5/19/2020 Venture Design Process

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THE INTERDISCIPLINARIAN WORKSHOPS ABOUT ME

VENTURE DESIGN
PROCESS

The Venture Design process helps

you know where to focus. It offers a
systematic execution of continuous
design and delivery that helps you
focus on the right things at the right

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time, leveraging the best of what’s

out there in modern practices like
design thinking and Lean Startup.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Managing with Agile
Create great agile use
stories and use them
to drive better
collaboration in your
team.

Business Model
Generation
Want to define your
business model and
engage with
collaborators.

Focus: IT
Create better
deployments with a
clear process and my
set of foundation skills.

Figures vary, but popular estimates

but the portion of features actually
used at something like 20%, the
success rate of IT projects at
around 20-30%, and the number of
new products that succeed at
around 10%. The Venture Design
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process also allows you to work

backward, ‘debugging’ products
and projects that don’t go
according to plan. The material is
organized by step into tutorials,
examples, and templates. Most
users review the tutorials and
examples, then use the templates
to apply the techniques to their
venture. You’ll also find workshops
you can run with your team.

VENTURE DESIGN IN REVERSE:

PERSONAS
I recommend starting here. If you don’t have a well
articulated understanding of your customer (or user),
everything else you do is sitting on a shaky foundation. It’s
also the quickest way to improve the quality of your idea or

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make an informed pivot to

an even better idea.WHAT?
Humanized descriptions of
your customer.
WHEN? Whenever you talk
how to create product or
promotion.
WHY? Avoid creating stuff
for a customer that doesn’t
exist.

TUTORIAL: INTRO TO TEMPLATE: ONLINE COURSE:

PERSONAS PERSONAS
This tutorial introduces This links to a
personas, including personas template in
when and where the Venture Design
they’ll help you make template (a Google
better, more testable Doc which you can
decisions. also download as MS
Word).
AGILE MEETS
DESIGN THINKING
This Coursera course
introduces the use of
personas for product
development. The
course is free to audit.
For a preview check
out Creating and
Using Personas

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TUTORIAL: DAY IN TUTORIAL:

THE LIFE STORYBOARDING
This is a tutorial on Innovation that
creating a ‘Day in the delivers growth.
Life’ board for your Customer empathy
key personas-a great that’s actionable. Killer
way to add depth and communication that
reality to your our audience loves.
personas. We want all these
things. Storyboarding
is a practice anyone
can use to get them.
No drawing skills
required.

PROBLEM SCENARIOS & ALTERNATIVES

Problem Scenarios are
where you identify specific
objectives for your product
(if you’re familiar with ‘jobs
to be done’, it’s the same
basic idea). They may be
tasks, habits, or desires
that you’ll deliver against.
These should be real and
observable, hence the emphasis on ‘alternatives’: if these
problem scenarios exist, the customer is doing something

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about them now. It’s important you understand those

alternatives- your proposition will need to be better.

WHAT? Testable definitions of desires, jobs to be done.

WHEN? Whenever you need to know why customers would
care.
WHY? If no one cares, no one buys.

TUTORIAL: INTRO TO TEMPLATE: ONLINE COURSE:

PROBLEM PROBLEM AGILE MEETS
SCENARIOS SCENARIOS DESIGN THINKING
This tutorial introduces This links to a This Coursera course
‘problem scenarios’, problems scenario introduces the use of
including a guide on template in the personas for product
how to identify them Venture Design development. The
and anchor your ideas template (a Google course is free to audit.
to them. Doc which you can For a preview check
also download as MS out Needfinding with
Word). Problem Scenarios

VALUE PROPOSITIONS, ASSUMPTIONS &

EXPERIMENTS
The Lean Startup is about identifying your key assumptions
and proving (or disproving) them as quickly and efficiently as
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possible. Keeping the

venture focused on this in
the early days will save you
lot of money and grief.

WHAT? Testable definitions

of the value you’re
creating.
WHEN? Before you invest
time in building things.
WHY? To avoid building something no one wants.

TUTORIAL: VALUE TEMPLATE: VALUE TEMPLATE: TESTING

PROPOSITION PROPOSITION CUSTOMER
DESIGN & TESTING DESIGN ENGAGEMENT WITH
WITH LEAN STARTUP This table will help you LEAN STARTUP
This tutorial will take draft value This template will help
you through the propositions relative to you design
fundamentals of Lean your customer’s experiments to test
Startup with a focus on existing problem whether you have
creating testable scenarios and something customers
propositions, alternatives. want (before you build
structured it). I also recommend
assumptions, and checking out the
creative experiments preceding section on
to test customer sketching
motivation. assumptions.

