Software Design Class (Session 1) : Setting Sail - Understanding The Methods

SOFTWARE DESIGN: SESSION 1
SETTING SAIL- FOCUSED

EXPLORATION
Alex Cowan
2015 COWAN+
ABOUT ME
Entrepreneur (5x)
Intrapreneur (1x)
ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ABOUT ME
alexandercowan.com
THE PROBLEM

BUILDING A SOFTWARE PRODUCT/VENTURE GETTING CHEAPER
COST TO LAUNCH A TECH STARTUP
$5,000,000 Open source and

Cloud and AWS
horizontal scaling
$500,000 $50,000 $5,000

2000 2005 2009 2011
Source: CB Insights 2015 COWAN+

BUT ITS TOUGHER THAN EVER TO CREATE VALUE
64% of Features Rarely or Never Used

50-70% of IT Projects Fail
90% of New Products Fail
Sources: see bit.ly/sw-class 2015 COWAN+

YOUR HAPPY PLACE
(you)

IS IT THE IDEA?

IS IT BEING TECH/CODE SAVVY?
(this is not real)
(coding experience helps,

but not like this)
THE ANSWER IS GRINDING IT OUT. HOW TO?

A SOLUTION (?)

THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS

OPTIONS
COST
SOFTWARE DESIGN CLASS
EMPATHIZE TEST VALUE BUILD

Interview Guide Proposition Design User Stories
VETTED Customer Interviews Assumptions Comparables/
SOFTWARE
VENTURE Personas Motivation Tests Patterns
DESIGN
IDEA Problem Scenarios Prototypes
Usability Tests

THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS: EMPATHIZE
Who is this What job, habit

person? that they have
What makes are we servicing?
them tick?
Sessions 1-3
THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS: TEST VALUE
How do we test
the proposition?
Is our proposition
better than their
alternative?
Sessions 4+5
THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS: BUILD
How do we think How do we discuss

through and test and evaluate
the usability of implementation
our solution? options?
Sessions 6-14
SOFTWARE DESIGN CLASS: EXAMPLE CONCEPT

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CLASS: EXAMPLE

HOW WILL WE WORK TOGETHER?
generate converge the best
divergent ideas of what youve
(by working created (as a
individually) group)
alternatives
divergence convergence
time
source: adapted from The Design of Everyday Things 2015 COWAN+
ref.alexandercowan.com/pdesign
INDEPENDENT PEER CONVERGED
ASSIGNMENT REVIEW ASSIGNMENT
Eve
Eve (team A) completes her Eve (team A) sends Kris (team B) Team A consolidates the
assignment and sends it to Kris feedback on his assignment from work from Class 1.
for peer review. Also to the Class 1.
instructor.
Kris
Kris (team B) does the same. Kris (team B) does the same. Team B does the same.
Diverge Converge
by
by Eve Team A
Eve has her own version of the Team has a shared group
Google Doc template. version of the Google Doc
template
team
convergence
activity

Diverge Converge
by
by Eve Team A
Eve has her own Team has a shared group

version of the Google version of the Google Doc
Doc template. template
Naming [Team Name]-[Eves Initials] [Team Name]-GROUP
Sharing Instructor, Team, Peer Instructor, Team, Peer

(on G.Docs) Reviewer Reviewers (all)
Peer Review
Eve for
Diego
Eve has her own peer

review Doc.
Naming [Eves Initials]-for-[Diegos Initials](Diegos Team Name)
Sharing Instructor, Team, Peer

(on G.Docs)
GRADING
Attendance, Participation, & Peer Reviews: 30%
Completion of Individual Assignments: 30%
Venture Design- Team Project: 30%
Venture Design- Team Portfolio Submission: 10%

COMMON QUESTIONS
Will we learn
how to build (or
build) software?

COMMON QUESTIONS
Is this the
same as the
design thinking
class?

COMMON QUESTIONS
Why cant we
just work as a
group all the
time? Divide
and conquer?
2015 COWAN+
COMMON QUESTIONS
Do companies
really do this
stuff?

COMMON QUESTIONS
What if I want
to keep going
on the project
and the
framework?

PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
For [target customer] who [statement of the need or opportunity], the [product
name] is a [product category] that [statement of key benefit/key reason to buy].
Unlike [primary alternative], our product [statement of primary differentiation].
EXAMPLE
For [hiring managers] who [need to evaluate technical talent], [Enable Quiz] is a
[talent assessment system] that [allows for quick and easy assessment of topical
understanding in key engineering topics]. Unlike [formal certifications or ad hoc
questions], our product [allows for lightweight but consistent assessments of
technical talent].
+ What is the core problem area?

How did the customer CUSTOMER Was the implemented
/user react? DISCOVERY & story relevant to the
EXPERIMENTS proposition?
?

