As we explained last week, we have
stellar workshops scheduled for December 4--the second day of The Lean Startup Conference. Because the workshops require a bigger commitment (you need a Gold or Platinum Pass to attend), we wanted to give you more information about what you
can expect. Herewith, then, is the first in a series of interviews with our
workshop presenters.
“Validate Your Learning Engines” will be
led by Janice Fraser, Founder/CEO of LUXr, and Laura Klein, Director of Product
& UX at One Jackson--both authors of forthcoming books on Lean UX. We asked them a few questions to help you get inside
their heads. Here’s what they said:
What
aspect of Lean Startup methods most inspires you?
Janice: Reframing our
gut instincts as “a hypothesis I'm working with right now.” It honors the
instincts that every entrepreneur has, but also gives us permission to be wrong
and explore other possibilities.
Laura: I love the fact that everything is
measurable. Making everything a measurable hypothesis means that we can see the
impact that design and usability have on the bottom line of the business. This
not only helps the company and the users, but it helps us become better
designers, and it also justifies money spent on UX.
What
makes it hard for companies to implement this process?
Janice: There is no process yet! Lean Startup is
a way of thinking, and right now everyone has to sort of figure out a process
on their own. I'm glad to be part of an active community that's figuring out
how to put Lean Startup into practice.
Laura: The most frequent problem I've run into
is the desire by engineers to have some criteria by which they can consider
something “done.” Nothing's ever “done” in Lean. We iterate and learn. I can't
tell you before you start work on a project what the exact acceptance criteria
are going to be, because everything depends on how the user reacts to the
changes. There's also, I think, still a fundamental misunderstanding of Lean in
some circles. There's the belief that Lean means cheap or not well designed. If
you don't understand the methodology, you obviously can't implement it
well.
What
will people take away from your workshop?
Janice: Laura and I are both SUPER PRACTICAL. Participants
will leave equipped with specific, concrete techniques for doing better
experiments, getting more out of their time with customers, and measuring the
right things more effectively.
Laura: You're going to learn practical, hands-on
methods for validating hypotheses quickly and efficiently. You can't be lean
unless you know how to validate and measure. We're going to give you specific
directions for how to do that. We're also going to show you some incredibly
helpful design techniques that will let you respond to your user research and
create a product that customers love.
To show you Janice and Laura in action,
we’ve grabbed some past talks for you to check out. Here's Janice speaking at MX 2011 on Crushing the
Boulder: User Experience and the Lean Startup. And here's Laura participating in a panel at Startup Lessons Learned 2010 called But What About Design? (Laura’s at far
right.)
Here are two reasons to register today:
1) space for the workshops is limited; and 2) we have a block of early-bird tickets on sale right now. When this block sells out, the price goes up.
Register now for a Gold or Platinum Pass to attend the workshops.
