1. Crushing the
Boulder
User Experience for Lean Startups
January 10, 2012

2. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

3. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

4. TWEET!
Janice Fraser Kate Rutter
www.luxr.co www.luxr.co
@clevergirl @katerutter
LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

5. Today we’ll cover...
1. Lean UX Fundamentals
2. Getting to know your customers
3. Acting on customer needs
4. Measuring outcomes
...and bring it all together into a plan.
LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

6. What is this stuff?!?!
Part 1: Lean UX Fundamentals
What is Lean Startup?
What is UX?
What is Lean UX?
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7. Lean Startup?
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8. Lean Startup is NOT
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9. Lean Startup is NOT
Cheap Startup
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10. Lean Startup is NOT
Cheap Startup
Shortcut Startup
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11. Lean Startup is NOT
Cheap Startup
Shortcut Startup
Fast Startup
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12. Lean Startup is NOT
Low-Ambition
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13. Lean Startup is NOT
THE OPPOSITE
OF FAT STARTUP
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14. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

15. Get out
of the
building!
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16. Steve Blank introduced “Customer
Development” in...um...2006.
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17. In 2010, Brant Cooper and
Patrick Vlaskovitz wrote a
shorter, more useful book.
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18. People, their
goals & needs
Sketches and
prototypes
“New user”
experiences
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT =
UX!?
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19. About 1,720,000 results
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20. Here’s my distillation...
“Customer Development in 1 Page”
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28. + +
make products incremental
reduce waste
customers want releases
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29. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

30. #2 New York
Times
Bestseller
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31. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

32. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

33. UX Cycles
THINK
Generative Research
Ideation
Mental models
Behavior Models
Test Results
Competitive Analysis Reduce
cyc
time, n le
MAKE o
build ti t
me
Prototypes
Wireframes
Value Prop
Landing Page
Hypotheses
Comps
Deployed Code
CHECK A/B Testing
Site Analytics
Usability Testing
Funnel
Sign-ups
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34. UX?
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35. Design > UI
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36. Design > UI
Users
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37. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
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38. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
Bob can...
Uses
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39. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
why Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
what
how
(INSERT BUSINESS THINKING HERE)
Bob can...
Uses
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40. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
why Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
what
how
(INSERT BUSINESS THINKING HERE)
Bob can...
Uses
Features
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41. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
why Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
what
how
(INSERT BUSINESS THINKING HERE)
Bob can...
Uses
Features
This Week
User Stories
Themed Releases
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42. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
why Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
what
how
(INSERT BUSINESS THINKING HERE)
Bob can...
Uses
Features
(CREATE SKETCHES,
WIREFRAMES & PIXELS)
This Week
User Stories
Themed Releases
LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

43. Design > UI
Users
1. BLAH
why Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
what
how
(INSERT BUSINESS THINKING HERE)
Bob can...
Uses
Features
(CREATE SKETCHES,
WIREFRAMES & PIXELS)
This Week
User Stories
Themed Releases
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44. What we bring is 10* years of
experience, methods, and
methodology
*20, 30, 50 years
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45. Among our strengths...
UX people are EXPERTS at “getting
out of the building.”
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47. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

48. What’s new about LeanUX?
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49. Lean User Experience is a principle-driven
process for teams working in situations of
extreme uncertainty. It is characterized by
rituals that predispose predictable, high-
quality, high-velocity user experience
outcomes.
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50. 0
1Principles of Lean UX
9
1. Design + Prod. Mg. + development = 1 product team
2. Externalize!
3. FLOW: think/make/check
4. Repeatable and routinized
5. Solve the right problem
6. Goal-driven and outcome-focused
7. Generate many options
8. Decide quickly and hold decisions lightly
9. Recognize hypotheses & validate them
10. Research with users is the best source of information (&
inspiration)
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51. RITUALS of Lean UX
1. Write the test first
2. User quote/need as sprint name
3. Wireframe check
4. Designer/developer pairing
5. UX & Product Mgt participate in standup
meetings daily
6. Validation step
7. Retrospective periodically
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52. In Practice: Write the test first
(customer type)
We believe that people like ______________ have a
need for (or problems doing) ________________.
(need/action/behavior)
We will know we have succeeded when
(quantitative/ (qualitative/
____________________,
measurable outcome) or ___________________,
observable outcome)
(KPI)
which will contribute to ________________.
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53. In Practice: Wireframe Check
A stand-up style meeting between designer and developer to resolve
problems with a wireframe before development begins.
• Is this an accurate reflection of the system ?
• What here is hard?
• What alternatives are there?
• Is it worth the effort?
What here is Well, that thing
hard? will take some
work
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54. LUXR.CO SEPTEMBER 2011

