The hole in Agile and how to build products customers want to buy by Donato Mangialardo

The Hole in Agile. Build Software Products that People Want to Buy

Codemotion Rome 3/22/2013

Donato Mangialardo@donatommdonatomm@markt-driven.it

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Helping organizations

define, validate, build and market

products or services

for sustainable commercial success

5y 10y 4yIn the middle…

Inspiration• Linkedin Group

• Question: how do capture and use your customers needs in Agile/Lean?

• Traction …

Leam Agile Italy

The Hole in Agile. Build Software Products that People Want to Buy

Il Brodetto

N=1vs.

N=many

• We are AGILE!• We are efficient, independent• Quality and Deadlines now meet!

• But… our customers aren’t buying our product! What’s wrong!?

“We have well executed a plan to achieve failure”

Eric Ries (sort of)

Eric Ries

Joe Costello(*)

Reducing waste is great. A product nobody wants is the ultimate waste

“Hand gliding is lots of fun, but only if you actually land”

(*) http://www.edac.org/htmfiles/KaufmanAward/JoeCostello.htm

Facts1

90% of New Product Launch Fails

Source: Google free search

After marketing professionals have spent MILLIONS to understand what their customers wanted.

Or, after sales professionals have spent MILLIONS into an army of salespeople to create a need that customers did not have.

• Or in most cases, by spending MILLIONS into a PRODUCT nobody wanted

What happened?

Market researchers aren’t smart enough?

Advertising agencies aren’t creative enough?

Developers have forgotten hove to build software products?

Customers have become too difficult to understand?

NO!

• We have become much too good at creating products that don’t help customers do the jobs they need to get done

Segway$200M

Webvan$700M

Motorola Iridium$ 2,000 M

People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!

We all agree but…

• When it’s time to put that in to practice, we always think in terms of drills…

Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook, and Taddy Hall – The Harvad Business Review OnPoint

Paolo’s Tale2

Una Storiella

Un bel giorno un brillante software architecth, Paolo, lascio’ il suo lavoro per lavorare a tempo pieno sulla sua idea innovativa.

Paolo creo’ un prodotto di cui aveva la profonda certezza che a molti interessasse.

• Paolo aveva ragione.• L’azienda cresce, Paolo assume ex colleghi

come VP di questo e di quello. L’azienda cresce ancora.

• Un giorno Luigi, VP of Sales disse: “ma noi siano Technology-Driven. Dovremmo essere Customer-Driven!”

• La cosa suono’ bene,  e cosi’ si fece.

• Eccetto che… ogni nuovo cliente richiedeva un progetto speciale da mettere in roadmap

• La voce del’ultimo cliente dominava sempre il piano del prodotto.

• “Hey, lo chiedono in Ducati! Fallo e basta”. Oppure; “Se non lo facciamo non vendiamo!” Minacciava il venditore per ogni richiesta.

• In altre parole: customer-driven = latest-customer-driven

• “Ma no, cosi’ non va!“ urlarono in molti.

• Un membro illuminato della proprieta’, Enrico,  tuono’: “Siamo diventati una Sales-Led company. Basta. Dobbiamo essere Marketing-Driven!”

• Venne quindi deciso di assumere un Top Marketing Executive.

• Fu presa Amelie come VP of marketing.• Ed ecco un nuovo scintillante logo,

tradeshows con un booth impressionante,  eventi spettacolari con gran folla ed awards, brand impeccabile, grande raccolta di collateral, brochures, logo su ogni t-shirt etc.

• Un anno e 3 mesi dopo…zero incremento delle vendite. “Eh, il brand! Te lo do io il Brand” era la battuta ricorrente.

• [ Niente da dire su Amelie ed il Brand. Le e' stato chiesto l'impossibile. ]

• Allora il CFO, che fino a quel momento era stato zitto, sussurro’ nell’orecchio del CEO: “non e’ ora che controlliamo un po’ i costi?”

• Quindi l’azienda divento’ Cost-Driven• Vennero tagliati viaggi, cene premio,

supporto, bonus etc.• “E il marketing? Cosa fanno esattamente?”

Chiese il CFO al CEO.• Nessuno ebbe una buona risposta e quindi

tagliarono tutto il team.

• Alla fine il presidente e Paolo il fondatore dissero:

• Siamo partiti engineering (tech)-driven•  Poi Customer-driven•   Poi Sales-Led•    Poi Marketing-Driven•     Poi Cost-Driven• Le abbiamo provate tutte!• … E’ ora di tornare Engineering-driven!• E cosi’ fecero …•

• Finche’ un giorno qualcuno disse:

• Ma perche’ non diventiamo Market-Driven?

• Cioe’ perche’ non ascoltiamo il mercato invece che solo noi stessi?

