexity
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

20. We run sketching
workshops with the
whole team
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

21. We create small a
prototype that
represents the
most valuable
ideas
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

22. We run validation
research with real
users to learn if
we’re in the right
direction
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

23. We iterate on our
designs and map
first set of features
to develop with
confidence
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

24. Discovery &
Framing
To de-risk product ideas early by
defining problems and validating
ideas to help us decide what to build
first and then what to build next.
Why do we do it?
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

25. Discovery &
Framing
■ Research insights helping shift teams toward
evidence-based product decisions using qualitative
and quantitative research data
■ Ability to prioritize using shared understanding of
business goals, user needs, and technical feasibility
■ Clearer product direction with a roadmap of
outcomes and success metrics
■ Development work that is continued to be prioritized
by value / complexity, and validated learning
What are the outcomes?
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

26. Discovery &
Framing
Takeaways
■ Put in the effort to recruit real potential users. All of
the value in a product is in solving real problems. So
find them and define them.
■ Research. Watch people use their tools. Show
imperfect things. Feel their pain, get inspired.
■ Sit in the problem space. Try to empathize with user
pains and problems, then prioritize them before you
come up with solutions.
■ Challenge yourself to design small. Brew the best
cup of coffee before you open up a coffee shop.
What advice can we give?
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute

27. Thank you.
© 2017 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE, INC. All Rights Reserved. Confidential—Do Not Distribute