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ONLINE COURSE: ONLINE COURSE:

RUNNING DESIGN TESTING WITH AGILE
SPRINTS In this course, you’ll
In this course, you’ll learn go deeper on
learn how to apply testing customer
Lean Startup with a motivation with Lean
focus on running one Startup, including how
week sprints to test you link that to a larger
customer motivation. program of product
For a preview, see development. For a
Creating a Culture of preview, see Lean
Experimentation Startup and the
Systematic Drive to
Value

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY & EXPERIMENTS

Successful innovators are
constantly learning and
constantly testing what
works. This applies across
personas, problem
scenarios, propositions, as
well as usability. The
materials here will help you
get started and focus on
the right kind of testing at the right time.

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WHAT? Scientific testing of your concepts.

WHEN? On most major decisions about what to build or how
to sell it.
WHY? Know you’re right (or wrong) and stay focused on
getting better.

TUTORIAL: THE TEMPLATE: TEMPLATE:

CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY INTERVIEW GUIDE
HANDBOOK For discovery and test
This handbook covers on your ‘persona and
four distinct types of problem hypothesis’,
discovery and how to this template helps
decide which one you you get started with
should be applying for customer discovery
a given question on questions. (It’s a
customer/product fit . Google Doc which you
can also download as
MS Word.)
EXPERIMENT DESIGN
FOR TESTING
ENGAGEMENT
For testing your ‘value
hypothesis’, this
template will help you
design execute Lean
Startup-type
experiments to test
customer motivation
before you over-invest
in building out a
product.

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TUTORIAL: YOUR TEMPLATE: ONLINE COURSE:

USABILITY TEST USABILITY TEST TESTING WITH AGILE
PLAN PLAN In this course, you’ll
This tutorial will get This template supports learn how to think
you rolling with the a usability test plan about testing from an
template below. You anyone can use. You’ll end-to-end
can go from idea to learn how to organize perspective: all the
testing with interactive your testing around way from persona
prototypes in two agile user stories and discovery to
hours! interactive prototypes. continuous product
delivery.

USER STORIES & PROTOTYPES

If you’re a technology-
based startup, this is
probably where you’re
spending most of your
money. Aligning your
product development
investments with the items
above is critical for obvious
reasons. Alignment with
the Personas & Problem scenarios are particularly important.
The User Stories make for a great transition point and the
practice or prototyping will help you think through what you
*really* had in mind.

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WHAT? Verbal and physical narratives to describe your

ideas for implementation.
WHEN? Whenever you discuss what to build and how you’ll
know if it’s working.
WHY? So your implementation colleagues know what you’re
talking about.

TUTORIAL: USER TEMPLATE: AGILE ONLINE COURSE:

STORIES USER STORIES AGILE MEETS
This introductory This links to the user DESIGN THINKING
tutorial will get you stories section of the This Coursera course
started writing agile Venture Design introduces the use of
user stories and using Template. You’ll find a personas for product
them to drive better template for creating development. The
discussions about user stories. course is free to audit.
what you’re going to For a preview check
build. out Creating and
Using Personas

TEMPLATE: ONLINE COURSE:

PROTOTYPING IN TESTING WITH AGILE
BALSAMIQ Week Two of this
This template is based course is focused on
on the Google Apps prototyping and
version of the usability testing. For a
Balsamiq mockup tool. preview, see Testing
Usability

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TUTORIAL:
WIREFRAMES &
PROTOTYPES
What do you really
mean and does that
make sense? This item
is a tutorial is a step-
by-step guide on
thinking through your
ideas with a prototype
using the popular
wireframing tool
Balsamiq.

PRODUCT & PROMOTION

These are resources you
may find useful for tuning
and improving your
product. The style guide,
for example, is something
that every company and
every product can use to
improve the consistency of
their user experiences and
the focus of their execution.

WHAT? Tools for making your product better.

WHEN? I would say these are applicable to any product if
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the tool is new to you.

WHY? Keep making your product and your approach to
working it better.

TUTORIAL: THE 25
MINUTE STYLE
GUIDE
Relevance and
consistency are the
top two contributors to
a strong design &
branding program and
those are both well
within your reach.
Particularly if you’re
bootstrapping, using
99 Designs, etc. take
30 minutes and
anchor your program.
No design training
required.

MANAGING WITH AGILE

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Agile is evolving into a vehicle for applied innovation at the

team level, particularly for anything digital. If you’re looking
for a way to organize and focus yourself and/or your team
around Venture Design, I highly recommend the agile
approaches described below.