• Peccato che il grosso incredibile nuovo aereo che avevano costruito era arrivato alla fine della pista di decollo…

• “Bye Bye” disse il Board

Cosa ci dice questa storiella?

Cosa ci dice questa storiella?

• Big Product “Upfront” gettato sul mercato• Non va? Profumiamolo! Ci pensa Amelie!• Product-Centric• “WE” – centric• “Building”-Centric• Ma quale era il vero problema? • Non vedete l’elefante nella stanza?

L’elefante nella stanza:

IL MERCATO !

Potenziali BuyersProblemi di tali Buyers

Che vogliono risolvere prestoUsers

Clienti esistenti

So, how do we build product customers will buy?

(MAL)-FUNCTIONS

3

The MarketThe User

The SoftwareSales People

Marketing People

The Scrum MasterThe UX designer

The Boss

The Customer

SELLBUILD

Sales ConsultantsDirect SalesIndirect sales (Partners)

DevelopmentQuality Assurance

The MarketProblems. Buyers. Perceptions

“marketing”

SELLBUILD

Sales ConsultantsDirect SalesIndirect sales (Partners)

DevelopmentQuality Assurance

The MarketProblems. Buyers. Perceptions

“marketing”

Who listens to the market?

SELLBUILD

Sales ConsultantsDirect SalesIndirect sales (Partners)

DevelopmentQuality Assurance

The MarketProblems. Buyers. Perceptions

“marketing”

SELLBUILD

Sales ConsultantsDirect SalesIndirect sales (Partners)

DevelopmentQuality Assurance

The MarketProblems. Buyers. Perceptions

“marketing”

ProductOwner

Product/BizManager

SELLBUILD

Sales ConsultantsDirect SalesIndirect sales (Partners)

DevelopmentQuality Assurance

The MarketProblems. Buyers. Perceptions

“marketing”

Product Management

Product Marketing

Who is …• Listening to the market every day?• Finding/Validating Problems many buyers

want to solve and will pay for?• Finding Patterns?• Developing Buyer’s knowledge• Synthesizing User Personas?• Bringing Facts to the table facilitating

informed decisions vs. debate of opinions?• Providing developers Context in a Repeatable

manner?

Is it

Who is …• Listening to the market every day?• Finding/Validating Problems many buyers

want to solve and will pay for?• Finding Patterns?• Developing Buyer’s knowledge• Synthesizing User Personas?• Bringing Facts to the table facilitating

informed decisions vs. debate of opinions?• Providing developers Context in a Repeatable

manner?

Is it

• Someone is doing it anyway• Be it either a bossy manager, sales or

development• Are they up to the challenge?

Do they spend most of their time outside the building?

• Product Manager• Product Owner• Scrum Master

13 requests doneWants

Needs?

A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 H1 L1 K1 R1 S1 P1 T1 W1 Z1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 A1A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 H2 L2 K2 R2 S2 P2 T2 W2 Z2 A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 A2A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 H3 L3 K3 R3 S3 P3 T3 W3 Z3 A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 A3A4 B4 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 H4 L4 K4 R4 S4 P4 T4 W4 Z4 A4 B4 C4 D4 E4 A4A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 F5 G5 H5 L5 K5 R5 S5 P5 T5 W5 Z5 A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 A5A6 B6 C6 D6 E6 F6 G6 H6 L6 K6 R6 S6 P6 T6 W6 Z6 A6 B6 C6 D6 E6 A6A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7 H7 L7 K7 R7 S7 P7 T7 W7 Z7 A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 A7A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 L8 K8 R8 S8 P8 T8 W8 Z8 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 A8A9 B9 C9 D9 E9 F9 G9 H9 L9 K9 R9 S9 P9 T9 W9 Z9 A9 B9 C9 D9 E9 A9

