FrontEnd Conf Zurich 2013

@johnjpeebles

How to Build the Perfect Product Your Users Want But Can’t

Describe

@johnjpeebles

Design

Permeates EverythingIs More than Design

Is Everyone’s Responsibility

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Building Great Products is

HARD

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2 Kinds of HardExercise is Hard

Playing the Violin is Hard

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Why Do Great Products Matter?

Can be extremely disruptive

Make lives better

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About Me

John PeeblesCEO of Administrate

www.GetAdministrate.com

@johnjpeeblesjohn@peebs.org

@johnjpeebles

I don’t have all the answers.

I have made

plenty of mistakes!

@johnjpeebles

Building a Product is Solving a Problem

@johnjpeebles

Problem Solvers

• Earn more money• Are key to their team’s

success• Are the best developers

/designers / managers / etc.• Can be the difference

between success and failure

@johnjpeebles

This is Your Moment of

DemotivationProblem solvers are very, very,

rare.

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This is Your Moment of MotivationYou can do this!

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Building a product

should not be user driven

@johnjpeebles

“It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."— Steve Jobs

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."–Henry Ford

@johnjpeebles

Building a product should

be:Workflow Driven

Job DrivenResults Driven

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The Core MechanicKnow, Define,

Solve

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Know• Develop your Personas• Observe the Job• Work the Job• Visualise the Job• Learn the entire process• Understand motivations and

incentives

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Define

Don’t “Solve a Solution”

Discover the Problem!

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Which do You Go to First?

Pharmacist or the Doctor?

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Techniques of Problem Discovery• Reject the Premise of the

Question• Use the 5 Whys?• Take nothing as “given”• Don’t listen to users, watch

users!

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Examples

• “Add all the currencies!”• “I need another report!”• “Can you add X to Y?”

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Workflow

is All that Matters

@johnjpeebles

WARNING

• This requires people skills!• Don’t belittle of condescend!• Approach with an attitude of

grace• Approach with an attitude of

humility “I’m sorry but I’d love to understand a little bit better…”

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“We didn’t TRY to make it awful…”

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Propose the Solution

• Run through your personas• Visualize the workflow• “Use” the “solution”

yourself• Get feedback

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SHOW Your Work

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#ProTip

Consistencyis Key

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#ProTip

Innovation Usually

Requires Destruction

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#ProTip

Develop Lateral Thinking Using

Analogies

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#ProTip

If you get stuck, start proposing

stupid solutions

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#ProTip

People are always better at critiquing than

creating.

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#ProTip

Practice Solving

Problems

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Solving a Problem is a Process

• Don’t lose sight of the goal• Don’t fixate on features!• Continue to Improve

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Please share this!

John PeeblesCEO of Administrate

www.GetAdministrate.com

@johnjpeeblesjohn@peebs.org