This document discusses embracing imperfection and how the concept of "good enough" can be a perfect solution. It promotes agile thinking and emphasizes understanding the problem, defining a minimum viable product (MVP), and building credibility incrementally. The document provides examples from ThinkGeek of addressing issues like address normalization and pre-orders with iterative, pragmatic solutions. It also discusses techniques like design sprints and feature planning that help determine MVPs and prioritize work. The overall message is that by focusing on solving core customer problems with iterative solutions, organizations can achieve success without needing a perfect plan or solution.

1. Embracing Imperfec/on
When Good Enough is the Perfect Solu/on
Steven J. Weiskircher
Chief Informa/on Officer
ThinkGeek
Presented: September 27, 2016 at Retail’s Digital Summit

2. Key Takeaways
• What is Agile Thinking?
• Who does this apply to?
• How do you recognize ‘good enough’?
• What do you need to get started?
• Poten/al piUalls

3. ThinkGeek began in 1999 with a group of friends
who saw a hole in the marketplace: products that
could speak to, and celebrate, the geek community.
And after 17 years, we are still obsessed with
creating and sharing unique experiences that excite
our fans' imaginations and fuel their geeky passions.
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4. Retail Environment Today
• Pace of change is rapidly accelera/ng
• Data prolifera/on
• Evolving customer expecta/ons
• Market disrupters
• M&A
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5. Post Acquisi/on Ac/vity
• Integrated our financial organiza/ons
• Opened 10 physical stores; more to come
• Launched a combined Gi^ Card program
• Implemented triggered personalized email
• Developed pre-order capability
• Integrated product recommenda/ons
• Created first na/ve IOS applica/on, Android on its way
• Developed WMS
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6. Tradi/onal Project Approach - Ini/a/on
• Abempt to define everything up front
• Because we don’t know everything we
add things ‘just in case’
• Abach a cost es/mate to it
• Then forget it was an es/mate
• Create a plan
• Based on incomplete data &
• Laced with assump/ons
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hbp://jaymeholmes.com/jad.html

7. Tradi/onal Project Approach
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8. Tradi/onal Project Approach - Execu/on
• Requirements churn
• Plagued by indecisiveness
• Lack of clarity leads to wasted effort
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9. So do we divorce the plan?
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No! We hold it /ghter.

10. Impacts and Organiza/onal Response
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Requirements
(throw more
in just in
case)
Bloated/changing
reqs– pad es/mates
Padded Es/mates –
strip funding/
arbitrary deadline
Arbitrary deadline not
based in reality – cut
maintainability/tes/ng
Deliver late, not all
requirements
Circle of Distrust

11. Plans are sta/c
• They are the culmina/on of our best understanding at the /me
• They are laced with our assump/ons and (at /mes) our biases
• They are not designed with change in mind
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12. ‘The best laid plan rarely survives first contact with the enemy.’
- Helmuth Von Moltke
19th Century Prussian General
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13. 13

14. The Rise of Agile
• Agile so^ware development
• Scrum, XP
• Kaizen
• Lean Manufacturing
• Lean UX
• Design Sprint
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15. Common Tenants of Agile Processes
• Value individuals and interac/ons over processes and tools
• Priori/ze working product over comprehensive documenta/on
• Focus on collabora/on over contract nego/a/on
• Adapt to change vs following a plan
• Eliminate waste wherever it appears
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16. Agile Thinking
• Understand the problem you are trying to solve
• Equip the team
• Minimize churn
• Time box everything
• Understand your constraints & be pragma/c
• Communicate early and o^en
• Learn how to say ‘no’
• Remain flexible
• Be decisive
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17. Understanding the Problem:
Minimum Viable Product
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18. MVP - Wikipedia
• In product development, the minimum viable
product (MVP) is a product with just enough features
to gather validated learning about the product and its
con/nued development.
• Gathering insights from an MVP is o^en less expensive
than developing a product with more features, which
increase costs and risk if the product fails, for example,
due to incorrect assump/ons.
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19. Where to Start
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20. Define your MVP
• Focus on solving a
customer problem
• Minimize the number of
individuals involved in the
decision process
• Use tools like ‘buy a
feature’ to build consensus
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21. Buy a Feature
• Create a list of poten/al features
• Put a price on each
• Give each stakeholder a pile of chips
• Have them place their bets on the features they
value
• Look for consensus through the besng process
• Draw a cut line where you have ‘solved’ the
problem
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22. Benefits of Feature Planning
• Focuses aben/on on the most important features
• Conveys a sense of rela/ve cost for capabili/es
• Nothing is free
• Builds consensus within the stakeholders
• Forms a priori/zed backlog for subsequent itera/ons
• Minimizes ‘ear mark’ nego/a/ons
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23. Build your credibility
incrementally
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24. Address Normaliza/on
The Problem:
• Incorrect/incomplete address data caused mul/ple issues
• Customer service calls for late/missing deliveries
• Address correc/on charges from the carriers
The Constraints:
• Only UX resources available
• No clear business sponsor
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25. Address Normaliza/on
Solu/on:
• JavaScript based Address Correc/on
Service
Why it was ‘perfect’:
• Rapid integra/on = Quick results
• No process changes
Results:
• Reduced correc/on charges
• Improved conversion rate
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26. Pre-Orders
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The Problem:
• Ver/cal integra/on has increased inventory risk
• Late product delivery put sales at risk
The Constraints:
• Billing infrastructure and Order Management System
• Many interested par/es but no clear ‘owner’

