Dan Rockwell

Program Manager of the Software Prototyping Center

Ohio State Technology Commercialization & Knowledge Transfer Office

Co-Founder at Big Kitty Labs

28 concepts, 7 startups, 3 years

fun with SPEED and code

LET’S PROTOTYPEapplause now

We’re all delusional until we get our asses kicked.

ownershipvision vs product

prototype’s purposestrategybuild it

parallel processingspeed is kinglie, cheat, steal

evolvefeedback cycle

the tale of traction

divvy up the rolespick a product lead

grant them ownershipget out of their way

the product will die if no one owns it

ownership

Vision is timeless, unlimited budget and composed of infinite possibilities- a product has 120 days to be real.

vision and product don’t mixat least not right now

your mission is momentummaking something is momentum

the sales guy preaches vision, you execute it

Vision speaks to who you could be,product is what you wake up to the next morning.

vision vs product

A prototype’s purpose is to get data.

purpose

screen strategythink points of interaction

land/inform

user account experience

admin panel (you)

featureville

enterprise on boarding

rails vs php vs don’t care get’r done

be mindful of enabling tech

staples apply to everything

build it

the tech really doesn’t matter

build it

no devsbe 1000 timesmore creative

have devs be 1000 times

more productive

you don’t needcode to get data

no money some money

parallel process

everything you do as the product lead should be focused on going fast

build your creative execution cycle to maximize SPEED

eliminate barriers and choke points(rubber necking, ownership, delegating, design, ux, data collection, code, project management,

knowing what’s happening and what’s next)

be the first to forgive yourself when the product sucks

SPEED

SPEED

THE PRODUCT

THE SPLASH

The first brand we’re comfortable with.

prototype, building it, accept that it is never ending

initial PR piece that tells people you’re coming, A/B test ground for vision and marketing messages, feature alignment

72 hours

120 days to beta

3 weeks

the brand you all eventually agree upon

SPEED THE PRODUCT

discovery

just thinking product...

2 weeks

120 days to beta

iteration 15 days

feed cycle3 days

iteration 22.5 weeks

iteration 32.5 weeks

Build what matters, not- logins, user accounts, payment systems, social

sharing components, about us pages.

Steal from everyone.

98% of your effort should be focused on realizing your idea.

Dressing isn’t traction. Traction is core concept failing miserably over multiple iterations to

decent momentum.

lie, cheat, steal

1st iteration is crap, barely works, looks like hell but your date is still interested, its built in 5 days with crushing all

nighters, massive brainstorms, sweet ah ha’s and pounding music. It is the first time the team feels alive.

It sets the pace of what’s to come.

evolve

2nd iteration is better, bit changes complete, adding some sauce, cleaning the core. Adding little extras while

we get some feedback.

3rd iteration after decent feedback is progressive. The thing is show-able more so than the first. Its no joke, its working.

Feedback is the bane and the lifeblood of the product lead. You learn to love and hate feedback. You must collect it all,

analyze for patterns and avoid rubbernecking at all costs.

As the product lead you have authority to say no to dumb feedback, especially if it takes you off course.

Likewise you have the authority to tell team members, not yet.

You are judged by the collective outcome of product,traction and momentum.

feedback

let’s get some feedback

apprenticealoud protocolgoal scenarios

avoid biaslet them stumble

tell me morewhy

the worst feedback

its nice

i think other people would love this

bad feedback turquoise makes me think of my mother in

the winter

tins? who has tins?

sacla is a horrible brand

logo makes me think of pants and my ass

icon for meat should be a cow

sainsbury, who goes there?

could be darker

feedback you can use i don't know if i can click these are not, are

they buttons?

pricing should be in $ based off my account

preferences

search should capture comments, descriptions

sainsbury doesn't stand out as much as most popular, i’m not sure where i’m at

is that a drop down?

the product

feedback collected and heard

more often

feedback with no pattern

iterativeoperational

feedback20minutes

to fix

vision orientated feedback you cant address

rubberneck ville

speed

build for productbuild for team synergy

build is tractiontraction is attractive

tale of traction

enable your story- lessons learned

- give back- document it

so let’s recap

own itlead it- be the product not the visionunderstand the prototypes purpose

what are you buildingparallel process, pr vs product, you can do both

tech doesn’t matterSPEED, SPEED, SPEED

do not build crap that doesn’t matterevolve through iterations

get feedback, analyze, act onthe tale story of how you’re making it happen

thanks, questions?

presented for Ohio University - Innovation Engine Accelerator 2013