For our last Lean Ignite here in New York, I decided to have a little fun and rant about all the excuses I hear from teams as to why they are *not* doing customer development. Below is the 5-minute video for those who are interested (link). And yes, now I finally understand why people tell me I sound like Jerry …
Strategic UX vs Tactical UX
There are strategic UX leaders, and then there are tactical UX implementers. To be a strategic leader, one needs to broaden thinking beyond design and usability, and start thinking holistically about critical business goals and risks. As the broader UX profession moves from being artifact-based to results-based, this is going to be critical. However, I see the online UX community …
Failure Is…
Failure is not a catch phrase Failure is measurable – you set a goal, and you fail to reach it Failure is a great teacher, if you are a good student Little failures mean you are innovating Big messy failures mean you are innovating poorly Failure does not equate giving up Failure does not equate rejecting your vision, although it …
Tech early adopters vs YOUR early adopters
I got my “Quora Weekly Digest” in my inbox tonight and saw this question: “What are the key differences between “Normals” (normal mainstream users) and tech early adopters?” There are some interesting answers (very consumer Internet focused) but I can’t help editorializing: As an entrepreneur, you shouldn’t care about “tech early adopters”. You need to focus on *your* early adopters. …
Learning to Think
At breakfast, my 6 year old daughter wanted to draw a peacock, so I pulled up a picture from Google. Her goal was to draw, and like most children, she has no challenge being creatively expressive. The teaching lesson became one of how to see, not how to draw. A few minutes later, I glanced at AVC and saw Fred …
What’s the difference between agile and lean UX?
On Quora, Jared Spool asked the question “What’s the difference between Agile Development & Lean UX?” There are a number of interesting responses. Here is mine: Agile dev and UX already focuses on rapid cycle times, constant collaboration, staying user-focused and continuous delivery of valuable software. Unfortunately too often, the definition of valuable gets muddied (or worse, is abdicated altogether …
What if I’m not solving a problem?
A lot of customer development language revolves around ensuring that you are solving a real problem, and the right problem. But what if you aren’t solving a problem? Lean startup principles still apply to games and entertainment apps. You have the same things to validate: user experience and an understanding of your value, who your customers are (and when certain …
Fred Wilson interviewed on Lean Startup
In September, Fred Wilson was generous with his time and joined our NYC Lean Startup Meetup to discuss lean startup ideas and other related topics. The event was video-taped and you can browse through all the clips at the below link. The video editor broke up the interview into smaller chunks, which hopefully you find easier to browse. In most …
Lameness of Lean
I’ve got too many half-finished blog posts but I found myself on the train back from New York tonight thinking about some more recent criticisms of lean. 1. I was coming from a dinner hosted by a really interesting VC who had been a programmer and product lead for a long time. He said that his biggest criticism of lean …
Reflections from Lean Startup Machine 10/2011
I spent Saturday mentoring the latest Lean Startup Machine in NYC, and as always it was a great experience. I love how the weekend isn’t about hacking up a cool idea, but the much harder task of figuring out whether something is worth doing. The participants push themselves and their ideas, and there’s a strong vibe around learning and improving. …