These slides are for the software design class I teach (currently at UVA Darden). The materials page is here: bit.ly/sw-class .

1. © 2015 COWAN+
SOFTWARE DESIGN: SESSION 4
SETTING COURSE-
DESIGNING YOUR PROPOSITION
Alex Cowan

2. © 2015 COWAN+
THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS
SCALE?
PIVOT?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
USER STORIES
& PROTOTYPES
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
SHOW
M
E
…
?
WHATIF?
Is the problem
relevant? Is the
proposition better
vs alternatives?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
Did the
implementation
deliver on
the story?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?
How did the customer
/user react?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

3. © 2015 COWAN+
WHERE YOU SHOULD BE NOW
Personas, including
Think-See-Feel-Do
– Problem Scenarios
– Alternatives
– Value Propositions
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
– Interview Guide
– 2 (or more) Interviews

4. © 2015 COWAN+
WHAT WE’LL WORK ON TODAY
Finding the Right
PROBLEM
Finding the Right
SOLUTION
time
alternatives
divergence convergence divergence convergence
source: adapted from ‘The Design of Everyday Things’
Personas
Problems
Alternatives
Field
Discovery
Value Hypothesis &
Assumptions
Product
Hypothesis
Experiments on Motivation

5. © 2015 COWAN+
RECORDING ON THE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)

6. © 2015 COWAN+
RECORDING ON THE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
Why do they buy? Who are they?
Broad Selection
Competitive Prices
Convenience
Do-it-yourselfer’s
Casual Shoppers
Contractors
Example: Home Depot
Customer
Segments
Value
Propositions

7. © 2015 COWAN+
RECORDING ON THE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Segment_1
Segment_2
Segment_3
1. List Prioritized Customer
Segments/Personas
2. List Prioritized Value
Propositions
3. Note Linkages
(if applicable)
(5 min)

8. © 2015 COWAN+
WHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
WHATIF?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

9. © 2015 COWAN+
AND NOW THE ‘PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS’
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S) …
… where they’re currently using certain
ALTERNATIVE(S) …
… and I have a VALUE PROPOSITION
that’s better enough than the alternatives
to cause the persona to act (purchase,
use, etc.).
A certain PERSONA exists…
‘HR and functional managers are in charge of
technical hires
and they struggle to effectively screen for
technical skill sets, making the hiring process
slower and more labor intensive and producing
worse outcomes than they should reasonably
expect.
Currently they implement a patchwork of calling
references and asking a few probing questions.
By offering an easy, affordable, lightweight
technical quizzing solution, Enable Quiz can
acquire and retain these customer personas,
delivering material value.’
Enable Quiz example:
As a group, converge
your product hypothesis
(5 min)

10. © 2015 COWAN+
WORKING YOUR PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S)
… where they’re currently using certain
ALTERNATIVE(S)
… and I have a
that’s better enough than the alternatives
to cause the persona to act (purchase,
use, etc.).
A certain PERSONA exists… PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
QUESTIONS
Does this person exist?
Can you identify them?
Do you understand them really well?
What do they think-see-feel-do in your
area?
TOOLS
Photos
Think-See-Feel-Do
Discovery Interviews
Storyboards
Day in the Life Boards

11. © 2015 COWAN+
WORKING YOUR PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S) …
… where they’re currently using certain
ALTERNATIVE(S) …
… and I have a
that’s better enough than the alternatives
to cause the persona to act (purchase,
use, etc.).
A certain PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
QUESTIONS
Have you identified a discrete problem/
need?
How important is it to the target
persona(s)?
What alternatives do they use today? How?
TOOLS
Problem Scenario + Alternative + Value
Proposition Trios
Discovery Interviews
Storyboards

12. © 2015 COWAN+
WORKING YOUR PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S)
… where they’re currently using certain
ALTERNATIVE(S)
… and I have a VALUE PROPOSITION
that’s better enough than the alternatives
to cause the persona to act (purchase,
use, etc.).
A certain VALUE HYPOTHESIS
QUESTIONS
How much better than the best alternative
is your product?
How obvious is that to the customer?
TOOLS
Structured Assumptions
Structured Experiments (including MVP)

13. © 2015 COWAN+
HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN INNOVATION VIA ‘LEAN STARTUP’
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
What is our ‘value hypothesis’ and what are
its key assumptions?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
How do I definitely prove or disprove the
assumptions with a minimum of time and
effort?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
Am I reacting or am I focused on
validating my pivotal assumptions?
‘Pivot or persevere?’
VALUE
HYPOTHESISsource: adapted from ‘The Lean Startup’

