Replacing Requirements with Hypotheses

REPLACING REQUIREMENTS
WITH HYPOTHESES

Agile Experience Design Meetup
Oct 17, 2011

Josh Seiden @jseiden
John Halloran, @I_am_Halloran

Introductions

Josh Seiden @jseiden
www.luxr.co @luxrco

John Halloran @i_am_Halloran
www.SnappSchool.com @SnappSchool

#leanUX #leanStartup

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Extending Agile/UX collaborations to a broader team

Requirements & Hypothesis frame your work

The old way: requirements

Hypotheses: extending what Agile/UX has
taught us.

Lean Startup and LeanUX both make use of
the concept of the Hypothesis.

www.luxr.co
www.slideshare.net/jseiden 3 License: Creative Commons Attribution-
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What is Lean Startup/Lean UX?



 Most startups fail…



 …because they fail to create
offerings that people want.



 …because they fail to create
offerings that people want.
 Lean Startup is a management
approach that entrepreneurs can
use to reduce market risk.


Lean Startup is built on…
 Eric Ries, “Lean Startup”
 Steve Blank, “Four Steps to the Epiphany”
 Lean Manufacturing and Lean thinking
If you make something people don’t want, your work is wasted.
 Agile software development
 Design Thinking
 SaaS, open source platforms, internet development frameworks
 Balanced Team (www.balancedteam.org)


9 Lean UX Principles
1. Design + biz + development + ... = 1 product team.
2. Externalize!
3. Goal-driven and outcome-focused.
4. Repeatable and routinized.
5. Flow: think, make, check.
6. Focus on solving the right problem.
7. Generate many options & decide quickly what to pursue
8. Recognize hypotheses & validate them
9. Rapid cycles: think/make/check Research with users is the best source of
information


Requirements: in times past... (and present)
The business owners distilled their hypotheses down
to “requirements.”

This was a method to manage the work of the team.

“The business” does the thinking, the design/dev team
does the implementing.


Principle #8 Recognize hypotheses ...


A way to re-frame requirements


 Every decision you make about your offering is a design decision.


 Every design decision is an hypothesis.


 Declare your assumptions and test them.


 Declare your assumptions and test them.
 Entire team engaged in the feedback loop


What is a hypothesis?

An hypothesis is a proposed explanation of the
way things work.


A useful way to frame hypotheses...


Who is your audience?


What is their situation?


How will you change it?


How will your project sustain itself?



How will you know that you’re right?



How will you know that you’re right?

It’s important to be able to continually break down each statement
into testable/measurable parts.


Useful for two reasons
Can reveal your unstated assumptions

Can be linked to systems of metrics to help you manage your business


A well-framed hypothesis...
...can help reveal your assumptions
 Who is the user? Who is the customer?
 Where does our product ﬁt in their work or life?
 What problems does our product solve?
 When and how is our product used?
 What features are important?
 How should our product look and behave?
 How will we make money?


Method: Declare your assumptions

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What assumptions do you have?



…about your customers?



…about your customers?
…that if proven false, will cause you to fail?


Method: Minimum Viable Product



What is the smallest thing we can make to test
our hypothesis?



What is the smallest thing we can make to test
our hypothesis?

The answer to this question is your MVP.


Slide courtesy Janice Fraser, LUXr.co

What is a Hypothesis?

Describe the current situation
Who is the market?
What is their problem or desire?
Propose a change
What is your solution?
Explain how the change is sustainable
How will the solution maintain?



Who is the market?
Propose a change


For example: Webvan


For example: Webvan
Market: 112M US households


For example: Webvan
Problem: Spend less time & money
getting groceries


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change
Use the internet for easy to use purchasing


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change
Deliver groceries to customers’ doors


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change
Provide better pricing than grocery stores


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change
Get massive scale quickly, achieving pricing
leverage with manufacturers


For example: Webvan
getting groceries
Propose a change
Get massive scale quickly, achieving pricing
leverage with manufacturers
Scale in distribution will allow supply chain
management previously unseen in
consumer dry goods retail


Case study: ChairFittr

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/usnavy/5973812143/

Example: product requirements


The system will be a web application that will plug in to
the web sites of competition wheelchair manufacturers.



