Lessons

Lesson Info

Establishing Efficiency Goals

So the last one is efficiency so officials is he's a tough one to explain because efficiency ultimately really is about howto make things easier better um uh like if it's a company for example that has internal communications issues you know you can talk about you know, for a corporate client you can talk about an extra net if it's for us here now it's a start up one of the things that we can do for the already I know brand identity and stuffed into a style guide early so like one of the ways that I execute startups is I don't design the screens I do a style escape which is just a general look and feel of the identity in the brand etcetera we actually have an episode on youtube on the school channel on the school network on style scapes and uh based on the style escape then we do it more granular style guide with fonts, colors and general aspects of the design why do I do that? Because again it's designing the system you're going to change screens a lot and it lets you do high fidelity...

calms quicker so I get wire frames and I already have a style guide boom screen boom screen it makes and I also do something called a startup kit which is where I build all the modules oven application for the ceo and kino why is that good because they can design screens to their heart's content to present to goto investor presentations. It's a pretty good technique to build the product and keynote for the ceo early on oh damn that's way too efficient that's perfect for so this is an example of efficiency. What I just share that's an example those are also examples of efficiency there's development there's like way had a group of developers would be like get a job. You know, we're talking about all the things to make the development process more efficient. It was the mba is that would be talking about, you know, we need, you know, whatever you guys my do, I don't know for efficiency wait a plan, we need a don't know spreadsheet, yes task, whatever those might be so go what other things that we need to do for smart feed for making everything more efficient, agile, training, agile training dan you want, like for the general early, like at the beginning, start with something fun and light, you know, like we need to start a guide, I don't know agile training for the business. Three more efficient products, more fishes into custody so I don't separate them okay, so the reason why I wanted to do revenue, the question is, you know, it's all brainstorm anyway, because we don't know yet, right? We're looking for a business model, which is the definition of starting at the beginning. Another thing when I'm designing a startup, I don't design the product, I designed the startup, so because this you designed to start up, it designs itself design, thinking it's a process and a framework that you can apply to a problems, ibm didn't apply design thinking toe a product they actually started putting design thinking into their culture so that the culture created the innovation. So it's a very interesting insight, I don't design products because I don't believe in products the product will not make you successful that's my belief because I've done so many startups, and especially with product guys with tech guys nine out of ten failed, so the product didn't make him succeed. What? What? What is it that makes him succeed? Because the product is just the user is actually more important than the product, and you can get users without a product just by giving them something. So the question is value, how do you give them value? And you had that in the other one value versus sufficient ese so that's a hard one, because the mistake that I see frequently and I'm switching into teaching, which let's just keep under the exercise, all right? I'll tell you about that mistake later, it's not a mistake, it's just a it's a privatization issue it's what it's what chris was asking for? I call it the brick effect, which is where you put a product into the market that is too much feature rich too early it's harder to gauge which ones are going to stick because you're putting the user has to get through all of those features in order to figure out what the value proposition is versus just saying here's one feature that's valuable potentially notice the story of most start ups to succeed twitter before was twitter. It was actually a micro blogging platform that had a bunch of other features the micro blogging or tweet was the only thing that will survive um you hear it over and over again, it was this big thing it was big, small thing, the school, it was the entire process to run an agency that is our first product, these three exercises where that what everybody said f everything else, dude, we don't really care those things are really cool, everything else we can get somewhere else what do we do? Chopped it all off and just did that happens every time eighty percent of what you launch with we'll be gone, so this is important, but I just going to preach her mother huh? That's exhausting sorry for you more than for me probably. Uh are you ready for ten? Yes go do it I think that's the stiles did you say style scape yes, south style got in soundscapes everything's yes. So style style escape style scape style guide that sure cut a lot of the work so that you're not we working too much too fast I mean big efficiently thing agile is already up there. Uh let's talk about the product that's right after that old sermon let's talk about the product that could make the product more efficient. Yeah, you I used your face is getting them getting people comfortable with testing so we get a lot of feedback quickly testing that's a great one. Um um uh release schedule what I mean by that is and this goes back to agile you have a fix release schedule no matter what. So like you cut features instead of delay, which is what agile does actually. But, uh, I would say a tool for integrated project plan and communicating with people who are inflexible and remote and different looking online collaboration to also like slack or something like that and that we're all using the same one because I think everybody's got comfort with different ones that we're not all like on one good point and that brings up even another one um not just the online collaboration tools etcetera but the investor deck or tools to present so I'll call that flexible till supreme best their tools because you're gonna make things change etcetera you just need a good framework um what else? Early adopters and early early early users beta users you need yeah, well and I'm waiting in crude early many users yeah, I'm taking to the next level because I'm thinking of these this perspective refers so people who are really fired up about the product that's a really good one and you