55. Part 2: Getting to Know
Your Customers
(Customer Development Interviews)
Types of Research
Personas
How to Interview
Practice Interview
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56. User Research
quant qual
Generative
Evaluative
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57. User Research
quant qual
Generative
Optimizely•
Analytics•
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Key Metrics•
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58. User Research
quant qual
Generative
Optimizely•
Analytics•
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Key Metrics•
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59. User Research
quant qual
Generative
Optimizely•
Analytics•
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Usability
Key Metrics•
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60. User Research
quant qual
Generative
Optimizely• •Hallway usability
Analytics• •remote
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Usability
Key Metrics•
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61. User Research
quant qual
Generative surveys
Optimizely• •Hallway usability
Analytics• •remote
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Usability
Key Metrics•
LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

62. User Research
quant qual
Generative surveys
Optimizely• •Hallway usability
Analytics• •remote
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Usability
Key Metrics•
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63. User Research
quant qual
• Contextual Inquiry
(Byer & Holzblatt)
• Mental Models (Indi Young)
Generative surveys
•Interviews
•Starbucks
Optimizely• •Hallway usability
Analytics• •remote
Evaluative A/B Testing•
Usability
Key Metrics•
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64. User Research
quant qual
Generative Interviews
Evaluative
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65. Before the Interview
* Identify who you want to talk to.
* Articulate your hypotheses.
* Craft a topic map for the session.
* Jot down conversation prompts.
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66. LUXR.CO JANUARY 2012

67. Today’s challenge:
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68. Today’s challenge:
You have a problem...
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69. Today’s challenge:
You have a problem...
there are a million little things to do
and not enough time!
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70. Today’s challenge:
You have a problem...
there are a million little things to do
and not enough time!
You were chatting with neighbors and
they have the same problem.
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71. Today’s challenge:
You have a problem...
there are a million little things to do
and not enough time!
You were chatting with neighbors and
they have the same problem.
And then you read an article in the Huffpost
about personal assistants for the middle class.
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72. Today’s challenge:
You have a problem...
there are a million little things to do
and not enough time!
You were chatting with neighbors and
they have the same problem.
And then you read an article in the Huffpost
about personal assistants for the middle class.
You think this is a great idea for
your next business.
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73. Who: Make a Persona
“Mary” Behaviors
• Has a housecleaner
• Buys take-away 3 nights/wk
• Frequently feels overwhelmed
when she “forgets” something
Demographics Needs & Goals
• Working mom • Help! Running errands,
• 34 years old managing kids, keeping things
• Lives in Reading, works in running
London • Time for her girlfriends
• Married, 2 kids • To feel like she “has it sorted”
• Household 125k/yr • “To clone herself”
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74. {activity}
Let’s do it.
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75. Hypothesis
We believe that modern families have
trouble keeping up with the errands that
need to be done, and are willing to pay to
have “odd jobs” done for them.
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76. {activity}
Dump & Sort Topics
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77. Topic Map
mobile/
feeling
internet
overwhelmed
habits?
keeping
everything
working
last time
they got help
(house
cleaner) personal commute
time
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78. {activity}
Make a Topic Map
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79. Conversation Prompts
“Have you ever had ________ experience?”
“Can you tell me the story about that?”
“And then what happened?”
“Why [or how] did you do that?”
“What did you love [or hate] about that?”
“If you could wave a magic wand, what would it be like?”
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80. During the Interview
DO
Take notes
Smile
Ask open-ended questions
Get their story
Shut up and listen
DON’T
Talk about your product
Ask about future behavior
Sell
Ask leading questions
Talk much
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81. {activity}
Interview
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82. After the Interview: Debrief
DUMP (5min, solo)
1 idea per sticky
“What I heard”
“What I saw”
“What stood out”
SORT (10min, team)
Collect similar items
Label groups
Stack duplicates
Note trends and exceptions
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83. {activity}
Debrief
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84. {activity}
Revise Personas
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85. LUXR.CO SEPTEMBER 2011

