embracing imperfection: when good enough is the perfect solution

EmbracingImperfec/onWhenGoodEnoughisthePerfectSolu/on

StevenJ.Weiskircher

ChiefInforma/onOfficerThinkGeek

Presented:September27,2016atRetail’sDigitalSummit

KeyTakeaways•  WhatisAgileThinking?

•  Whodoesthisapplyto?

•  Howdoyourecognize‘goodenough’?

•  Whatdoyouneedtogetstarted?

•  Poten/alpiUalls

ThinkGeek began in 1999 with a group of friends who saw a hole in the marketplace: products that

could speak to, and celebrate, the geek community.

And after 17 years, we are still obsessed with creating and sharing unique experiences that excite our fans' imaginations and fuel their geeky passions.

3

RetailEnvironmentToday•  Paceofchangeisrapidlyaccelera/ng

•  Dataprolifera/on

•  Evolvingcustomerexpecta/ons

•  Marketdisrupters

•  M&A

4

PostAcquisi/onAc/vity•  Integratedourfinancialorganiza/ons

•  Opened10physicalstores;moretocome

•  LaunchedacombinedGi^Cardprogram

•  Implementedtriggeredpersonalizedemail

•  Developedpre-ordercapability

•  Integratedproductrecommenda/ons

•  Createdfirstna/veIOSapplica/on,Androidonitsway

•  DevelopedWMS

5

Tradi/onalProjectApproach-Ini/a/on•  Abempttodefineeverythingupfront

•  Becausewedon’tknoweverythingweaddthings‘justincase’

•  Abachacostes/matetoit•  Thenforgetitwasanes/mate

•  Createaplan•  Basedonincompletedata&•  Lacedwithassump/ons

6

hbp://jaymeholmes.com/jad.html

Tradi/onalProjectApproach

7

Tradi/onalProjectApproach-Execu/on

•  Requirementschurn

•  Plaguedbyindecisiveness

•  Lackofclarityleadstowastedeffort

8

Sodowedivorcetheplan?

9

No!Weholdit/ghter.

ImpactsandOrganiza/onalResponse

10

Requirements(throwmoreinjustincase)

Bloated/changingreqs–pades/mates

PaddedEs/mates–stripfunding/

arbitrarydeadline

Arbitrarydeadlinenotbasedinreality–cutmaintainability/tes/ng

Deliverlate,notallrequirements

CircleofDistrust

Plansaresta/c•  Theyaretheculmina/onofourbestunderstandingatthe/me

•  Theyarelacedwithourassump/onsand(at/mes)ourbiases

•  Theyarenotdesignedwithchangeinmind

11

‘Thebestlaidplanrarelysurvivesfirstcontactwiththeenemy.’

-HelmuthVonMoltke19thCenturyPrussianGeneral

12

13

TheRiseofAgile•  Agileso^waredevelopment

•  Scrum,XP

•  Kaizen

•  LeanManufacturing

•  LeanUX

•  DesignSprint

14

CommonTenantsofAgileProcesses•  Valueindividualsandinterac/onsoverprocessesandtools

•  Priori/zeworkingproductovercomprehensivedocumenta/on

•  Focusoncollabora/onovercontractnego/a/on

•  Adapttochangevsfollowingaplan

•  Eliminatewastewhereveritappears

15

AgileThinking•  Understandtheproblemyouaretryingtosolve•  Equiptheteam•  Minimizechurn•  Timeboxeverything•  Understandyourconstraints&bepragma/c•  Communicateearlyando^en•  Learnhowtosay‘no’•  Remainflexible•  Bedecisive

16

Understanding the Problem:Minimum Viable Product

17

MVP-Wikipedia•  Inproductdevelopment,theminimumviableproduct(MVP)isaproductwithjustenoughfeaturestogathervalidatedlearningabouttheproductanditscon/nueddevelopment.

•  GatheringinsightsfromanMVPiso^enlessexpensivethandevelopingaproductwithmorefeatures,whichincreasecostsandriskiftheproductfails,forexample,duetoincorrectassump/ons.

18

Where to Start

19

DefineyourMVP•  Focusonsolvingacustomerproblem

•  Minimizethenumberofindividualsinvolvedinthedecisionprocess

•  Usetoolslike‘buyafeature’tobuildconsensus

20

BuyaFeature•  Createalistofpoten/alfeatures

•  Putapriceoneach

•  Giveeachstakeholderapileofchips

•  Havethemplacetheirbetsonthefeaturesthey

value

•  Lookforconsensusthroughthebesngprocess

•  Drawacutlinewhereyouhave‘solved’the

problem

21

BenefitsofFeaturePlanning

•  Focusesaben/ononthemostimportantfeatures

•  Conveysasenseofrela/vecostforcapabili/es•  Nothingisfree

•  Buildsconsensuswithinthestakeholders

•  Formsapriori/zedbacklogforsubsequentitera/ons

•  Minimizes‘earmark’nego/a/ons

22

Build your credibility incrementally

23

AddressNormaliza/onTheProblem:•  Incorrect/incompleteaddressdatacausedmul/pleissues

•  Customerservicecallsforlate/missingdeliveries•  Addresscorrec/onchargesfromthecarriers