14. © 2015 COWAN+
HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN INNOVATION VIA ‘LEAN STARTUP’
What is our ‘value hypothesis’ and what are
its key assumptions?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
VALUE
HYPOTHESIS

15. © 2015 COWAN+
EXAMPLE: ENABLE QUIZ
Persona(s)
Helen the HR Manager- responsible for sourcing and screening job candidates
Frank the Functional Manager- hiring manager responsible for acquiring and managing talent
Problem
Scenario
Helen: hard to screen for technical skills
Frank: never has enough time for recruiting and doesn’t want to be a jerk during interviews
Alternatives
Helen: call references, take their word for it (on skills)
Frank: ask a few probing questions
Value Prop. A lightweight quizzing app that has Helen can use to do quick, effective screening.
What is the core value hypothesis?

16. © 2015 COWAN+
EXAMPLE: ENABLE QUIZ
Core Value Hypothesis
If Enable Quiz offers companies that hire
engineers lightweight technical quizzes that
screen job candidates for engineering positions,
then these companies would trial, use, adopt, and
pay for such a service.

17. © 2015 COWAN+
EXAMPLE: ENABLE QUIZ
As a group, draft your
core value hypothesis
If Enable Quiz offers companies that hire
engineers lightweight technical quizzes that
screen job candidates for engineering positions,
then these companies would trial, use, adopt, and
pay for such a service.
As a group, converge
your product hypothesis
(5 min)

18. © 2015 COWAN+
UNBUNDLING THE VALUE HYPOTHESIS INTO ASSUMPTIONS
If we [do something] for [persona], they will [respond in a certain way]
Example Assumptions (Enable Quiz)
If we get HR managers to a landing page with a demo, 10% will sign up for
our email product announcements.
If we create position-specific quizzes for HR managers, they’ll use them
~100% of the time and, after two positions, be willing to pay.
If we offer the service at [x] price with [y] supplemental assistance,
companies that hire a lot of engineers will pay [z].

19. © 2015 COWAN+
TESTING YOUR ASSUMPTIONS VIA AN ‘MVP’
M
V
P
inimum What is the fastest, cheapest
way to validate or invalidate
this option so we give
ourselves more options on
future success?

20. © 2015 COWAN+
TESTING YOUR ASSUMPTIONS VIA AN ‘MVP’
iable Will it give us a definitive
result? What are the
actionable metrics?
M
V
P

21. © 2015 COWAN+
TESTING YOUR ASSUMPTIONS VIA AN ‘MVP’
roduct
Does it really require actual
product? Can we use
alternative brands, channels?
M
V
P

22. © 2015 COWAN+
TESTING YOUR ASSUMPTIONS VIA AN ‘MVP’
roduct
iable
inimum
is not necessarily actual software/product (see
concierge MVP)
is a first and foremost learning vehicle …
vs. a project plan
(OK to do those things but always subordinate
them to the learning mission)
vs. a product development project
M
V
P

23. © 2015 COWAN+
UNBUNDLING THE VALUE HYPOTHESIS INTO ASSUMPTIONS
MVP Archetype Notes
Wizard of Oz Show or fake the customer experience
Concierge Hand create the user experience
Sales See if you can sell some.

24. © 2015 COWAN+
UNBUNDLING THE VALUE HYPOTHESIS INTO ASSUMPTIONS
MVP Archetype Example Assumptions (Enable Quiz)
Wizard of Oz If we get HR managers to a landing page with a demo, 10% will sign up for
our email product announcements.
Concierge
If we create position-specific quizzes for HR managers, they’ll use them
~100% of the time and, after two positions, be willing to pay.
Sales
If we offer the service at [x] price with [y] supplemental assistance,
companies that hire a lot of engineers will pay [z].
If we [do something] for [persona], they will [respond in a certain way]

25. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: DROPBOX
OPPORTUNITY
Underlying demand and supporting
infrastructure ready for a great file sharing app.
CHALLENGE
Building a great cross-platform app. required
VC funding. VC’s saw a space with lots of
existing competitors struggling to get traction.

26. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: DROPBOX
Persona
Tom the Techie- early adopter who works on projects that require swapping a lot of files between a shifting
network of collaborators.
Problem
Scenario
It’s difficult to share files between a network of collaborators, particularly if they’re: big or numerous or change a
lot.
Alternatives
Many existing products, but none of them super compelling and widely adopted.
Also, custom setup’s which work but are cumbersome to set up and maintain.
Value
Hypothesis
If Dropbox created a file sharing service that truly felt transparent to the user across all major platforms- OSX, iOS,
Windows, etc., then a mass market of users would prefer it over the alternatives, subscribe to it and use it over
time.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?