could do that by inviting your home's mailing list bringing them into a session design an agenda session, do something similar to this with them have them designed the product for you I've done that for startups I wish they listen to me but meaning there they listen to their users. Um but that's okay, well, let's go keeping I'm giving two more just two more and we're good efficiency tool sufficiently tools I think ways to distill the complexity um so like a great video that explains what we do in the power of it. Okay, so so we'll call it an explainer video that's super compelling okay and viral okay, okay, hold still out there holding one day at a time and explain their video compelling and viral is there like qualitative attribute the exploiter video but it's a way to scale our outreach to like the parent groups for the soccer team make somehow have our sound bite message that we can scale internees yeah um but but you're talking more adam you can't add a technological level yeah so it's that sack you right so scaling starts first with messaging like a message in style god it's like a clear rally proposition so elevator pitch elevator pitch just tighter is that so you're not writing it every single time it's a process for for let's call it messaging framework not massaging ms jean framework I know what that means it has to be unpacked but I know exactly what you're saying it's like a way that you could do it very easily to all the audiences this is actually a framework for that you can have each user we can choose the value proposition to each user then you can go down to what tone you communicate to each user what's what's a content that we could give the shoes er um this might be an agile training but we need a quick way to test the next ten you know things are hypotheses are there this is missing this is missing this is missing and we need a much faster way to test and learn that we have done to date user feedback yeah but you certainly wait I got it that that that's a tough one hypotheses and it's the holy grail ish but you're right it dovetails back to that alright, so cool let's actually score a quick one because golf I've seen it bounce the difference between a technological, fully integrated solution versus a brute force solution that's people dependent curation of the answer top ten lists interesting that content base testing and it'll actually allows you to say without developing the entire city I love where he's going with us to the user it's blind love it the user does that carry? They don't know what's coming down the pipeline that's an interesting one that's the approach I've used for what I'm doing now that's a slow boat to china the way I'm doing it and my business partners don't necessarily agree with it but now we're accelerating but now we have extremely validated extremely like high fidelity value proposition so it's easy like suddenly the uptick it's faster so there's a balance between all those things and this is a voodoo class for start ups that's going to be the next course I teach how to do start ups with food ooh uh there we go thank you, jim agile training desirability you suggested it's an advocate for it ok, you go with a big smile stass capes I don't know who put that up there but it still escapes tall guy the same thing they're slightly different what its functional operational wants to make the decision as to what it should look like ten after you do that then you do that ten cool you I design it's party idol nine it goes into the style guide so it's gonna happen concurrent testing I know that ten release schedule I advocated for that one so I'm gonna go tonight I'm lying to us communicate this is calm this is an important one that's a ten investor tools that's a damn ten recruit early users that's a ten I'm weighing in on these now here on explainer video I don't know I don't really care too much about it right now the second way yeah that's far more important to hear from a friend about it than to ok yeah so you're you're giving it a seven okay good alright interns in economics question no internal uh yeah seven way let me not a message messaging framework quick way of testing hypotheses that kind of testing thes two are related sorry there that line is in the way I love what he said content based validation that's an awesome one you just throw up a block start giving like the reviews and stuff advocate chris what do you want to get? Ten, ten ten that's a smart one all right, so let's go toe obtain ability or do ability is you have access to agile training and can you do it and you have time nine way we've got access to staff scape hey that's not it's not impossible style guide us a little harder it'll take a little more times as his seven six marry michelle megan megan dammit that's the section over there I think it's to me okay good I like megan's positivity you I design that's a that's a nine that's seen some nine alright alright roger right testing and this is user testing right now we're talking ten awesome that's awesome really schedule so harbour once yeah tied to a job eight online tools to communicate it's choosing and test runs black is grade eight I like it see that it has an app tools investor tools but hey I think we can do that it's easy nine but I'll go because it seems to be a way and I'll give it a name I mean I weighed in ate with her and you did nine so I waited down to recruit early it's not a scientific process but recruit early users no way have some we have already yeah ten boom our access to manage explaining that's different that's a new one so neither we had at has a thing or we're gonna score score tio the dish about how useful this is, how I make it useful explain your video it's not even that well I'm gonna go five dang you're harsh all right you're right you're right I think it's big dollars to do it well you have the product of the script and the structure is really what matters the reading the damn thing kino but yeah the challenge is really what it says and sound effects interns that's a little hard six nobody's into it six messaging framework ate a quick way of testing nine nine tighter raja content based validation that's easier than some of these actually nine especially they're interrelated he's actually not wrong that is actually very right I believe in the power of insurance all right term agile training uh short medium long short of that we're gonna be doing all this it has to be a good sure shorty and sort to me and I am sure to make it out are you got to choose one I'm weighing in at shortstop guide short aren't you okay so here's the thing here is your service provider and you're facilitating I weigh in transparently and I say I think we need to do this so if you're not a service provider in the team you can still weigh in an advocate for what