The document describes various "Innovation Games" that can be used to help teams discover user needs, prioritize features, and plan products. The games have names like "Me and My Shadow" and "SpeedBoat" and are used for purposes like understanding how a product is used, discovering hidden needs, and identifying what people dislike about an existing product. Examples are given for how each game could be applied in an Agile development or project management context.

1. Innovation Game® Use to...
Remember the Future Understand “what success looks like” and how to get there
Give Them a Hot Tub Use “outrageous” ideas to discover hidden/differentiating features
New
Me and My Shadow Use observation to uncover hidden needs
Product Box Identify the most exciting features/needs
The Apprentice Create team empathy for the user experience
Start Your Day Learn how the product is used in context (e.g. across time)
Existing
Show and Tell Identify the most important existing features
SpeedBoat Discover what people don’t like about the product
Spider Web Understand product relationships and context
Buy a Feature Prioritize features and create consensus on the result
Priority
20/20 Vision Identify top-priority features
Prune the Product Tree Shape the product’s growth -- often across different areas -- to user needs across time
Remember: “product” and “features” can refer to more than just running code!
Team process and procedures, toolsets, a project, documentation, a Sprint/Iteration, an
Agile adoption, a new team member, SOX compliance, a project suite, strategic direction...
© 2010 Kumido Adaptive Strategies www.kumido.com

2. Innovation Game® Use to... Examples
Remember the Future Understand “what success By helping her Team create a shared roadmap of the steps to a fully-deployed
looks like” and how to get there system, a Project Manager helps her Team maintain focus during the project.
Give Them a Hot Tub Use “outrageous” ideas to A Product Owner suggests “one-click pyramid scheme” to stakeholders prior to
discover hidden features Iteration Planning, and “Automatic Fraud Notification” gets added to the backlog.
Me and My Shadow Use observation After shadowing a ScrumMaster, a Dev Team making Scrum planning software
to uncover hidden needs discovers that their system needs Excel import/export and email capabilities.
Product Box Identify the most An Agile consulting company creates boxes containing “their ideal client”
exciting features/needs to provide their Sales team with criteria for seeking and qualifying leads
The Apprentice Create team empathy A UX Designer charged with improving workflow for the new help desk
for the user experience system gets the entire Dev team to use the existing help desk system on the job
Start Your Day Learn how the product is During a Retrospective, a ScrumMaster learns how his Team’s process helps
used in context (e.g. across time) (and hinders) their effectiveness during each day, week, Iteration, and release
Show and Tell Identify the most By having Marketing demo how they use project reports to make product press
important existing features releases, an Agile PMO eliminates wasted effort in the company’s processes
SpeedBoat Discover what people An Agile champion within a company helps senior execs identify the biggest pain
don’t like about the product points/costs of their existing waterfall process and gains buy-in for Agile
Spider Web Understand product Before shopping for a new version control system, a Dev Team explores how
relationships and context they and their existing system interacts with QA, Operations, and User Docs
Buy a Feature Prioritize features and create A Director of Development for a global company selects next year’s project
consensus on the result initiatives using input from 15 senior stakeholders across 5 timezones
By helping stakeholders compare individual Features against each other,
20/20 Vision Identify top-priority features a Business Analyst identifies the top Features for the next Iteration
Prune the Product Tree Shape the product’s growth By identifying “limbs” (major areas) and “apples” (Features) on a tree representing
to user needs across time a healthy system, a ScrumMaster helps stakeholders create a release plan
Remember: “product” and “features” can refer to more than just running code!
Team process and procedures, toolsets, a project, documentation, a Sprint/Iteration, an
Agile adoption, a new team member, SOX compliance, a project suite, strategic direction...
© 2010 Kumido Adaptive Strategies Innovation Games® © The Innovation Games Company, Inc. www.kumido.com