Watch the talk: http://youtu.be/9TJTbRw4ri8 App developers ask themselves excellent questions about their users: Do people need my app? Can people use my app? Why do people sign up and then not use my app? However, app developers answer their excellent questions in invalid and unreliable ways. It is shocking to see how much effort app developers put in writing elegantly structured, refactored code, with good unit test coverage in an agile environment, and yet, their apps fail miserably. This talk will inspire developers to implement valid and reliable ways to answer their most burning questions. It’ll help them validate or invalidate their assumptions on their own—cheaply, and quickly, by using simple user research techniques with a main goal in mind: developing apps people need, want, and enjoy.

1. Perfectly Executing The
Wrong Plan
+Tomer Sharon
@tsharon

2. Photo

3. Model and a Google Search software engineer:

4. Model and a Google Search

5. Photo by Stephen Dobeck

6. Logo design by Guy Carmeli

7. WILL AND DANA
ARE FAILING
Photo by Stephen Dobeck

8. Photo credit: Getty Images

9. Photo credit: Getty Images

10. Photo credit: Getty Images

11. Photo credit: Getty Images

12. +Tomer Sharon
@tsharon
leanresearch.co

13. 6
BIG PROBLEMS
Photo credit: Getty Images

14. 1. PROBLEMPhoto

15. Are people interested enough to give us their email address?

16. 2. LEARNED FROM FRIENDS
Photo

17. 3. LISTENED TO USERS
Models and Google Search software engineers: Angela Chang, Andrei Matei, & Ivo Popov

18. DON’T LISTEN TO USERS
Photo credit: Getty Images
@tsharon

19. OBSERVE BEHAVIOR
Photo credit: Getty Images
@tsharon

20. Models and Google Search software engineers: Angela Chang, Andrei Matei, & Ivo Popov

21. BAD AT PREDICTING THE FUTURE
Photo credit: Getty Images

22. GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHEAT…
Photo credit: Getty Images

23. WHAT WE SAY, WHAT WE DO
Photo credit: Getty Images

24. “WOULD YOU USE OUR APP?”
Models and Google Search software engineers: Angela Chang, Andrei Matei, & Ivo Popov

25. 4. DIDN’T TEST RISKIEST ASSUMPTION
Photo credit: Getty Images

26. Smartphone owners are
aware of their ineffective
note-taking habits.
note.io’s riskiest assumption

27. 5. BOB-THE-BUILDER MENTALITY
Photo
@tsharon

28. 6. PERFECTLY EXECUTE THE WRONG PLAN
Photo

29. PROBLEM MARKET PRODUCT
Credit: Laura Klein,

30. WHAT ARE THEY DOING WELL?
Photo

31. Interviews with 150 app developers (Sharon, 2015 - expected)
Who are my customers?
Do people need my product?
Is the product usable?
Is the product better than the competition?
Is the product getting better?
Do people want the product?
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
78%
84%
86%
89%
95%
97%
Questions app developers ask about users

32. UNDERSTAND PRIORITIES
Photo

34. EXECUTING THE
RIGHT PLAN
Photo by Stephen Dobeck

35. LEAN USER RESEARCH
Photo by Stephen Dobeck

36. PROVIDE
INSIGHTS INTO
PRODUCT
USERS, THEIR
PERSPECTIVES,
AND ABILITIES
TO THE RIGHT
PEOPLE AT THE
RIGHT TIME. Photo credit: Getty Images
@tsharon

38. OBSERVATION
EXPERIENCE SAMPLING
FAKE DOORS
Photo credit: Getty Images

39. EXPERIENCE
SAMPLING
Photo credit: Getty Images

40. Photo credit: Getty Images

41. OVER AND OVER
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42. goo.gl/fw9gD Photo credit: Getty Images

44. A GREAT QUESTION
Photo credit: Getty Images

45. NEEDS
FEATURES
PAINS
DELIGHTS
Photo credit: Getty Images

46. OBSERVATION
EXPERIENCE SAMPLING
FAKE DOORS
Photo credit: Getty Images

47. OBSERVATION
Photo credit: Getty Images

48. Photo credit: Getty Images

49. OBSERVING LISTENING
NOTICING GATHERING
Photo credit: Getty Images
@tsharon

50. PAYING ATTENTION
Photo credit: Getty Images

51. ROUTINES INTERRUPTIONS
ANNOYANCES DELIGHTS
TRANSITIONSPhoto credit: Getty Images

52. FEATURES
ASSUMPTIONS
PROBLEMS
WORKFLOWS
GOALS Photo credit: Getty Images

53. OBSERVATION
EXPERIENCE SAMPLING
FAKE DOORS
Photo credit: Getty Images

54. FAKE DOORS
“FAKE IT ‘TILL YOU MAKE IT”
Photo credit: Getty Images

56. Photo credit: Getty Images

58. Photo credit: Getty Images

59. OBSERVATION
EXPERIENCE SAMPLING
FAKE DOORS
Photo credit: Getty Images

60. PROVIDE
INSIGHTS INTO
PRODUCT
USERS, THEIR
PERSPECTIVES,
AND ABILITIES
TO THE RIGHT
PEOPLE AT THE
RIGHT TIME. Photo credit: Getty Images
@tsharon

61. Explode
What helicopters do in movies
With permission from truthfacts.com

62. Photo credit: Getty Images

63. +Tomer Sharon
@tsharon
leanresearch.co
!
!
!
!
goo.gl/kvZ4OD
Big thanks to Stephen Dobeck, Roman Nurik, Frank Romano, Jac de Haan, Guy Carmeli, Angela Chang, Andrei Matei, & Ivo Popov

64. Photo credit: Getty Images
YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO
WORK ON THE WRONG APP

65. Photo credit: Getty Images
PERFECTLY
EXECUTE
THE RIGHT
PLAN