A10 B10 C10 D10 E10 F10 G10 H10 L10 K10 R10 S10 P10 T10 W10 Z10 A10 B10 C10 D10 E10 A10A11 B11 C11 D11 E11 F11 G11 H11 L11 K11 R11 S11 P11 T11 W11 Z11 A11 B11 C11 D11 E11 A11A12 B12 C12 D12 E12 F12 G12 H12 L12 K12 R12 S12 P12 T12 W12 Z12 A12 B12 C12 D12 E12 A12A13 B13 C13 D13 E13 F13 G13 H13 L13 K13 R13 S13 P13 T13 W13 Z13 A13 B13 C13 D13 E13 A13A14 B14 C14 D14 E14 F14 G14 H14 L14 K14 R14 S14 P14 T14 W14 Z14 A14 B14 C14 D14 E14 A14A15 B15 C15 D15 E15 F15 G15 H15 L15 K15 R15 S15 P15 T15 W15 Z15 A15 B15 C15 D15 E15 A15A16 B16 C16 D16 E16 F16 G16 H16 L16 K16 R16 S16 P16 T16 W16 Z16 A16 B16 C16 D16 E16 A16A17 B17 C17 D17 E17 F17 G17 H17 L17 K17 R17 S17 P17 T17 W17 Z17 A17 B17 C17 D17 E17 A17A18 B18 C18 D18 E18 F18 G18 H18 L18 K18 R18 S18 P18 T18 W18 Z18 A18 B18 C18 D18 E18 A18A19 B19 C19 D19 E19 F19 G19 H19 L19 K19 R19 S19 P19 T19 W19 Z19 A19 B19 C19 D19 E19 A19A20 B20 C20 D20 E20 F20 G20 H20 L20 K20 R20 S20 P20 T20 W20 Z20 A20 B20 C20 D20 E20 A20A21 B21 C21 D21 E21 F21 G21 H21 L21 K21 R21 S21 P21 T21 W21 Z21 A21 B21 C21 D21 E21 A21A22 B22 C22 D22 E22 F22 G22 H22 L22 K22 R22 S22 P22 T22 W22 Z22 A22 B22 C22 D22 E22 A22A23 B23 C23 D23 E23 F23 G23 H23 L23 K23 R23 S23 P23 T23 W23 Z23 A23 B23 C23 D23 E23 A23A24 B24 C24 D24 E24 F24 G24 H24 L24 K24 R24 S24 P24 T24 W24 Z24 A24 B24 C24 D24 E24 A24A25 B25 C25 D25 E25 F25 G25 H25 L25 K25 R25 S25 P25 T25 W25 Z25 A25 B25 C25 D25 E25 A25A26 B26 C26 D26 E26 F26 G26 H26 L26 K26 R26 S26 P26 T26 W26 Z26 A26 B26 C26 D26 E26 A26A27 B27 C27 D27 E27 F27 G27 H27 L27 K27 R27 S27 P27 T27 W27 Z27 A27 B27 C27 D27 E27 A27A28 B28 C28 D28 E28 F28 G28 H28 L28 K28 R28 S28 P28 T28 W28 Z28 A28 B28 C28 D28 E28 A28

13 requests from 3 customers13 features, usually inconsistent with each other (hard to design sw this way)3 happier customers (IF requests prioritized, captured, designed and build right)Hardly a better product (usually the contrary)On the way of doom (average-ness) vs pervasivenessRemember the Starfish

3 problems addressedWants

Needs?

A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 H1 L1 K1 R1 S1 P1 T1 W1 Z1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 A1A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 H2 L2 K2 R2 S2 P2 T2 W2 Z2 A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 A2A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 H3 L3 K3 R3 S3 P3 T3 W3 Z3 A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 A3A4 B4 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 H4 L4 K4 R4 S4 P4 T4 W4 Z4 A4 B4 C4 D4 E4 A4A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 F5 G5 H5 L5 K5 R5 S5 P5 T5 W5 Z5 A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 A5A6 B6 C6 D6 E6 F6 G6 H6 L6 K6 R6 S6 P6 T6 W6 Z6 A6 B6 C6 D6 E6 A6A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7 H7 L7 K7 R7 S7 P7 T7 W7 Z7 A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 A7A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 L8 K8 R8 S8 P8 T8 W8 Z8 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 A8A9 B9 C9 D9 E9 F9 G9 H9 L9 K9 R9 S9 P9 T9 W9 Z9 A9 B9 C9 D9 E9 A9