you want that's what the point of the damn processes now somebody can vote you back and say well no I think it's not as important but then the obtain abilities more objective can we really do it if you're the service provider, you're confident in doing it it weighs it up so that's scoring all right so you I design short testing user medium short and medium, but we'll call it medium for now release schedule let's tyto agile short online tools has short some short uh recruit early users it's already being done but can we do the management more long term medium medium explainer video medium uh interns it doesn't sound like there's a lot of will for short, medium medium at least not from the stage chris is in descent I'm with chris so we can't win because I'm not part of the start up but messaging framework but if I wass I would wear on chris aside actually short, I actually think sometimes work you've done with the curation team is part of that solution you know they're a different angle on interns, but they're so what I think they were going to end up being incredibly core I use insurance to do this basically there's a lot of energy and enthusiasm and you don't want to curtail it I just let him go and watch it's like a petri dish I'm like let's see what they come up with and wherever the that might be arranged this way off from what I'm thinking or it might be a really insightful thing some of the biggest insights for what I'm doing have come from media saying let's see what they do because they're the audience uh in this case or not unless your intern is also mom or dad which could be the kids who knows but I use it as an experimental kind of tool but that sounds evil all right let's move on message in framework short term short term yes that's a good one quick way of testing hypotheses that's a medium in a short term one but everything is short on this one jesus content based validation probably more you know where you are I'm with usage doesn't it the constant validation what he's talking about he's talking about just starting to release like top ten list okay, right. So your courage, right? And if there's curator's if there's people on it you look good by the way you already have so much content in your research well, because I reviewed at all and it's actually kind of tedious for me to review it but I'm like just start putting this shit out like just put it out was but all this is his six hours like tweets boom boom boom facebook it's kind of like the air into the moses. All right, moving on that was the most abstract minute forever so give me some auditions nineteen, eighteen eighteen, eighteen, seventy I couldn't do it I'm not that gun but you got to participate eighteen eighteen eighteen thursday seventeen thank you. Head of the class for all that, eh, let's? See what comes up here? All right, anything about fifteen lots coming up here? Yeah, this is getting we're really efficient team or this or this process is not great. Do you raise your bar when you have so many that are high? Yeah, I'll show you how you actually do it. Um you might have to re filter and I go back it's called agile it's called the voice of reason, which is you go back and you go really it's like seth meyers is that I live really um and the reality too is that it actually also does represent some of the different things in the urgency of some of the things. Okay, so it's a lot of stuff there, so agile training style escape style guide you I designed these air all co morbid as my therapist would say there are related, so this is probably one item. So meaning one effort with one resource or to release schedule online tools this one's super easy to deal with this one is not messaging framework. At the end of this process, we can probably potentially doing it's a seventeen also so it's a little lower quick way of testing nineteen its high and it is short term it's cool, morbid with this one this one is the one is an outlier this is definitely one that I do believe it's important that that kind of weighs heavy um so I wouldn't say this is horrible this is not that horrible it was really disparate things like and there's tech involved but I know you guys got a lot of tech handled we didn't address is mobile because that's what we're going to do today but some of these components yeah we didn't have a dress applications mobile right we've gotta have a starscape style guide you mean they say you have to test as agile training's gonna help us get that adoration what would martin no martin what would switch this to be more like this was when I made the comment and I went on my on my on my rant about like designing the startup versus the product if we would have sticked kept to the product this would've been prioritizing other components of ah making you know like the single button the smart feed all these things would have been efficiency for the user so I just derailed this away from user to start up is that a batter a good thing? It's actually a good thing it's a good thing because it's actually more valuable to them as a start up than if I would have maintained the whole thing like smart feed versus this feature better or worse actually a quick way of testing which of those is better or worse is more valuable than which one it is because that's going to change things change a lot variability changes so going back to the rule of the designer away from and this is what I believe so I'm not saying you guys need to do it this way you can go straight into the feature set just do it about features in terms of efficiency I do believe that the role of the designer is not only as an advocate but it's a facilitator for the success of the business you know here's the worst thing I ran an agency for eleven years and I took a lot of money from a lot of people to do start especially if self funded start upset when its investors I don't care I mean they know they're going to lose their money but when it's the people's money and you know that they're not going to succeed me nine out of ten start ups fail out of the thirty forty starters I've worked on on ly three are still around at some point I'm too empathetic I can't take the weight some people can say their client they're paying you you're doing the work that's it no I mean if I don't believe and if I'm not willing to be and investor myself and the startup I don't work on it that's that's where I got to after ten years of doing started and that's, what I believe today. So your job as a designer is, are you there to design the interface or you there to ensure that the start of succeeds? If you're there just for the interface? I'm not, I won't do that, so I don't know that makes any sense to you guys that resonates. That's, that's. Getting us in our dna is what we're trying to dio. So either you're in it or you're not.