E
M
WH
W
AT
S HO
PRODUCT &
IF
PROMOTION
?
VALUE
Did the PROPOSITIONS &
USER STORIES implementation ASSUMPTIONS
& PROTOTYPES deliver on
the story?
E?
AL
PIVOT?
SC
Do we understand
this person? What ?
AT
makes them tick? WH
Is the problem
PROBLEM relevant? Is the
PERSONAS WHO? SCENARIOS & proposition better
ALTERNATIVES
vs alternatives?
2015 COWAN+
PERSONAS & PROBLEM SCENARIOS
Do we understand
this person? What ?
AT
makes them tick? WH
PROBLEM
PERSONAS WHO? SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
2015 COWAN+
DESIGN THINKING: EMPATHY & PERSONAS
2015 COWAN+
DESIGN THINKING: EMPATHY & PERSONAS
2015 COWAN+
WHO MIGHT THEY BE?
List at least 3 personas
Mary the Working Mom USE 1 INDEX CARD/

PERSONA
Douglas the Dad
Nathan the Nanny
Ivan the Infant
2015 COWAN+
HOW WILL YOU KNOW? USING SCREENERS
Enable Quiz
Looking for an HR manager whos involved
in recruiting
How positions have you recruited for in the

last three months?
HVAC in a Hurry
Looking for HVAC (heating/air cooling)
technicians that work in the field
How many HVA repairs did you make last

week?
2015 COWAN+
2015 COWAN+
Thinks
The cognitive part. Often: tension between
how theyd ideally like things to be and how
they are now.
[Persona] thinks [things should be different

in a certain way].
Helen thinks the hiring process should be so

much better- more systematic, fewer bad
hires.
2015 COWAN+
Sees
The interactions that shape their Thinking-
media, peers, education, training, casual
observation.
[In certain situation], [person] sees [key

observation of importance]. [Repeat, etc.]
Helen is at the tail end of every bad hire and

sees the damage it does to the employee
and company, alike.
2015 COWAN+
Feels
The emotional driver. What emotions around
the relevant activity? What trigger
emotions? Results?
When [some event], persona feels [emotion].

Its [cause] that make them feel this way.
Helen feels like crap whenever they have to

let someone go. She hates it. The employee
hates it. The manager hates it. Its incredibly
destructive and de-motivating for everyone
involved.
2015 COWAN+
Does
The actuals. What triggers? How often? For
how long? How much money?
[Persona] [does activity] [x] times per

[period]. Persona spends [$z] on [area] per
[period].
Helen is responsible for recruiting 6-12 new

positions per year, screening 25-50
candidates for each position.
2015 COWAN+
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
2015 COWAN+
PROBLEM SCENARIO
What job(s) are you doing for the X
customer?
What existing need or behavior
are you fulfilling?
2015 COWAN+
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
2015 COWAN+
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
If they currently use

?
spreadsheets, watch them use it
and get a copy of it.
If they currently put notes on the family
fridge, ask about it, photograph it.
2015 COWAN+
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS
Are they better enough than the !
alternative(s)?
2015 COWAN+
TEMPLATE: PERSONAS, PROBLEM SCENARIOS, INTERVIEWS
ref.alexandercowan.com/pdesign
2015 COWAN+
ASSIGNMENT 1
1. Do/Individual: Draft Project Personas (20-40 min.)
2. Problem Scenarios, and Alternatives (1020 min).
3. Do/Individual: Draft Customer/User Discovery Questions (20-40 min.)
Reminder: Start setting up customer interviews
2015 COWAN+

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SOFTWARE DESIGN: SESSION 1

SETTING SAIL- FOCUSED

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

$5,000,000 Open source and

$500,000 $50,000 $5,000

Source: CB Insights 2015 COWAN+

64% of Features Rarely or Never Used

Sources: see bit.ly/sw-class 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

(this is not real)

(coding experience helps,

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

EMPATHIZE TEST VALUE BUILD

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

Who is this What job, habit

How do we think How do we discuss

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

Eve has her own Team has a shared group

Naming [Team Name]-[Eves Initials] [Team Name]-GROUP

Sharing Instructor, Team, Peer Instructor, Team, Peer

Eve has her own peer

Naming [Eves Initials]-for-[Diegos Initials](Diegos Team Name)

Sharing Instructor, Team, Peer

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

ALEX COWAN | alexandercowan.com | @cowanSF 2015 COWAN+

+ What is the core problem area?

Mary the Working Mom USE 1 INDEX CARD/

Nathan the Nanny

Ivan the Infant

How positions have you recruited for in the

How many HVA repairs did you make last

[Persona] thinks [things should be different

Helen thinks the hiring process should be so

[In certain situation], [person] sees [key

Helen is at the tail end of every bad hire and

When [some event], persona feels [emotion].

Helen feels like crap whenever they have to

[Persona] [does activity] [x] times per

Helen is responsible for recruiting 6-12 new

If they currently use

Reminder: Start setting up customer interviews

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