A10 B10 C10 D10 E10 F10 G10 H10 L10 K10 R10 S10 P10 T10 W10 Z10 A10 B10 C10 D10 E10 A10A11 B11 C11 D11 E11 F11 G11 H11 L11 K11 R11 S11 P11 T11 W11 Z11 A11 B11 C11 D11 E11 A11A12 B12 C12 D12 E12 F12 G12 H12 L12 K12 R12 S12 P12 T12 W12 Z12 A12 B12 C12 D12 E12 A12A13 B13 C13 D13 E13 F13 G13 H13 L13 K13 R13 S13 P13 T13 W13 Z13 A13 B13 C13 D13 E13 A13A14 B14 C14 D14 E14 F14 G14 H14 L14 K14 R14 S14 P14 T14 W14 Z14 A14 B14 C14 D14 E14 A14A15 B15 C15 D15 E15 F15 G15 H15 L15 K15 R15 S15 P15 T15 W15 Z15 A15 B15 C15 D15 E15 A15A16 B16 C16 D16 E16 F16 G16 H16 L16 K16 R16 S16 P16 T16 W16 Z16 A16 B16 C16 D16 E16 A16A17 B17 C17 D17 E17 F17 G17 H17 L17 K17 R17 S17 P17 T17 W17 Z17 A17 B17 C17 D17 E17 A17A18 B18 C18 D18 E18 F18 G18 H18 L18 K18 R18 S18 P18 T18 W18 Z18 A18 B18 C18 D18 E18 A18A19 B19 C19 D19 E19 F19 G19 H19 L19 K19 R19 S19 P19 T19 W19 Z19 A19 B19 C19 D19 E19 A19A20 B20 C20 D20 E20 F20 G20 H20 L20 K20 R20 S20 P20 T20 W20 Z20 A20 B20 C20 D20 E20 A20A21 B21 C21 D21 E21 F21 G21 H21 L21 K21 R21 S21 P21 T21 W21 Z21 A21 B21 C21 D21 E21 A21A22 B22 C22 D22 E22 F22 G22 H22 L22 K22 R22 S22 P22 T22 W22 Z22 A22 B22 C22 D22 E22 A22A23 B23 C23 D23 E23 F23 G23 H23 L23 K23 R23 S23 P23 T23 W23 Z23 A23 B23 C23 D23 E23 A23A24 B24 C24 D24 E24 F24 G24 H24 L24 K24 R24 S24 P24 T24 W24 Z24 A24 B24 C24 D24 E24 A24A25 B25 C25 D25 E25 F25 G25 H25 L25 K25 R25 S25 P25 T25 W25 Z25 A25 B25 C25 D25 E25 A25A26 B26 C26 D26 E26 F26 G26 H26 L26 K26 R26 S26 P26 T26 W26 Z26 A26 B26 C26 D26 E26 A26A27 B27 C27 D27 E27 F27 G27 H27 L27 K27 R27 S27 P27 T27 W27 Z27 A27 B27 C27 D27 E27 A27A28 B28 C28 D28 E28 F28 G28 H28 L28 K28 R28 S28 P28 T28 W28 Z28 A28 B28 C28 D28 E28 A28

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12Problems!

Try to keep a backlog of problemsThen try to keep a backlog of enhancements

THE MARKET

Our customers +Competition’s customers

Potentials

Potential Customers!They exist regardless of what we do or don’t do

Problemi che il mercato ha• Business problems that are

1. Urgent

2. Pervasive

3. Critical• That a market of buyers is ready to pay to

be solved

That’s trivial!• True, but then why do we keep doing the

same mistakes?• Do we think that “this time” we’ll have a

different result?

PIGS AND CHICKENS

3

• Why marketing executives last ½ than other execs? That is, <12 months?

• Because they are asked for the impossible:

• Creating the need of a product with an unclear benefit for an unknown customer (buyer)

Source: pragmaticmarketing.com, Article by Steve Johnson

BASTA DI PROFUMARE IL MAIALE!

Dev and Marketing ??• The same is asked to the DEV and MKTG

team• They have to GUESS or MAKE UP contents,

features Unknown Users, Unknown Buyers and Unknown Problems

• They produce well-written, professional copy or code, but…. For whom? To whom they are talking to?

Unfortunately, buyers don’t need what they don’t need!

• Creating software, integrated solutions, messages, events, campaigns, websites, SEO/SEM without knowing TO WHOM you are talking to and WHAT they really care about is total waste

There is no amount of perfume that can cover the stench of a tech product

that no one needs

Il Pollo

Ma come parliamo coi ns buyers?

PLM SaaS(Cloud):

Tramite il nostro ERP deliverato via SaaS

…che è il “vero” SaaS, il vero “Cloud” –non e’ “On-Premise”

Soluzione scalabile basata su una istanza unica ma multi-tenant

Alta ridondanza e 2 colocation facilities in 2 stati diversi,

Uptime del 99.95% …

E’ come se “Amadori” dicesse:

“Vorreste acquistare dei pezzi di pollo morto

impacchettati?”

Noi offriamo una soluzione completa e

scalabile per la soppressione, lo

squartamento, la separazione in pezzi, il

congelamento, e la pacchettizzazione di polli

(Morti)

The Secrets of Tuned In Leaders: How technology company CEOs create success (and why most fail)

SaaS(Cloud):• Tech Language• SaaS• Single Instance,

multi-tenant• Redundancy• Colocation facilities• Uptime• Cloud• On-Premise

• Buyer Language• Basso costo di

ingresso ai benefici del prodotto

• Basso rischio, prova ROI prima, poi investi.

