I WANT MY MVP BUILDING
THE RIGHT THING DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

DANIELLE MOSER @DANIELLEMOSER ANTHONY ARMENDARIZ
@MANTWAN

TOPICS TO DISCUSS An understanding
of MVP and other approaches Creating the ideal engagement style How we manage MVP projects at Funsize. In Practice: A Funsize case study. Q&A (if time allows) DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

PART I GETTING TO MVP
DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

DEFINITION THE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT
(OR MVP) IS THE FIRST SHIPPABLE VERSION OF A PRODUCT CONTAINING PURELY CORE FEATURES, DISTRIBUTED AS A TEST RELEASE TO GENERATE USEFUL FEEDBACK FOR THE PRODUCT’S DIFFERENTIATING FEATURES SO THAT SUBSEQUENT RELEASES HAVE THE MAXIMUM CHANCE FOR SUCCESS.

GOALS • Validate a new
business model. • Launch a new product or feature in an existing application. • Validate a theory or hypothesis. • Impress investors or stakeholders to secure funding. • Use financial runway smartly. • Get it to market and in users hands as fast as possible.

8

9

“It would be pointless even
if I managed to understand how it works.” - A User

“We’ve long accepted that for
a product to be useful, it needs to have acceptable levels of both utility and usability. Yet far too often, we seem to ignore the former in favor of the latter, ending up with lots of easy and pleasant applications that have no reason to exist. One could argue that the first version of the iOS app Color fell into this trap.” ! - RIAN VAN DER MERWE

“…it was not able to
provide the "differentiated customer experience we had hoped for.”

QUALITIES OF AN “MVP” •
Redefines or disrupt an industry (for some). • Fulfills a basic human or user need in a meaningful way. • Balances features that users want. • Creates an advocate out of the users (people). • Encourages engagement and builds habits (hopefully good ones). • Reaches the highest quality possible within the “limits”.

PART III THE RIGHT ENGAGEMENT
STYLE (FUNSIZE’S APPROACH) DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

PROBLEM Page Title GIMME MORE.
GIMME MORE. GIMME GIMME GIMME MORE!

OKAY, SURE BUT WE STILL
HAVE TO SET SAIL

BUILDING DIGITAL PRODUCTS WE’RE IN
THE BUSINESS OF BUILDING DOG HOUSES NOT CATHEDRALS. (BUT THEY SHOULD STILL BE BEAUTIFUL)

YOUR TEAM MUST EMBRACE •
The time, financial, or resourcing constraints. • Generating quick ideas as a team to validate before investing. • Favoring lean, quick and sometime half-complete work. • Failing fast and often. • The ability and desire to pivot at any time and embrace change. • That it’s NEVER ever, ever, ever done. • Listening to users.

FLEXIBLE SCOPE FTW! • No
project schedules. Only a start and end date. • No fixed deliverables but the services you’ll provide. • No promises to deliver anything specific to the client. • Promise a team with consistent effort. Velocity not hours. • Provide a standard weekly, sprint or monthly price. Learn More: http://funsize.co/flexible-scope-retainers

PART II PROJECT MANAGING MVP
DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

1
KICK OFF

2
DISCOVERY

YOU NEED TO DISCOVER THE
PROBLEM FIRST “..but we’re a fast-moving startup and we don’t have time to sit around and talk.” You do if the alternative is failure, brought on by an unhealthy addiction to pretty things that lead to fifteen minutes of fame, but not much else. ! …We cannot let the allure of the visual tear us too far away from the usefulness of the products we develop. It is true that failure teaches us a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. But it’s so much cheaper and more effective to fail at a variety of ideas on paper than it is to fail at one full-blown, VC-backed idea. Together, we can avoid building projects that generate buzz, but don’t meet the needs of the people. So let’s discover before we build.”

OUR NEXT TALK TOP 10
REASONS EVERY STARTUP NEEDS A PSYCHIC J/K!

PROJECT MANAGEMENT CLEANUP

TRASH THE PROJECT SCHEDULE

TRASH THE FIXED DELIVERABLES

TRASH THE DEADLINES

TRASH WORKING ON FRIDAYS (SO
WE CAN DO OTHER, AWESOME STUFF)

TRASH THE DISCUSSION OF “HOURS”

OMG. WTF? DIGITAL PM SUMMIT
2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

3 SPRINTING (THE FUNS I
Z E WAY)

WHAT YOU CAN DO VELOCITY
& COMMITMENT ~2 hours = 1 point 32 Hrs./Week = 16 Pts./Wk. = 32 Pts./2Wk. Sprint @FUNSIZE / #IWANTMYMVP

THE SCHEDULE. WASH, RINSE AND
REPEAT DISCOVERY & REQUIREMENTS 2WK. SPRINT DEVELOP & RELEASE DESIGN VALIDATE & TEST

REGULAR EVENTS SPRINT ACTIVITIES •
Sprint Planning Meeting • Design Activities • Regular Stand-Ups • Design Reviews • Backlog Grooming • Retrospective AD HOC EVENTS • User Testing • Discovery Workshops • Implementation Pairing • Quality Assurance

TOOLS

SPRINT PLANNING

THE NEW SCHEDULE

THE NEW SCHEDULE
EPICS

STORIES THE NEW SCHEDULE 1PT.
= 2HRS.

CURRENT SPRINT THE NEW SCHEDULE
BACKLOG ICEBOX

IT’S MAGICAL … BUT IT’S
NOT ALWAYS RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS.

PART IV IN PRACTICE: PINGBOARD
DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

&

As of last week…. “HR,
OPS, OR A CULTURE PRODUCT?”

CONCLUSIONS Advantage: Flex Scope &
Agile Process Success: Repeatable Collaboration and Ongoing Work Doing the best we could at all steps Accepting that the work is never “done” Letting user feedback drive the direction @FUNSIZE / #IWANTMYMVP

PART V IS IT REALLY
ABOUT CREATING THE MOST MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT? What’s the proper lens for your project?

FROM THE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE Validate
your business idea with “MVP” MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

FROM THE USER’S PERSPECTIVE Prove
a high-value satisfying experience with “MDP” MINIMUM DESIRABLE PRODUCT

FOR THE RISK TAKERS Think
for your users with a ‘MAP” MAXIMUM ARROGANT PRODUCT

WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE VIABILITY
AND NEED TO EXECUTE Use your resources better by using ‘MFP” MINIMUM FEASIBLE PRODUCT

SO… WHAT CAN WAIT? WHO
KNOWS. DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP

THANK YOU, @FUNSIZE. Q &A
@MANTWAN @DANIELLEMOSER DIGITAL PM SUMMIT 2014 ・ AUSTIN, TEXAS ・ @FUNSIZE ・ #IWANTMYMVP