27. Pre-Orders – Solu/on
Solu/on:
• Found nimble 3rd party that
specializes in pre-order management
• ‘Light’ integra/on on product page
Why it was ‘perfect’:
• Two week integra/on
• Over $1M in incremental revenue in
first year
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28. Marketplace Selling
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The problem:
• Need for new revenue channels to enable growth
The constraints:
• 45 days to develop and launch solu/on
• System constraints in pricing management

29. Marketplace Selling
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Solu/on:
• Par/al integra/on with marketplace aggregator and eBay
Why it was ‘perfect’:
• Time to market
• Minimal investment enabled us to learn quickly
Results:
• Cancelled program a^er 10 months

30. The Design Sprint
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31. Design Sprint
• 5 day process developed by
Google Ventures
• Short-cuts normal cycle /me to
quickly move from idea to
learning
• Reach consensus on approach
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Build
Launch Learn
Idea
**h#p://www.gv.com/sprint/

32. Design Sprint Ac/vi/es
• Surface key business opportuni/es
• Defining success criteria
• Exploring user journeys & analy/cs
• Analyze
• Interview key team members
• Crea/ng concept mind maps, storyboards &
prototypes
• Cri/que & vo/ng on key ideas
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33. Design Sprint Process flow
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Test
o Test the prototype on
actual users
o Watch as users try out the
prototype to quickly see if
the design makes sense.
Unpack Sketch Decide Prototype Test
Decide
o Decide which solutions
are the best to move
forward with
o Voting / etc.
Sketch
o Sketch / Design
ideas on how to
solve the problems.
o Paper sketches to
encourage many
ideas
Prototype
o Build a working
prototype of the
whichever solution(s)
o Use whatever tools
possible.
o InVision + paper
sketches + anything
Unpack
o Identify the problem
you’re trying to
solve.
o Mind-maps
o Define success
metrics.
o Research solutions
for similar issues.
Other current iOS
shopping apps.
o ID your killer feature

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35. 35

36. Output of the Design Sprint - MVP
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Feature Group Feature Detail Brief Descrip/on Required for
MVP
No/fica/on Back in Stock allow customers to receive a 'back in stock' no/fica/on for
a specific product
Need
Order Status Order confirma/on Need
Shipping Order shipped Need
Exclusive new products New products added to the site/category nice to have
Shipping cutoffs limited to key holidays nice to have
Base Naviga/on Search search for product by name, id, abribute Need
Filter filter search results by abribute, filter browse path by
abribute; e.g. filter apparel by size/gender
Need
Browse navigate through the product catalog using a tradi/onal
taxonomy
Need
Product list view These are category/sub category lis/ng pages. Need
Ranking, sort order Adjust product lis/ng display based on sort op/ons Need
Account
Management
Account crea/on Can create an account, sign-up for email and/or
geekpoints
Need
Login Need
Facebook login nice to have
Facebook registra/on nice to have
Login / Checkout touch ID Need
Enter / save addresses Customer address book. Need ability to retrieve addresses
from and add to the address book
Need
Address correc/on and
normaliza/on
We use Capture+ today to normalize input. Need this on
the mobile UI as well
Need
Account integra/on Tied to the same account as the desktop site need
Cart Carts should be moveable between the desktop, mobile
web, and mobile app experiences provided the customer
is a logged in user.
Need
Checkout Geek points need ability to sign up for Geekpoints as well as redeem Need
Paypal want to use the na/ve IOS integra/on Need
Payment method - credit
card
Need
Apple Pay nice to have
order confirma/on Need

37. IOS Project Timeline
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July
August - September
October
Design & Agile
Development
Publish
Discovery
Kickoff Support
• Design - Bi-weekly design reviews
• Development - Two week development sprints (Mobify)
• Project Management - Weekly status call

38. App Results
• Delivered in 4 months
• Approaching $1M
incremental annual sales
• Currently expanding to
Android
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39. How do you get started?
• Focus on solving a customer problem
• Define your MVP – this is what success looks like
• ‘Good Enough’ is organiza/on and situa/on specific
• Learn how to say no
• Be bold!
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40. Ques/ons?
Steve Weiskircher
sweiskircher@thinkgeek.com
@sweiskircher
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