• Espandi e riduci secondo il bisogno, istantaneamente

• Security altrimenti irraggiungibile

Allineamento, connessione con Buyer e User(per farlo bisogna conoscerli)

What’s the Product anyway

3

Il prodotto non è il prodotto!• Che problema risolviamo?• Per chi?• Lo facciamo in modo unico?• Quali sono le alternative possibili per I

buyers?• Siamo capaci di costruire soluzione

“minime” per “proof of concept” (MVP)?• Che strategia abbiamo per la Piattaforma

technologica ?• Come verra’ acquistata dai clienti?• Come misurariamo l’avanzamento del

progetto?• Come rendiamo questo business sostenibile?• Quanto costa acquisire un cliente? (CAC)• Quanto ci rende un cliente in 3 anni? (LTV)• Che modello di revenues usiamo?• Come andiamo a mercato? (canale,

contenuti, strategia di comunicazione, messaggio, calcolatori di ROI etc) GTM

• Che strategia di lancio adottiamo?• Quando I buyers diventano clienti, come li

aiutiamo ad avere successo (supporto e account management)

• Che strategia abbiamo per la customer retention? CC

Niente di questo è “Il Software”

Il prodotto è il business model

Modellazione tramite Lean Canvas

Metodo Classico

Quasi tutto il feedback del mercato arriva DOPO la 1.0

Buyer Feedback

Metodo Classico

Quando si è gia’ speso quasi tutto il budget!

Spese

Dev MktgSales

MktgSalesDev

ReworkOverhead

Invece noi …

Market Problem

Unique Value Prop

Buyer /User

Persona

Revenue Model

Cost Structure

Minimal Viable Product

• Understand the smallest feature set (product set) customers will pay for in the first release

Cicli di test, learn e measuresul MVP

MVP1 MVP2 MVP3

Real, Measurable Progress

There are new ways to do thingsthat until 2 years ago sounded like jokes

But that today are part of

So what are we talking about here?

We are talking about how to build products people want to buy

1. AGILE2. LEAN3. MARKET-DRIVEN

How do I effectively develop and use the knowledge of my

potential customers ?

PROBLEMS4

Il Problema• Spesso elusivo• Non è quello che il cliente chiede• Non guardiamo il prodotto per primo• Spesso crediamo di averlo capito e la

chiudiamo lì

• SINTOMI – SOLUZIONE - PROBLEMA

Customer says...

Too many alerts!

The system shall flag actions requiring human intervention as soon as possible

Tina says...

Too many alerts

I want to sort alerts by sender. Also, I need to sort by attributes. Sender must be the first column. How is it possible you cannot sort alerts?

Il Problema

Too many alerts

Throughout the day, Tina gets alerts on her console but she only needs to know about the ones requiring action on her part SO THAT she does not miss important ones by browsing among hundreds of them.

• Adesso capiamo cosa significa “Too many”• Ne capiamo l’importanza

Who is Tina?

Describe problems like a user story

• Describe a user that needs to resolve a problem so that he gets a benefit

(In a given scenario)

As a <Persona>I want to <Intent> so that <Valuable>

As a technical reviewer,• I want to access the information I am asked to

review in an univocal manner. I don’t want to fish for the files I need every time.

• So that I have the required time to review them before submission and save costly errors

Frequency?

• The deeper the problem (root)• The more innovative the solution can be

• INNOVATIVE?

Methodologies5

Metodologia di base

Prendiamo tutte le assunzioni ed ipotesi che abbiamo fatto nel nostro business model

Metologia• Quindi, prendiamo tutte le assunzioni ed

ipotesi che abbiamo fatto e le ordiniamo secondo le seguenti aree

LEAN CANVAS

Modellazione tramite Lean Canvas

Attenzione!• Il prodotto non è il prodotto!• Il prodotto è il Business Model

– Come attirare clienti– Come differenziarsi– Modelli di Pricing e Ricavi– Modello di Costi– Value Proposition– Canali

9 Aree

1. PROBLEM• I principali problemi che la nostra iniziativa

risolve

2. CUSTOMER SEGMENTS• Chi sono i clienti che vogliamo attirare• Buyer Personas

9 Aree

3. UNFAIR ADVANTAGE• Qualcosa del ns business plan che non puo’

essere facilmente copiato, emulato o acquistato dalla concorrenza

4. SOLUTION• Le 3 funzionalità principali (descritte in

termini di Primary User Persona)

9 Aree

5. UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION

Un singola, chiaro ed attraente messaggio che dichiara perchè siamo diversi e perchè siamo senza ombra di dubbio la scelta giusta

9 Aree

6. CHANNELS

Percorso, connessione tra noi ed il cliente

7. KEY METRICS

Attività chiave che vogliamo misurare (es. Crescita sottoscrizioni al variare dell’otttimizzazione del sito web, cohort analysis)

9 Aree

8. COST STRUCTURE

Costi di acquisizione clienti, distribuzione, hosting people etc.

7. REVENUE STREAMRevenue Model, Lifetyme Value, Revenue, Gross Margin

Work Smarter not Harder

The question is not

"Can this product be built?"

Instead, the questions are:

1. "Should this product be built?"2. "Can we build a sustainable business

around this set of products and services?"

The Personas Technique

PERSONAS

Primary Buyer persona: Brad VP of Operations

I want my product out the door on time and at the right cost, maintaining quality standards.Brian needs the product record updated as often as possible. The information provided by engineer forms the foundation for many of his decisions and forecasts. Therefore any barriers to adoption or use of the tool he can eliminate, directly improves his effectiveness and accuracy.