27. © 2015 COWAN+
THE WIZARD OF OZ MVP
Result: Excellent traction and
conversion to sign-up’s.
Strong validation signal.
Created a synthetic web demo tailored
for early market (techies), promoted it,
and measured email sign-up’s.

28. © 2015 COWAN+
EXAMPLE: ENABLE QUIZ
OPPORTUNITY
Hiring quality technical talent is critical for
many companies, but screening for skill sets is
time consuming and awkward.
CHALLENGE
The founding team wants to bootstrap without
external funding so they need to focus on a
specific technical domain, one that will get
them strong early traction.

29. © 2015 COWAN+
EXAMPLE: ENABLE QUIZ
Persona(s)
Helen the HR Manager- responsible for sourcing and screening job candidates
Frank the Functional Manager- hiring manager responsible for acquiring and managing talent
Problem
Scenario
Helen: hard to screen for technical skills
Frank: never has enough time for recruiting and doesn’t want to be a jerk during interviews
Alternatives
Helen: call references, take their word for it (on skills)
Frank: ask a few probing questions
Value
Hypothesis
If Enable Quiz offers companies that hire engineers lightweight technical quizzes that screen job candidates for
engineering positions, then these companies would trial, use, adopt, and pay for such a service.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?

30. © 2015 COWAN+
THE CONCIERGE MVP
Metrics:
Do the HR managers use them? How often?
Do they want one for their next open position?
Do the functional managers care?
Work with a set of HR managers to produce
position-specific quizzes by hand on paper (or
Google Forms, etc.).

31. © 2015 COWAN+
EXAMPLE: ENABLE QUIZ
A QUESTION?
There are dozens of technical/engineer topics
Enable Quiz could offer. How can they assess
which topics are most marketable?

32. © 2015 COWAN+
THE GOOGLE ADWORDS MVP
Metrics:
Which topics have the highest click-through rate (CTR)?
Which then convert to sign-up’s to newsletters, etc.?
Pair their qualitative research with topics trending
online and then run a series of Google AdWords
campaigns with different topics.

33. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: LEONID SYSTEMS
OPPORTUNITY
(2007) Major disruption and new product
opportunities among telecom providers with
introduction of voice-over-IP and cloud
communications.
IT systems need to be rethought.
CHALLENGE
As a one-person startup, Leonid had actionable
ideas but not enough resources to execute an
end-to-end solution.

34. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: LEONID SYSTEMS
Persona(s) Chris the CTO- has funding and mandate to transition the business towards hosted services; many bases to cover
Problem
Scenario
IT is the most expensive, most risky area when making changes to the business.
Alternatives
1) Place large, risky bets on major new system upgrades. 2) Make small incremental updates (but risk not keeping
pace).
Value
Hypothesis
Leonid will offer modular, integration-friendly applications in two critical areas: 1) services provisioning and 2) end
user self-service portals.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?

35. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: LEONID SYSTEMS
Started with consulting as a ‘concierge’ vehicle
to create tactical solutions, focus problem
scenarios, evolving to full-fledged product.
Result: Steady step-wise growth with
consistently better understanding of key
customer problem scenarios.
CONSULTING
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
PRODUCTS

36. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: ZAPPOS
OPPORTUNITY
(1999) An observed problem scenario around
the difficulty of finding the right shoe at local
retail and a giant (but nascent) market in online
retail.
CHALLENGE
Consumers still in the early stages of adopting
and habituating to online retail. Founder (Nick
Swinmurn) wanted to bootstrap.

37. © 2015 COWAN+
Result:
It worked and the rest is history.
Photographed shoes and put them online to
observe whether anyone bought them.
CASE STUDY: ZAPPOS

38. © 2015 COWAN+
Persona(s) Sam the shoe-hound- knows what he wants but not where to get it.
Problem
Scenario
Sam is unable to find the shoe he wants at local retailers, wasting time and getting frustrated.
Alternatives Possibly mail order or wait until he’s in a bigger market to go to the store.
Value
Hypothesis
Make the shoe Sam wants accessible online and make sure he has a great experience so he’ll come back and not
have to think about where to find the shoe he wants anymore.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?
CASE STUDY: ZAPPOS

39. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: SPRIG
Startup looking for early traction for investors:
Whole Foods (deli) meets Uber.
OPPORTUNITY
Large opportunity to re-segment and disrupt
food prep. and delivery business. Desire to
move fast and learn fast.
CHALLENGE
Some existing competitors and slow
fundraising process. Food prep. and delivery
requires infrastructure.
source: as told to Lean Startup Circle, SF (Jan 2014)

40. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: SPRIG
Persona(s) Paula the Professional- health conscious, short on time, moderate to high income, already uses similar services
like Uber.
Problem
Scenario
I want to have a nice, healthy dinner with no hassle and at a price I can afford (like $12).
Alternatives Going to the store or an expensive, take-out, or a slow delivery service (>20 minutes).
Value
Hypothesis
If Sprig offers Paula a healthy meal like you would order a cab (on Uber), then she would use and reuse the service.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?
* This is me interpolating/guessing on an item; not part of the Sprig team’s explanation.

