3.Minidates Otv Agile2012 FinalHR

8/17/2019 3.Minidates Otv Agile2012 FinalHR

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AGILE & LEAN STARTUP:LESSONS FROM MINIDATES STARTUP DEVELOPMENT

Beverl Ma

LEAN UX, STRATEGY & PRODUCT DEV. CONSULTINGFounder MiniDates, Oxford Technology Ventures, & the User Experience Awards

AGILE 2012 8/16/2012


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cautionary inspiration

“We thought we should geta go s ar us or

.

’

They would look at us and say,

‘Listen, old man, you don’t understand’...”Eric Ries Lean Startu

© 2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com slide 2


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have a “startup”/ new tech project?

,

u y uunvarnished truth.



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MiniDates.com

Online dating is broken: no dat ing !- not evolved 15 yrs: “people search”

- inefficient, frustrating, time-consuming

- BAD UX

MiniDates: First REAL Dating Service- sends you offline date proposals

to review & accept

- based on who you seek & when +

’ - a personalized mobile dating assistant

- easy, fun, fast, convenient, efficient



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background

WE BELIEVED WE COULD DO IT

• FOUNDER, OXFORD TECHNOLOGY VENTURESBOUTIQUE UX & PRODUCT STRATEGY

• UX Awards; NYC-CHI

• 16 YRS EXP IN INTERNET/ SOFTWARE

• Helped launch/create 100+ sites & products

• startups; agencies; development; every role!

• MBA OXFORD; MS INFO. SYSTEMS NYU



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the truth you won’t hear

launching a startup is

ea y ar

• RISKS & UNKNOWNS

•

• COSTS & COMPLEXITY

• TECH & UX•

It takes extraordinary

e or , perseverance,passion, smarts, luck &



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top benefits for YOU



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Key Takeaway

THE PROCESS (INCLUDING AGILE)

ONLY ACTUAL USER ADOPTION,

ENGAGEMENT & SATISFACTION

MATTERS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS.



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outline

a. Agile, UX & Lean 101

b. Chutes & Ladders: 15 months of MiniDates

c. It’s Not Over! Where we are nowd. Top 5 Recommendations + Benefits



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Agile 101

AGILE.

Scrum. Sprints. Test driven development. User Stories. Iterative andChange driven. Collaborative. Working products > Process.

UX.

User centric product development. User Stories. Personas. User testing.User research ethno ra h . Wires & rotot es & flows.

LEAN (STARTUP).

earc or v a e us ness. a a e us ness mo e . . .Customer Development. Revenue.



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Lean = Business Validation

• products customers will use & pay for

• validated learning: build > measure > learn

• UX+AGILE Best Practices for Business

GOOTB (ETHNOGRAPHY),

USER RESEARCH (SURVEYS, INTERVIEWS,OBSERVATION, FEEDBACK),

TESTING,

PROTOTYPING & WIREFRAMING,

PERSONAS ARCHETYPES,USER STORY & SCENARIO-DRIVEN DEV

ITERATIVE LEARNING



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Chutes & Ladders



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chutes: highlights



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chutes: UX & product development



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chutes: tech decisions



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chutes: team & process



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chute: USER TESTING!



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where we are now

80% Business•Product/ Market fit

•Branding/ Message

• Cust. Acquisition costs 20% Tech/ Product•Compet t on

•Market Niche/ Segment

•Pricing

•CTO CMO

•Sca a e

•MVT & A/B - ongoing

•Reg. conversion

•Usa e

•Partnerships

•Feature not Business?

•Press/ PR

•Metrics

•Social Marketing

•(Apps, payments, features)

•Evangelism & Visibility

•New Investment



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It’s Not Over!

ALI G “ICE CREAM GLOVE”


. . =


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summary

DID RIGHT HALFWAY LAME•user interviews

•GOOB

•landing page

•late customer validation

•concierge MVP

•hiring/ firing/ cofounders

•incomplete wires & specs

•project / product mgmt

•market validation

• n a w res

•dev environments

• mar e ng vs. ev• ec ec s ons

•backup, documentation



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and now....

TOP 5 RECOMMENDATIONS!


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#1. Beware Fads & Advice

“ Yours is a death march project.

ou w never aunc .”2 weeks before launch• AGILE & LEAN PROCESSES

• FUNDRAISING

• LEAN: SEM & LANDING PAGES

By the time you get advice,

it’s too late!



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2. UX *IS* essential

NOT JUST DESIGN OR “UI”

•

• experience videos• user stories & flow

• pro uc va ue propos on

what matters: business drivers• effective

• useful

•

Skip UX concept ing, w ires &


.


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3. Understand Technology Choices

• RISKS

• COSTS

• TIME

•

• SCALE

• COMPLEXITY

NOT

• Latest/ Coolest

Evaluate techno lo based on bus iness & user r io r i t ies



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4. Team & Process

VCs: 10 Things That Cause Startups to Fail

= Team + team + team...

• IRE AST

• HIRE PRACTICALLY & MINIMALLY

• BE SKEPTICAL & SELECTIVE

• TEAM ALIGNMENT

• TRUST IS #1



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the formula for success



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5. Test!

Concept > Prototype > MVP > Usage

WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT PEOPLE ULTIMATELY DO



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what will happen


.


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Back to the Key Takeaway

DOES *NOT* GUARANTEE SUCCESS!!!

ONLY ACTUAL USER ADOPTION,

MATTERS.

YOU GET THERE THROUGH “TESTING”



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remember

n ,It’s DEFINITELY PARTLY LUCKbut being skeptical (testing), optimizing team process(testing), ux best practices (testing), validated learning

(testing), & real feedback (testing) DO help a lot



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don’t let this be you.

TIME TO LAUNCH!

“

were unfounded, because

r e our pro uc .bad the product was, but soon that gave way to serious

frustration. After all the hours we had spent...”(Eric Ries, Lean Startup p. 42)



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Shameless Plug!

GO TO MINIDATES.COM TO TRY IT FREE!


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Lean UX, UX Strategy + Product Dev.

BEVERLY MAY@MINIDATES | @OXFORDTECH

[email protected] | [email protected]


OXFORDTECHNOLOGYVENTURES.COM

3.Minidates Otv Agile2012 FinalHR

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