Secondary Buyer persona: Henry, VP of Engineering

I want my team to be able to build products on time and in a predictable and cost effective way. Accuracy of my product record is everything. And I need my team to be able to be productive with no artificial barriers.Accuracy of the product record is in question when superCAD is used in conjunction with any BOM management tool. His team’s productivity is negatively impacted as well.

Primary User persona: Matt, the Mechanical Engineer

I want to be an engineer. I don’t want to spend time in no value add activities doing the same thing on two different systems. This is manual, error prone and time consumingJeff is wasting 40 hours per product release on the manual upload of item and part data

SHIP DATERECALLS

ERRORS

I WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER!

Buyer Persona (summary)Brad, Responsabile delle Operazioni (VP Of Operations).

“Sono costantemente sotto pressione affinche’ il prodotto venga consegnato ai clienti nei tempi stabiliti e con la qualita’ stabilita”. Non dormo bene di notte perche’ so che che il minimo errore potrebbe costarmi la carriera nel caso di un recall.

Brad deve essere certo che tutti I dati del prodotto, dalle specifiche funzionali alla lista di fornitori certificati siano sempre aggiornati

L’informazione creata a manuntenuta dai tecnici ed ingegneri che usano svariati sistemi CAD e di data management sono la base di molte delle decisioni che prendiamo ogni giorno, tecniche e non.

Se queste non sono accurate o sono particolarmente prone ad errore umano, certamente non dormo sogni tranquilli.

L’ultima cosa che voglio vedere succedere e’ che il prodotto venga ritirato dal mercato causando il fallimento dell’azienda e la cassa integrazione per I dipendenti.

Ma se non faccio qualcosa, questo rischio rimane. Io voglio liberarmene una volta per tutte

Primary User Persona: Matt

Matt’s Business Goals: • Develop products that meet functional requirements, delivered on time, maximize part

reuse, meet cost targets and regulatory compliance etc.

Matt’s Personal Goals• Matt thrives on designing parts, resolving all sort of technical challenges and conflicting

constraints, and he excels at that.• Matt wants to get work done more easily. Matt has a family and even a life. He wants to

get the job done during “normal hours” to spend time with his family.• Matt hates spending time in activities that not only are tedious, labor-intensive and error-

prone, but that also can pose risks in accomplishing his assigned objectives.• Matt is not familiar and non-versed in data crushing and cleanup through spreadsheets

Environment• Team of 15 Mech engineers on MCAD and xPDM and 3 locations around the world (US,

NL and Philippines)

A perfect day• I resolve a design problem with a cool solution. It gets the product out back on schedule and

my boss praises my deep technical skills. I go back home on time

Mechanical Design EngineerHis company produces Tablets (eBook-like)

This new product will get in my way!

I don’t want and need to use it.

I am an engineer and want to be an

engineer!

92

Primary User Persona: Matt

Matt’s Daily Activitiy• Matt is a power user of MCAD. He lives and breathes in MCAD. He enjoys designing with

MCAD, which he believes it’s the best CAD product available in the market today.

Matt’s Nightmare• Last year his team was responsible of an alleged design mistake which caused the product

to ship one month past the deadline. Too bad that the fierce competitors did not miss the launch window for Xmas shopping.

• Matt does not know how much that loss was in terms of money and missed opportunity for his company, but he remembers very well the faces of the management team, including his boss.

What will happen to me if that happens again? Besides, it’s not even under my control. It is about data errors, not design

shapes or physical constraints

Mechanical Design EngineerHis company produces Tablets (eBook-like)

This new product will get in my way!

I don’t want and need to use it.

I am an engineer and want to be an

engineer!

93

The Power of personas• The product team understands whether a

feature should be implemented for power or ease-of-use

• The team members will focus on delighting personas instead of themselves.

Dev1:This is so cool. Customers will like itDev2: Mike does not need that. Mike needs this!Dev1: Right, But it would have been cool?Dev2: true, but let’s make Mike happy first!

Primary User Persona: Matt

Matt’s Personal Goals• Matt thrives on designing parts, resolving all sort of

technical challenges and conflicting constraints, and he excels at that.

• Matt wants to get work done more easily. Matt has a family and even a life. He wants to get the job done during “normal hours” to spend time with his family.

• Matt hates spending time in activities that not only are tedious, labor-intensive and error-prone, but that also can pose risks in accomplishing his assigned objectives.

Mechanical Design EngineerHis company produces Tablets (eBook-like)

This new product will get in my way!

I don’t want and need to use it.

I am an engineer and want to be an

engineer!

95

Brad, Responsabile delle Operazioni (VP Of Operations).

