AGILE & LEAN STARTUP:

LESSONS FROM MINIDATES STARTUP DEVELOPMENT

Beverly
y May
y

LEAN UX, STRATEGY & PRODUCT DEV. CONSULTING

Founder MiniDates, Oxford Technology Ventures, & the User Experience Awards

AGILE 2012 8/16/2012

cautionary inspiration

We thought we should get

a gold
ld star
t just
j t for
f
listening to our customers.
customers

Except our customers still didnt

didn t like the product.
They would look at us and say,
Listen, old man, you dont understand...
(Eric Ries, Lean Startup)

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

slide 2

have a startup/ new tech project?

DO AS I SAY,
NOT AS I DID!
o the
Im abo
aboutt to confess to you
unvarnished truth.

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

slide 3

MiniDates.com
Online dating is broken: no dating!
- 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 +
where youre
you re free in the future
a personalized mobile dating assistant
easy, fun, fast, convenient, efficient

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

slide 4

background

WE BELIEVED WE COULD DO IT
FOUNDER, OXFORD TECHNOLOGY VENTURES
BOUTIQUE 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

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

slide 5

the truth you wont hear

launching a startup is
STILL Really
R ll Hard
H d

RISKS & UNKNOWNS

COMPETITION & SATURATION
COSTS & COMPLEXITY
TECH & UX
PEOPLE

It takes extraordinary
ff t perseverance,
effort,
passion, smarts, luck &
a lot of fast learning
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

slide 6

top benefits for YOU

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

slide 7

Key Takeaway

THE PROCESS (INCLUDING AGILE)

DOES *NOT* GUARANTEE SUCCESS!!!
ONLY ACTUAL USER ADOPTION,
ENGAGEMENT & SATISFACTION
MATTERS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS.

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

slide 8

outline

a.
b.
c.
d.

Agile, UX & Lean 101

Chutes & Ladders: 15 months of MiniDates
Its Not Over! Where we are now
Top 5 Recommendations + Benefits

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

slide 9

Agile 101
AGILE.
Scrum. Sprints. Test driven development. User Stories. Iterative and
Change driven. Collaborative. Working products > Process.

UX.
User centric product development. User Stories. Personas. User testing.
g p y) Wires & p
prototypes
yp & flows.
User research ((ethnography).

LEAN (STARTUP).
S
h ffor viable
i bl b
i
V lid t d b
i
d l GOOB.
GOOB MVP.
MVP
Search
business.
Validated
business
model.
Customer Development. Revenue.

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

slide 10

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

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

slide 11

Chutes & Ladders

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

slide 12

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

slide 13

chutes: highlights

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

slide 14

chutes: UX & product development

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

slide 15

chutes: tech decisions

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

slide 16

chutes: team & process

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

slide 17

chute: USER TESTING!

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

slide 18

where we are now

80% Business
Product/ Market fit
Branding/ Message
Cust. Acquisition costs
Competition
C
ii
Market Niche/ Segment
Pricing
CTO,, CMO
Partnerships
Feature not Business?
Press/ PR
Social Media
Evangelism & Visibility
New Investment

20% Tech/ Product

Scalable
S l bl
MVT & A/B - ongoing
Reg. conversion
Usage
g
Metrics
Social Marketing
(Apps, payments, features)

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

slide 19

Its Not Over!

ALI G ICE CREAM GLOVE

http://www youtube com/watch?v 48TR0vUPQCs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48TR0vUPQCs

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

slide 20

summary
DID RIGHT

HALFWAY

LAME

user interviews
GOOB
landing page
initial
i iti l wires
i
dev environments

incomplete wires & specs

project / product mgmt
market validation
tech
t h decisions
d ii
backup, documentation

late customer validation

concierge MVP
hiring/ firing/ cofounders
$
$ marketing
k ti vs. dev
d

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

slide 21

and now....

TOP

5 RECOMMENDATIONS!

#1. Beware Fads & Advice

Yours

is a death march project.

Y will
You
ill never launch
l
h.
((2 weeks before launch))

AGILE & LEAN PROCESSES

STAFFING
FUNDRAISING
LEAN: SEM & LANDING PAGES

By the time you get advice,

its too late!

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

slide 23

2. UX *IS* essential
NOT JUST DESIGN OR UI
clickable prototypes
experience videos
user stories & flow
product
d t value
l proposition!
iti !
what matters: business drivers
effective
useful
engaging
Skip UX concepting, wires &
planning at your peril.
peril
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

slide 24

3. Understand Technology Choices

RISKS
COSTS
TIME
EFFORT
SCALE
COMPLEXITY

NOT
Products/ Process
Latest/ Coolest

Evaluate technology
gy based on business & user p
priorities
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

slide 25

4. Team & Process

VCs: 10 Things That Cause Startups to Fail
= Team + team + team...
FIRE FAST

HIRE PRACTICALLY & MINIMALLY

BE SKEPTICAL & SELECTIVE
TEAM ALIGNMENT
TRUST IS #1

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

slide 26

the formula for success

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

slide 27

5. Test!
Concept > Prototype > MVP > Usage

WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT PEOPLE ULTIMATELY DO.

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

slide 28

what will happen

If you skip testing & validation: burn your $$.

$$
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

slide 29

Back to the Key Takeaway

THE PROCESS (INCLUDING AGILE)

DOES *NOT* GUARANTEE SUCCESS!!!
ONLY ACTUAL USER ADOPTION,
ENGAGEMENT & SATISFACTION
MATTERS.
YOU GET THERE THROUGH TESTING
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

slide 30

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

slide 31

remember

1 iin 100,000
100 000
Its DEFINITELY PARTLY LUCK
but being skeptical (testing), optimizing team process
(testing), ux best practices (testing), validated learning
(testing), & real feedback (testing) DO help a lot

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

slide 32

dont let this be you.

TIME TO LAUNCH!
It
It turned out our fears [of shipping a rough product too early]
were unfounded, because

nobody even
t i d our product.
tried
d t
At first I was relieved because at least nobody was finding out how
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)

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

slide 33

Closing

EVERYTHING
WITH REAL USERS

EARLY + OFTEN
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

slide 34

Shameless Plug!

GO TO MINIDATES.COM TO TRY IT FREE!

Lean UX, UX Strategy + Product Dev.

BEVERLY MAY
@MINIDATES | @OXFORDTECH
BEVERLY@MINIDATES.COM | BEVERLY.MAY@OXFORDTECHNOLOGYVENTURES.COM
OXFORDTECHNOLOGYVENTURES.COM
2012, All Rights Reserved. More Info: MiniDates.com & OxfordTechnologyVentures.com

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