QCon London 2015

1. The Bad Idea Terminator
Melissa Perri
@lissijean
melissaperri.comQCon London 2015

2. @lissijean#qconlondon
Melissa Perri
ProdUX Labs
melissaperri.com
@lissijean

3. @lissijean#qconlondon

4. @lissijean#qconlondon
Software companies are suffering the same fate…

5. @lissijean#qconlondon
Idea Product/Market fit
Iterating
We start off testing and iterating…

6. @lissijean#qconlondon
Idea Product/Market fit
Iterating Build
Build
Build
but we get stuck building and not validating.

7. @lissijean#qconlondon
The
Build Trap
@lissijean#qconlondon

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pressure from higher up
arbitrary deadlines
“building is working” mentality

9. Building is the easy part.
Figuring out what to build is hard.
@lissijean

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12. @lissijean#qconlondon
Feature
ideas
are not
your
baby.
@lissijean#qconlondon

13. @lissijean#qconlondon
manage product life cycle
product specifications
work with development team
gather business requirements
create user stories
create wireframes
prioritization
manage KPIs across products
manage stakeholders
create product roadmaps

14. @lissijean#qconlondon
Narrow the focus
@lissijean#qconlondon

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How do you
become the
Bad Idea Terminator?
@lissijean#qconlondon

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What we normally do…

19. @lissijean#qconlondon
It starts with a request.
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales

20. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales

21. “Our customers want a
mobile app.”
@lissijean#qconlondon

22. @lissijean#qconlondon
Here,
build
this.
Meh.
VP
PM
or sometimes it’s more like this.

23. @lissijean#qconlondon
Gather requirements
Write Specs
Design
Develop

24. @lissijean#qconlondon
DO NOT WANT
@lissijean#qconlondon

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Where did we go wrong?

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Didn’t recognize bias.
MISTAKE NUMBER ONE

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3 Types of Bias
Causality Curse of
Knowledge
Anchoring

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The copycat experience.
“We
built
a
mobile
app
before
and
it
was
successful.”

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The copycat experience.
“Everyone
has
a
mobile
app,
we
need
one
too.”

30. @lissijean#qconlondon
Notice differences between
customers and business.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

31. @lissijean#qconlondon
You’re the expert.
“The
customers
want
all
the
data
possible.”

32. @lissijean#qconlondon
Change perspective.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

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Put yourself in your user’s shoes.

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“All
my
clients
are
asking
for
this.”
What was said vs reality.

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What was said vs reality.
What was said vs reality.

36. @lissijean#qconlondon
Always ask for data.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

37. @lissijean#qconlondon
Feature Request Form
1. What feature you would like to build.
2. What KPI will this change? By how much?
3. Is there any other value for this change?
4. What is the business priority?
5. Is this dependent on any other changes?

38. @lissijean#qconlondon
Solution with no problem.
MISTAKE NUMBER TWO

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Why?

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Focus on the problem.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

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Is this a problem we can and
want to solve?

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Building without testing.
MISTAKE NUMBER THREE

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Committing too early to one solution.
@lissijean#qconlondon

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Consider many solutions.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

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Investing too much and not letting go.
@lissijean#qconlondon

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Test the most viable ones.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

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Customer
Feedback
Investment

48. @lissijean#qconlondon
Small, data driven experiments to
make sure people are interested.

49. @lissijean#qconlondon
1. Do they have this problem?
2. Are they interested in solution idea?
3. Are they interested in solution?
3 Key Experiments to Run

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1. Do they have this problem?
Talk to your customers.

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“I don’t feel comfortable
meeting people that way.”
“I don’t feel comfortable
meeting people that way.”

52. @lissijean#qconlondon
“I wish someone would
give me steps.”

53. @lissijean#qconlondon
1. Do they have this problem?
Talk to your customers.

54. @lissijean#qconlondon
2. Are they interested in solution idea?

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3. Are they interested in solution?

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No success metrics.
MISTAKE NUMBER FOUR

57. @lissijean#qconlondon
We build and
launch with no
measures of
success.
@lissijean#qconlondon

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Set goals early.
THE IDEA TERMINATOR WOULD…

59. @lissijean#qconlondon
What KPI are we affecting?

60. @lissijean#qconlondon
How much value do we need to
capture to make this worth it?

61. learning = success
@lissijean#qconlondon

62. Idea Launch
Risk of continuing with a
bad idea goes up
@lissijean#qconlondon

63. @lissijean#qconlondon
1. Recognize Bias
2. Focus on the problem
3. Test ideas quickly
4. Define success
@lissijean#qconlondon

64. “Our customers want a
mobile app.”
@lissijean#qconlondon

65. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
Mobile app is a solution, what’s the problem?

66. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
What KPIs are we affecting?

67. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
How do we make sure this is a problem?

68. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
Do we want to solve this problem?

69. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
How can we test this quickly?

70. @lissijean#qconlondon
PM
VP
Marketing
Sales
How do we measure success?

71. @lissijean#qconlondon
The faster you kill the bad ideas, the more
time you can devote to the good ones.

72. Melissa Perri
melissa@produxlabs.com
produxlabs.com
melissaperri.com
@lissijean
Melissa Perri
melissa@produxlabs.com
produxlabs.com
melissaperri.com
@lissijean