“Sono costantemente sotto pressione affinche’ il prodotto venga consegnato ai clienti nei tempi stabiliti e con la qualita’ stabilita”. Non dormo bene di notte perche’ so che che il minimo errore potrebbe costarmi la carriera nel caso di un recall.

Persona:• Un ritratto composito di un gruppo di persone

reali, che viene visto come una persona vera.• Una descrizione “umanizzata”, non un

semplice elenco di attributi. • Devi poter vedere il mondo attraverso i suoi

occhi

La chiave• Una persona è la “personificazione” di dati

provenienti da una ricerca• Ovvero, una serie di esperimenti da cui

impariamo sistematicamente• Il valore aggiunto delle personas e’ fornito

dalla “vivificazione” dei dati.• Il risultato è una persona vera, che ti parla,

che ha un nome, un volto, problemi e necessità, desideri e doveri, punti dolenti e obiettivi.

La chiave• E’ immediatamente riconoscibile,

internalizzabile, comunica da sola, ci permette di vedere il mondo con i suoi occhi

• E’ una tecnica di modellazione della realta’, che esiste indipendentementa da nostro prodotto

The Power of personas• The product team understands whether a

feature should be implemented for power or ease-of-use

• The team members will focus on delighting personas instead of themselves.

Dev1:This is so cool. Customers will like itDev2: Mike does not need that. Mike needs this!Dev1: Right, But it would have been cool?Dev2: true, but let’s make Mike happy first!

“PERSONIFICATION”

HOW?

LIVE INTERVIEWS!

HOW?

Use the LOOP methodology to develop your personas

HOW?• At this point you may be able to take

advantage from surveys• for quantitative data to get answers to the

right questions• “Interview 5, survey 100”

Process• Ricerca, assunzioni, elementi chiave• Start with something (MVP)• Test• GET Outside the Building• Iterate (LOOP) – persevere/pivot• Brad 1.0 – use it, share it, see if others

recognize him• Iterate (LOOP) – persevere/pivot• Then magic happens!! You will recognize

when you have nailed down a persona (like in a fictional serial killer book)

• Brad 2.0 final version! (just kidding)

Details about the persona discovery processJust like a “Product

Requiremnent Document” is not a

useful final deliverable, Personas

are always work in progress

Treat it as a Product, an Experiment

Ricerca (prima, dopo e durante)

• Read everything they read• Attend seminars they attend• Monitor conference topics• Talk with Sales people• Gain info from win\loss analysis• Use your website to capture persona info (who

looks for what, how much time etc)• Interview where they work• Interview on the phone• Interview at conferences• Triangulate buyer information from CRM

reports

Se avete gia’ clienti …

• Potete parlarci direttamente (BEST)• Leggere i logs del customer support• Usate i vs social media• Intervistate le vendite (!)• Conducete Win-Loss Interviews (BEST)

Attenzione: il vostrop focus NON sono i clienti che gia’ avete. Sono quelli che NON avete ancora!

Se non li avete• Operate in modo startup. • Fate assunzioni ma state abbastanza

“larghi”• Leggete quello che leggono• Frequentate eventi che frequentano• Partecipate a discussioni a cui partecipano• Leggete i loro blogs• Rifinite le assunzioni• Fate una lista di possibili contatti,

chiamateli e andateli ad intervistare

LIVE INTERVIES• E’ semplicemente il metodo piu’ efficace ed

efficiente• NO focus groups• NO surveys• NO sales interviews only• Abbiamo detto LIVE INTERVIEW• Potenziali clienti nel loro ambiente lavorativo

LIVE INTERVIES• Non andate a mostrare un prodotto né un

idea (anche se lo potete usare come pretesto) • Il Prodotto (MVP) lo facciamo vedere dopo• Andate per imparare, imparare, imparare.• Capire quello che non sapete di non sapere• Avere delle sorprese e’ un buon indicatore di

questo tipo di learning

LIVE INTERVIES• Non chiedete “quello che vogliono”• Ascoltate ma deviate se cominciano a

“confessarsi”.• Assecondate ego anzi usatelo per l’ultima

domanda sotto• Girate larghi e poi chiudete la rete!

– Priority initiatives– Dove vanno gli investimenti – Dove spende la maggior parte del suo tempo – Dove spende la maggior parte del sue energie– La giornata perfetta– Come cerca soluzioni a problemi– Che cosa non la fa dormire la notte?– Quali problemi – top of mind issues– Cosa vede nel mondo di ...– Se potesse decidere lei come andrebbero fatte le

cose, cosa deciderebbe?

Elementi da catturare• Priority Initiatives• Sleep deprivation• Success Factors• Perceived Barriers• Buying Process• Decision Criteria• Personal drivers (not hygienic drivers)

Non e’ Facile• Un giro di interviste deve avere gli stessi

obiettivi per poter poi comparare i risultati e trovare PATTERNS

• L’abilita’ di individuare PATTERNS e’ fondamentale

• Il management deve capire e dare la giusta priorita’ a questa attivita’. Sta a voi!