WHAT? A methodology for innovation.

WHEN? When you’re looking for a way to organize the work.
WHY? Don’t get overwhelmed- get going (and keep going).

TUTORIAL: AGILE TUTORIAL: VENTURE TUTORIAL: AGILE

(JUST THE BASICS) DESIGN SPRINTS TEAM CHARTERS –
I created this as a kind Design sprints are a THE BASICS
of glossary + ‘what great way to apply There’s really just one
really matters?’ piece. I Venture Design. This thing that matters in
think it’s a good place tutorial will help you creating an agile team
to start. get started. charter: anchoring to a
problem instead of a
solution.

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ONLINE CLASS: ONLINE COURSE: ONLINE COURSE:

AGILE AGILE MEETS RUNNING DESIGN
DEVELOPMENT DESIGN THINKING SPRINTS
(SPECIALIZATION) This is the first course This is the second
This is the overall in the specialization course in the
‘specialization’ on and deals with design specialization and
agile from Coursera. thinking topics, like the deals with using
The courses that use of personas and design sprints to
follow are components problem scenarios. implement Venture
of it. Design.

ONLINE COURSE: ONLINE COURSE:

MANAGING WITH TESTING WITH AGILE
AGILE This is the fourth
This is the third course course in the
in the specialization, specialization, and
and deals with pairing deals with the special
the various jobs of role of testing
software/digital (everything!) in agile.
development with
agile methodologies.

BUSINESS MODEL GENERATION

The 40+ page business plan that no one reads may be
going out of style, but strong, testable business models are
more important than ever. This material will help you get
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started with the Business Model Canvas, a simple one-page

tool for designing and discussing business models.

WHAT? A tool for describing and discussing business

models.
WHEN? Whenever a discussion of strategy and business
model matters.
WHY? Be explicit, but don’t get bogged down in extraneous
detail.

TUTORIAL: THE TEMPLATE: THE ONLINE COURSE:

BUSINESS MODEL BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATING WITH
CANVAS CANVAS THE BUSINESS
The Business Model This is a Google MODEL CANVAS
Canvas is a great tool Slides-based template. In this Coursera
for thinking through course, you’ll learn
the economics of a how to use the Canvas
new venture. This for business model
tutorial lays out how to design and
use it, step by step. management of new
projects.

FOCUS: IT
I love enterprise software and I love IT. But it could be so
much better- failures rates are as high as 50-70% by some
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reckonings. A little bit of disciplined innovation can go a long

way and that’s what these tools are about.

WHAT? Tutorials and methods for applying design and

innovation methodologies to IT.
WHEN? Whenever you have an IT project of any substantial
size.
WHY? You can massively improve your odds of success with
a little design work up front.

TUTORIAL: THE ONLINE COURSE:

ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER-CENTRIC
SOFTWARE IT
PLAYBOOK In this Coursera
This tutorial introduces course, you’ll learn
the practice of Venture how to systematically
Design, and product drive strategic IT
design practices in projects with
general, to enterprise customer-centric
software projects. design and agile
innovation practices.

OTHER HANDY THINGS

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WORKSHOP: WORKSHOP: A DAY TUTORIAL: THE

STORYBOARDING IN THE LIFE HOOK FRAMEWORK
This is a ready-to-go For design thinkers, Today’s runaway
workshop that teaches this group or individual successes have all
storyboarding, hands- exercise will sharpen created an itch their
on. your observation skills customer has to
and ability to create scratch. Nir Eyal’s
quality customer Hook Framework
personas. shows you how.

EXAMPLE VENTURE TUTORIAL: THE TUTORIAL:

CONCEPTS GROWTH HACKING CREATING YOUR
These are venture CANVAS PERSONAL
concepts I use in the Using the canvas INNOVATION
resources here as well format popularized PORTFOLIO
as a couple that I with the Business Share your awesome!
supply for workshops Model Canvas, this In this tutorial, you’ll
when then students canvas deals with learn how to create
aren’t bringing their integrated marketing. portfolio entries on
own. Behance for the kind
of work you see here.

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LET’S STAY IN TOUCH

JOIN ME ON:
Alex Cowan Retweeted

James Clear
@JamesClear
How to generate great ideas as a team:

1) Brainstorm privately. Any idea goes. Avoids

groupthink.

2) Compile ideas, but hide the sources. Avoids

"highest paid person" winning.

3) Discuss as a group to find the best answer.

4) Reveal the winner so the right person gets credit.

May 16, 2020

Copyright © 2016 Alex Cowan · All rights reserved.

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