The online tool will provide custom fitting of competition
quality wheelchairs



quality wheelchairs

The tool will use video-based tutorials will both generate
interest in wheelchair competition and allow customers to
generate accurate fittings from their home.



quality wheelchairs


The tool will allow for measurements of height, weight,
type of disability, etc.



quality wheelchairs


The tool will allow for measurements of height, weight,
type of disability, etc.

There will be Like and Tweet This buttons on every page.

An Example: Hypothesis Based


Market: a large and growing market of soldiers returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan with Spinal Cord Injury, all of whom were
recently highly ﬁt and physically active


Problem: Competitive wheelchair activities can be a valuable part
of rehab, and can bring camaraderie, competition and
achievement into these soldiers lives. But they have difﬁculty
getting ﬁtted in the current environment and learning about
competition options


competition options
Solution: by providing a web app that allows accurate ﬁtting and
highlights competitive possibility, we will help existing
manufacturers sell far more product, reduce return rates. They
will pay us commissions on sales.

Hypothesis: hightlighting assumptions
competition options
Solution: by providing a web app that allows accurate ﬁtting and
highlights competitive possibility, we will help existing
manufacturers sell far more product, reduce return rates. They
will pay us commissions on sales.

Assumptions backlog

1. Competitive wheelchair activities can be a valuable part of rehab
2. Recovering soldiers have difficulty getting fitted in the current environment
3. Our solution will provide accurate fitting.
4. Our solution will help existing manufacturers sell far more product, reduce
return rates.
5. In return, manufacturers will be willing to pay us commissions on sales.

What is the riskiest assumption?


SnappSchool


SnappSchool
Market: 3.1 M US Elementary school teachers


SnappSchool

Problem: Teachers would like to engage with parents to allow classroom
learning to continue in the home. Teachers have little time or means to
share speciﬁc learning goals and lessons with parents, who on turn lack
effective teaching techniques.


SnappSchool


Solution: Create a network of engaged parents by connecting them with
teachers who keep them informed of classroom speciﬁcs and provide them
with tools to support their children’s education.


SnappSchool


Solution: Create a network of engaged parents by connecting them with
teachers who keep them informed of classroom speciﬁcs and provide them
with tools to support their children’s education.

Sustainability: Sell services to schools and districts that can be delivered
through the network that connects teachers to parent, or we can monetize
through advertising.

SnappSchool


SnappSchool
Assumptions:


SnappSchool
Assumptions:
Teachers want to engage with parents, will take the time to do so


SnappSchool
Assumptions:
Parents want to hear from teachers


SnappSchool
Assumptions:
Parents can help kids learn, and teachers will notice


SnappSchool
Assumptions:
Schools and districts will pay for services or we can sell advertising


SnappSchool
Assumptions:
Schools and districts will pay for services or we can sell advertising
Network can grow to scale


McClure’s Startup Metrics for Pirates

Acquisition

Activation

Retention

Referral

Revenue



Acquisition Generate awareness among teachers.

Activation

Retention

Referral

Revenue



Acquisition email open rates
Generate awareness among teachers.
page views

Activation

Retention

Referral

Revenue



page views

Activation Sign up teachers.

Retention

Referral

Revenue



page views

Activation Sign up teachers. accounts opened

Retention

Referral

Revenue



page views


Parents sign up.
Retention
Teachers send messages

Referral

Revenue



page views


Parents sign up. parent subscriptions
Retention
Teachers send messages teacher messages

Referral

Revenue



page views


Retention

Teachers refer
Referral
colleagues.

Revenue



page views


Retention

Teachers refer
Referral New accounts referred
colleagues.

Revenue



page views


Retention

Teachers refer
colleagues.

Districts
Revenue buy



page views


Retention

Teachers refer
colleagues.

Districts
Revenue buy Revenue


Summary


Summary
Replace requirements with hypotheses


Summary
Identify assumptions by reviewing hypotheses


Summary
Test the riskiest assumptions ﬁrst


Summary
Break your hypotheses down into testable parts


Summary
Use MVP concept to test your hypothesis


Summary
Rinse and repeat


Summary
Rinse and repeat

Don’t let requirements eat your young!


Want to attend a workshop? Tweet #LUXiNYC to @LUXrCo

THANK YOU!


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