• ESEMPIO: JEFF• (fatelo anche di nascosto)

Sleep• What keeps your buyer’s awake at night?• Why?• Why?• Why again?

Always ask why. Several times. Don’t accept “because” as an answer

Success Factors• To understand the buyer ’s approach to a

Priority, identify what tangible or intangible rewards she associates with success.

– Grow revenue by X, cut costs by Y.” – Getting fired or demoted if …– The real story may be about ego inflation or the

desire to “get rid” of rivals.Note: Personal objectives are often stronger than “corporate” onesThey always must be taken into account(Who would not want to grow revenue by X?)

Ma non c’e’ un modo piu’ veloce?

• Basta chiedere alle vendite !• Ma facciamo un focus group!• Facciamo dei gran surveys!

Resist this temptation

• Surveys are useful when you know what the question is.

• Focus groups can get people to choose the best of three alternatives.

• But these techniques are OK for validating what you already know.

• The buyer persona interview process goes deeper to identify the questions you don’t know.

The PictureImpersonali, “impostate”Non comunicano

OKOK ma manca contesto

Perfetta (contesto = Vino) OK

THE POWER OF PERSONAS

The Power of Personas• Quando abbiamo la persona “in pugno”

accadono cose meravigliose• The dev team…

– Understands requirements with less detail and specification

– Makes good, reasonable implementation decisions independently

– Raises valid concerns and opportunities– Stays focused on the real requirements and

avoid being sidetracked by edge cases

The Power of Personas

The marketing Team knows what language to use and what topics are more valuable when:• Writing anything in the website• Setting up a campaign• Writing whitepapers• Organizing events• Design the social platform• Design the content marketing process and

contents.• Create buyer-centric content that focuses on

educating - not selling

• They talk in terms of Brad would want to…. Brad does not care about this!

Management Team• The Management team understands better

what we are doing and why• It’s easier to “convince” if needed• Knows we know what we are doing• Knows who they should invite or visit, read

about.• Knows why a painful decision has been

made (see Adele’s example)

Another powerful connection

• The diamonds

Market + Vision/Strategy

Business Case

Il Management da la direzione ma non riesce ad avere la visibilita’ necessaria a capire come vanno le cose. Troppi tecnicismi e dettagli

SpecificheFunzionali

Market + Vision/Strategy

Business Case

Chi sviluppa non ha sufficiente contesto, ha molte domande e deve spesso indovinare (scegliendo cosa gli piace piu’ fare)

Market + Vision/Strategy

Business Case

DIAMANTI

Market + Vision/Strategy

Business CaseBusiness drivers

Il Come La Soluzione

Bisogni delmercatoVisione e Strategia Aziendale

I DIAMANTI Collegano il Business con le Specifiche

Sono Misurabili, Visibili, Comunicabili

Diamanti• Requisiti ad alto livello, solution-free, che:• Dicono cosa fare in modo chiaro ed

incontrovertibile• Legano il business case con le specifiche

funzionali• Forniscono a tutti un linguaggio comune -

dal cliente al venditore

• Sono piu’ semplici da comunicare e prioritizzare

• Rendolo ogni decisione piu’ semplice• E’ piu facile compararli ad altri requisiti

diamonds (magari di un progetto parallelo)• Sono semplici da analizzare per creare

soluzioni• Sono in grado di fornire stime

ragionevolmente accurate• Riducono enormememnte il rischio di dover

rifare tutto o parti del prodotto

I DIAMANTI – uno schema infallibile

Conclusion• How can you build something buyers will

buy, users will use, if nobody knows them?

1. Get to know your Buyers, Users and their Problems (market-driven: PROBLEM-PERSONAS)

2. The product is the whole thing (LEAN CANVAS)3. Put it in the loop! (LEAN)

Conclusion

GETOUTSIDE

THEBUILDING

Sources and acknowledgments

Pragmaticmarketing.com – The Buyer Personas Institute

The lean Startup, Eric Ries

Running Lean, Ash Maurya

Management 3.0, Jurgen Appelo

The buyer persona institute, Adele Ravella

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, Alan Cooper

The New Rules of Marketing and PR, David Meerman Scott

Tuned-in, C.Stull, P.Myers, D.Scott

Market-driven.it, Donato Mangialardo

Malcolm McDonald, http://www.malcolm-mcdonald.com/biog.htm

More Sources• Mary and Tom Poppendiecks• Allan Cooper• joelonsoftware.com• productpersonas.com• Rally software• Sinan Si Alhir• Ken Schwaber• Mike Cohn• Dean Leffingwell• Tom Peters• Peter F Drucker• Feature plan• Jeff Patton