agile 2013: the ideation framework — develop and validate new ideas before coding

Occom Group Company Confidential © 2013 All rights reserved.

Joshua Wexler,Chief Executive [email protected]

The Ideation Framework

mailto:[email protected]



Who is in the room?


Josh Wexler,Chief Executive [email protected]




My Fear


What we will cover

• 2 big questions• Outcomes of the framework• The ideation framework (with exercises!)• Takeaways


2 Big Questions


How do you communicate (a technical idea) to others?


Communication is difficult. Text is ambiguous.


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How do you decide which ideas will be valuable?

That’s it!


How do you decide which ideas will be valuable?

Usable

Valuable Feasible


Collecting meaningful feedback is challenging


With a new idea, people don’t always know what they want

until

…they see it.…they try it.

…they experience it.


Tell me something. And I will forget.Show me something. And I can

remember.Involve me. And I will understand.

- Chinese Proverb

“


What we need

• Shared understanding• Shared vision• Consensus


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The Ideation Framework

UNCERTAINTY CLARITY

ENVISIONGet the team speaking the same language through inspiration and design exercises.

PROTOTYPECollaboratively build initial solution as an on-device, interactive prototype.

EVALUATEGet feedback on prototype from potential customers to validate assumptions.


Envisioning

• Problem statement• Inspiration• Idea expression• Customer definition• Personas (proto people)• User narratives• Paper prototypes


Wouldn’t it be cool if…

Students could improve their study habits with a mobile app?


Problem statement

1-2 sentences that describe an issue (need) for a target customer that we are going to solve


Raphi’s problem statement

Too many students never complete high school not because they lack intelligence, but because they never gained the academic habits they needed


Your turn…

Take 1 minute to write down your problem statement

Turn to someone else and share for 30 seconds

A mobile app that helps people book flights faster


Inspiration

Inspiration is defined as other systems that attempt to solve our problem or inspire us with their design or functionality.


Your turn…

Take 2 minutes to come up with a piece of inspiration and write down the following:

NameWhat you like?What do you not like?What can you “borrow”?




Inspiration Board


Idea expression

An idea expression is a short and succinct statement of your idea that everyone agrees to.



Customer definition

Who are the groups of people that will be using your system? These are the primary customers (i.e., early adopters) and are the people who feel the pain of our problem the most.


Raphi’s customer definition

Students in 6th to 12th grade who own smartphones.


Your turn…

Take 1 minute to come up with at least 2 meaningful customer groups

Turn to someone else and share the group you picked and why they would be good for 30 seconds



Personas

Characters created to represent the different user types within your targeted demographic, attitude and/or behavior set that might use our solution.


Raphi’s persona

Name: Derek RodriguezAge: 14Demographic: 9th grader in NYCBackground:• Attends a large urban high school• Owns a smart phone and loves to use it• Does not own a computer so uses his phone as his primary technology• Regularly does his homework• Takes notes and pays attention in class• Typically reviews notes before a test as a way to prep• Never had any formal study prep classes• Has parents who are invested in him doing well in schoolGoals:• Wants to keep track of his homework assignments on his phone• Wants to do well in class and get good gradesFrustrations:• Even though he “studies” he still does not feel like he gets the grade he thinks he deserves• Does not know how to get a better grade through studying


Your turn…

Take 2 minutes to write 1 persona. Give them the following:

NameAgeBackground (2-3 points)Goals (why would they use this system)




User narrative

A user narrative is a story about one of the personas using and interacting the idea in the world. Narratives are different then features, but they can contain features.


Raphi’s user narrative

Derek is in a math class and hears about a test in a week. He opens the app, adds the test and can see all the study steps he will need to complete to do well on the test. He adds those steps to his plan.


Your turn…

Take 2 minutes to come up with a narrative for your persona (make sure you give the background)




Paper prototype

A hand drawn version of a user narrative that gives a visual to the story.


Raphi’s paper prototype


Your turn…

Take 4 minutes to draw a paper prototype using the storyboard part of the paper.

Turn to someone else and share for 1 minute



Levels of fidelity in prototyping

Low Medium High


Validation and documentation

• Get the right level of fidelity in your prototype for the project

• Put in front of users– Ask if they match your personas– Validate problems– Watch them use it

• Ask developers to do an iteration with you• Document as much as you need to


2 weeks

ENVISION WORKSH

OP1 Day

PROTOTYPE

WORKSHOP1 Day

PROTOTYPEDEVELOPME

NT3 Days

EVALUATION

4 Days

PRESENTATION

1 Day

START FINISH

1 Cycle through the framework for a greenfield idea


Wrap up

• Shared vision and understanding is critical• It is hard to test things in the real world• People need to learn with you to build that

shared understanding• Narratives are invaluable in communication


Josh Wexler

[email protected]

OccomGroup.com


agile 2013: the ideation framework — develop and validate new ideas before coding

Technology

car car

raphis problem statement

chief executive officer

new idea

technical idea

interactive prototype

big questions outcomes

target customer