86. Part 3: Acting on Customer Needs
(Developing product and interface ideas)
Sketching
6-UP
Dot Voting
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87. Remember this?
Users
1. BLAH
why Needs 2. BLAH
3. BLAH
what
how
(INSERT BUSINESS THINKING HERE)
Bob can...
Uses
Features
(CREATE SKETCHES,
WIREFRAMES & PIXELS)
This Week
User Stories
Themed Releases
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88. BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
A person BLAH BLAH
and their
needs
Your
business
vision
why
what
how
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89. BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
A person BLAH BLAH
and their
needs
Your
business
vision
why
what
how
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90. BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
A person BLAH BLAH
and their
needs
Your
business
vision
why
what
how
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91. BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH
A person BLAH BLAH
and their
needs
Your
business
vision
why
USES:
what
What can
how Mary do with
your product?
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92. 6 Uses
An illustration that shows “What will they DO with this product?”
It intersects user needs with business vision to show the
consumer value proposition.
This informs what features are most important.
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93. {activity}
6-Up Sketching
Dot Vote
Sticky-up Features
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94. outsized
returns.
fear me.
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95. Part 4: Measuring Outcomes
(Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation)
Common research questions
The Funnel
Pirate Metrics
Research & Metrics Tools
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96. The Dreaded Questions
Will people use it?
Why won’t people use it?
What’s wrong with this?
How could I make this better?
How can I improve conversion?
Are we making progress?
Do people like this?
Are these results good?
Why do people do that?
Did we do the right thing?
Why is there dropoff?
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97. What should I be measuring?
(a few search terms)
“Vanity Metrics”
“KPI”
“A/B Tests”
“Metrics for Pirates”
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98. User Research
quantitative qualitative
generate surveys user interviews
ideas
a/b testing
evaluate analytics usability testing
product KPIs
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99. User Research
quantitative qualitative
generate surveys user interviews
ideas
a/b testing
evaluate analytics usability testing
product KPIs
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100. quantitative qualitative
a/b testing usability
analytics testing
KPIs
Behavior Ability
Do people use it? How should I design the new one?
Which is better? Why won’t people use it?
Did we do the right thing? What’s wrong with this?
Are these results good? How could I make this better?
Are we making progress? Why do people do that?
What do people love about it?
CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS How can I improve conversion?
Why is there dropoff?
What do they think this should do?
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
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101. Measurement Funnel
What Metric? Who Owns?
Traffic
Gross #
Marketing
CMP/CPC/CPA/NPS
Conversion
Funnel Marketing &
Throughput (%)
Product
Product
(black box) Usage (%) Product
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102. Pirate Metrics
Acquisition
Activation
Retention
Referral
Revenue
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103. {activity}
Metrics from Features
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104. Design Test
(customer type)
We believe that people like ______________ have a
need for (or problems doing) ________________.
(need/action/behavior)
We will know we have succeeded when
(quantitative/ (qualitative/
____________________,
measurable outcome) or ___________________,
observable outcome)
(KPI)
which will contribute to ________________.
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105. {activity}
Write the Design Test
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106. Research Tools
ANALYTICS CONVERSION UNMODERATED
Google Analytics TESTING TESTS WITH VIDEO
KISS Metrics Unbounce Usertesting.com
Mixpanel Optimizely TryMyUI
Flurry Userlytics
LocalLytics WhatUsersDo
Stats Mix (just an api) Loop11
HEAT MAPPING MESSAGE RECALL MICRO USABILITY
Crazy Egg ClueApp Navflow
Click Tale FiveSecondTest Usabilia
Gaze Hawk Clicktest
Verify
Intuition HQ
UserZoom
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107. LUXR.CO SEPTEMBER 2011

108. {bring it all together}
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