Are you ready to build an MVP? Where do you start? How do you know what features to build? How do you know how many people you need to build it? How do you know that they are building a right thing in a right way? This presentation and conversation will explore strategies for assembling effective teams for building and deploying an MVP while incurring minimal Product and Technical Debt. We will also discuss implementing an effective process to make sure that your MVP will be built on time and on target.

1. SERGEY SUNDUKOVSKIY PH.D.
From an Idea to a Product
1

2. Introduction
2

3. Background
3

4. Agenda
4

5. Product Building
WHY BUILD PRODUCTS?
Costly
Uncertain
Time Consuming
5

6. Product Building (cont.)
DON’T, IF YOU CAN AVOID IT
Partner
Use Existing
Integrate
6

7. Product Building (cont.)
WHAT DO YOU GET OUT IT?
Improved Margin (if you build it right)
Control (more or less)
Opportunity (if you do it fast enough)
7

8. Well It Could Have Happened
8

9. How Do You Eat an Elephant?
9

10. HOW?
10

11. Design Centric Approach
11

12. WalkMe
12

13. Guided Flow
13
Help Bar

14. Wireframes
14

15. Wireframes (cont.)
15

16. Wireframes (cont.)
16

17. Wireframe Structure
17

18. Wireframing Tools
18

19. Mockups
19

20. Mockups (cont.)
20

21. Mockups (cont.)
21

22. Static Prototype
Wire it together
22

23. Static Prototype (cont.)
23

24. Static Prototype (cont.)
24

25. Prototyping Tools
25

26. Mark Up
26

27. Who
You Can’t Outsource What You Do Not Understand
27

28. Offshore Development
It is not going to be cheaper
28

29. Fixed Bid Projects
29
Just do not do it

30. Someone You Trust
30
Have somebody on your side of the table

31. All The Wrong Reasons
31
Wrong Expectations
 Solution to Ignorance (outsourcing what you do not understand)
 It Will Be Cheaper (min 30% overhead)
 We Can Achieve Instant Scalability (it takes time to hire)
 Poaching Is not a Problem (no difference)
 We Can Minimize Office Distractions (hallway magic)

32. All The Right Reasons
32
Right Expectations
 Somewhat Easier to Find Talent
 24 h Dev/QA Cycle
 Improved Ramp Up/Ramp Down Cycles
 Specific Expertise

33. Vendor Speak
33

34. What Do They “Really” Mean
34
We Can Do Anything (we do not have a specialization)
We Need a Product Spec (we are going to sit and wait until you
give us specification on stone tablets)
We Can’t Tell You Finish Date (we have not looked at the
details)
This Can’t Be Done (we do not know how to do it)
We Made It Work on a Local Machine

35. Works Locally
We are not shipping your computer
35

36. What Do They Mean
36
We Are Making Good Progress (things have likely stalled)
We Are Working on the Back-End (we have not done much)
We Will Tie Lose Ends Later (it will not be our problem)
We Are 90% Done

37. 90% Done Problem
What Do They Mean by That?
37

38. Congruent Culture
Pick a Congruent Culture
38

39. Offshore Team Picking
39
Congruent Culture (challenge authority)
Language Gap (make sure you speak it)
Working Hours Overlap (4+)
Right Size (30+ large enough to have a bench)
Right Size (100- small enough to care)
Right Focus (we do everything)
Do Not Let It Grow (micro-teams)

40. Managing Your Project
40

41. Do Not Throw It Over the Wall
41
Nothing good will come of it

42. Planned vs. Agile
42
VS

43. SCRUM
Do you SCRUM?
43

44. Agile SCRUM Process
44

45. Show and Tell
Weekly Show and Tell. This is the only way
45

46. Weekly Activities
46
Daily SCRUM Meetings
 What did you do?
 What are you working on?
 Are you blocked?
Weekly SPRINT Planning
 What User Stories are we going to do?
 Are they clear?
 What is the estimate?
Weekly Show and Tell
 Do not tell it to me, show it to me

47. Defining Your Product
47

48. Defining MVP
48

49. MVP Core Functionality
Ideal MVP
49

50. Ideal MVP
Mini-Me is an Ideal MVP
Core Functionality
 Identical “DNA”
 Same Major Features
 Same Major Functionality
 Same Usability
 Not Up To Scale
 Not As Pretty
50

51. MVP Features
“Easy to Use Was not on the List”
51

52. MVP Attributes
Intelligent Design Concepts
Irreducible Complexity
 Can’t Take Anything Away
 Can’t Be Simpler
Most Efficient For What It Does
 Most Efficient Wins
 Most Efficient Survives
Path to Intent
 Most Straightforward Path to Intent
52

53. Irreducible Complexity
Simplest Mousetrap
53

54. Path To Intent
“Reboot After Every Click”
54

55. Intent Documentation Elements
Intent Documentation
 Assumptions
 Epics
 User Stories
 System Use Cases
 Business Rules
 Actors
55

56. User Stories
As Who I Want This and Why
56

57. User Stories Myopic View
Watch Out For Myopic View
57

58. “Nirvana” Features
 Admin
 Installation
 Analytics
 Account Management
 Help Management
 Walk Through Management
 Tutorial Management
 Video Management
 App Management
58

59. “Nirvana” Drilldown
 Account Management – Allows user to manage accounts
and account related activities in the system
 Manage User Accounts (create, update, delete)
 Manage Master Account (update)
 Manage User Permissions (author, update, publish)
 Manage Account Subscription (upgrade, downgrade, cancel)
 Manage Payments (credit card info)
59

60. Mind Map
60

61. Core Functionality = MVP = Alpha
 Account Management – Allows user to manage accounts
and account related activities in the system
 Reset Password – Allows account users to reset credentials
61

62. Beta
 Account Management – Allows user to manage accounts
and account related activities in the system
 Manage Account Subscription (upgrade, downgrade, cancel)
 Manage Payments (credit card info)
62

63. GA
 Account Management – Allows user to manage accounts
and account related activities in the system
 Manage User Accounts (create, update, delete)
 Manage Master Account (update)
 Manage User Permissions (author, update, publish)
63