TheConstraints:•  OnlyUXresourcesavailable•  Noclearbusinesssponsor

24

AddressNormaliza/onSolu/on:•  JavaScriptbasedAddressCorrec/on

Service

Whyitwas‘perfect’:•  Rapidintegra/on=Quickresults•  Noprocesschanges

Results:•  Reducedcorrec/oncharges•  Improvedconversionrate

25

Pre-Orders

26

TheProblem:•  Ver/calintegra/onhasincreasedinventoryrisk•  Lateproductdeliveryputsalesatrisk

TheConstraints:•  BillinginfrastructureandOrderManagementSystem•  Manyinterestedpar/esbutnoclear‘owner’

Pre-Orders–Solu/onSolu/on:•  Foundnimble3rdpartythat

specializesinpre-ordermanagement•  ‘Light’integra/ononproductpage

Whyitwas‘perfect’:•  Twoweekintegra/on•  Over$1Minincrementalrevenuein

firstyear

27

MarketplaceSelling

28

Theproblem:•  Needfornewrevenuechannelstoenablegrowth

Theconstraints:•  45daystodevelopandlaunchsolu/on•  Systemconstraintsinpricingmanagement

MarketplaceSelling

29

Solu/on:•  Par/alintegra/onwithmarketplaceaggregatorandeBay

Whyitwas‘perfect’:•  Timetomarket•  Minimalinvestmentenabledustolearnquickly

Results:•  Cancelledprograma^er10months

The Design Sprint

30

DesignSprint•  5dayprocessdevelopedbyGoogleVentures

•  Short-cutsnormalcycle/metoquicklymovefromideatolearning

•  Reachconsensusonapproach

31

Build

LaunchLearn

Idea

**h#p://www.gv.com/sprint/

DesignSprintAc/vi/es•  Surfacekeybusinessopportuni/es

•  Definingsuccesscriteria

•  Exploringuserjourneys&analy/cs

•  Analyze

•  Interviewkeyteammembers

•  Crea/ngconceptmindmaps,storyboards&

prototypes

•  Cri/que&vo/ngonkeyideas

32

DesignSprintProcessflow

33

Test o  Test the prototype on

actual users o  Watch as users try out the

prototype to quickly see if the design makes sense.

Unpack Sketch Decide Prototype Test

Decide o  Decide which solutions

are the best to move forward with

o  Voting / etc.

Sketch o  Sketch / Design

ideas on how to solve the problems.

o  Paper sketches to encourage many ideas

Prototype o  Build a working

prototype of the whichever solution(s) 

o  Use whatever tools possible.

o  InVision + paper sketches + anything

Unpack o  Identify the problem

you’re trying to solve.

o  Mind-maps o  Define success

metrics. o  Research solutions

for similar issues.  Other current iOS shopping apps.

o  ID your killer feature

34

35

OutputoftheDesignSprint-MVP

36

FeatureGroup FeatureDetail BriefDescrip/on RequiredforMVP

No/fica/on BackinStock allowcustomerstoreceivea'backinstock'no/fica/onforaspecificproduct

Need

OrderStatus Orderconfirma/on Need Shipping Ordershipped Need Exclusivenewproducts Newproductsaddedtothesite/category nicetohave Shippingcutoffs limitedtokeyholidays nicetohaveBaseNaviga/on Search searchforproductbyname,id,abribute Need Filter filtersearchresultsbyabribute,filterbrowsepathby

abribute;e.g.filterapparelbysize/genderNeed

Browse navigatethroughtheproductcatalogusingatradi/onaltaxonomy

Need

Productlistview Thesearecategory/subcategorylis/ngpages. Need Ranking,sortorder Adjustproductlis/ngdisplaybasedonsortop/ons Need AccountManagement

Accountcrea/on Cancreateanaccount,sign-upforemailand/orgeekpoints

Need

Login Need Facebooklogin nicetohave Facebookregistra/on nicetohave Login/CheckouttouchID Need Enter/saveaddresses Customeraddressbook.Needabilitytoretrieveaddresses

fromandaddtotheaddressbookNeed

Addresscorrec/onandnormaliza/on

WeuseCapture+todaytonormalizeinput.NeedthisonthemobileUIaswell

Need

Accountintegra/on Tiedtothesameaccountasthedesktopsite need Cart Cartsshouldbemoveablebetweenthedesktop,mobile

web,andmobileappexperiencesprovidedthecustomerisaloggedinuser.

Need

Checkout Geekpoints needabilitytosignupforGeekpointsaswellasredeem Need Paypal wanttousethena/veIOSintegra/on Need Paymentmethod-credit

card Need

ApplePay nicetohave orderconfirma/on Need

IOSProjectTimeline

37

July August - September

October

Design&AgileDevelopment

PublishDiscovery

Kickoff Support

•  Design-Bi-weeklydesignreviews•  Development-Twoweekdevelopmentsprints(Mobify)•  ProjectManagement-Weeklystatuscall

AppResults•  Deliveredin4months

•  Approaching$1M

incrementalannualsales

•  Currentlyexpandingto

Android

38

Howdoyougetstarted?•  Focusonsolvingacustomerproblem

•  DefineyourMVP–thisiswhatsuccesslookslike

•  ‘GoodEnough’isorganiza/onandsitua/onspecific

•  Learnhowtosayno

•  Bebold!

39

Ques/ons?SteveWeiskirchersweiskircher@thinkgeek.com@sweiskircher

40