41. © 2015 COWAN+
THE CONCIERGE MVP
Result: Excellent traction and conversion to sign-up’s.
Strong validation signal.
Created a synthetic web demo tailored for early
market (techies), promoted it, and measured email
sign-up’s.

42. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: PAUL HOWE & ASSOCIATES
OPPORTUNITY
Funded startup team rapidly iterating through
B2C concepts with lightweight
experimentation.
One idea: Some people would like to know how
much their stuff is worth.
CHALLENGE
Iterate to a successful concept while the time
and money permits.

43. © 2015 COWAN+
Persona ?
Problem
Scenario
I have a lot of stuff around that I might want to sell and/or I’m just generally curious about how much it’s worth, how
much I’ve spent.*
Alternatives Going through credit card statements or receipts.
Value
Hypothesis
If Paul Howe & Co. offered a service where you could quickly, automatically know how much your stuff is worth,
users would engage with such a service in large numbers.*
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?
* This is me interpolating/guessing on an item; not part of the Sprig team’s explanation.
CASE STUDY: PAUL HOWE & ASSOCIATES

44. © 2015 COWAN+
Result: They don’t care. Time to move on to the
next concept.
Get a few sign-up’s with access to email and bank
account info. Review by hand on a concierge basis
and compile a statement for them. Do they care?
CASE STUDY: PAUL HOWE & ASSOCIATES

45. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: STEALTH PHOTO-SOCIAL STARTUP
OPPORTUNITY
Lots of exciting things happening in the photo-
social space.
CHALLENGE
The team had several ideas but few resources.

46. © 2015 COWAN+
Persona Existing poster of photos. Personas: Martha the Mom, Pat the Party Planner, Teresa the Teen Social Butterfly
Problem
Scenario
[I want to do something interesting with my photos so that my social graph rewards me with interest and acclaim]
Alternatives Manually enhance photos, use alternative enhancers/amplifiers like Instagram
Value
Hypothesis
If we offers Facebook users a way to [do something novel] with their photos, they will try the service and convert to
a paid version of the app.
What Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
That you can bootstrap?
That doesn’t require software at all?
CASE STUDY: STEALTH PHOTO-SOCIAL STARTUP

47. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: STEALTH PHOTO-SOCIAL STARTUP
ASSUMPTION
If the user shares a photo
with this treatment, the
user’s social network will
like and share the app’s
output
What MVP?
That you can
bootstrap?
That doesn’t require
software at all?

48. © 2015 COWAN+
CASE STUDY: STEALTH PHOTO-SOCIAL STARTUP
ASSUMPTION
If the user shares a photo
with this treatment, the
user’s social network will
like and share the app’s
output
MVP
Create the target output
by hand (concierge style)
Does anyone care?

49. © 2015 COWAN+
ABOUT SOFTWARE, TESTING MOTIVATION, AND MVP’S
You have to put the magic in the software.
(Not the other way around)
Concierge and other non-software MVP’s
can be pretty magical.
Find 100 people that are really into it and
you can probably grow.

50. © 2015 COWAN+
UNBUNDLING THE VALUE HYPOTHESIS INTO ASSUMPTIONS
MVP Archetype Example Assumptions (Enable Quiz)
Wizard of Oz If we get HR managers to a landing page with a demo, 10% will sign up for
our email product announcements.
Concierge
If we create position-specific quizzes for HR managers, they’ll use them
~100% of the time and, after two positions, be willing to pay.
Sales
If we offer the service at [x] price with [y] supplemental assistance,
companies that hire a lot of engineers will pay [z].
If we [do something] for [persona], they will [respond in a certain way]
Individually, begin decomposing your core value
hypothesis into testable assumptions
Pair them with ideas for experimentation (including
MVP’s if applicable)

51. © 2015 COWAN+
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Do/Group: Converge Your Working Product Hypothesis (0-5 minutes)
2. Do/Group: Converge Personas, Problem Scenarios, and Interview Guides
(60-90 minutes)
3. Do/Individual: Draft a Working Set of Assumptions Against Your Value
Hypothesis (15-30 minutes)

52. © 2015 COWAN+
bit.ly/vdesignExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
@cowanSF
acowan@alexandercowan.com
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