These slides are for the software design class I teach (currently at UVA Darden). The materials page is here: bit.ly/sw-class .

1. © 2015 COWAN+
SOFTWARE DESIGN: SESSION 1
SETTING SAIL- UNDERSTANDING
THE METHODS
Alex Cowan

2. © 2015 COWAN+
ABOUT ME
Entrepreneur (5x)
Intrapreneur (1x)

3. © 2015 COWAN+
THE VENTURE DESIGN PROCESS
SCALE?
PIVOT?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
USER STORIES
& PROTOTYPES
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
SHOW
M
E
…
?
WHATIF?
Is the problem
relevant? Is the
proposition better
vs alternatives?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
Did the
implementation
deliver on
the story?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?
How did the customer
/user react?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

4. © 2015 COWAN+
www.alexandercowan.com
ABOUT ME

5. © 2015 COWAN+
ALEX COWAN
alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF
SETTING SAIL: 6 QUESTIONS
1. Why would this class be important to you?
2. How will you be improved at the end of this class?
3. What methods will we use?
4. How will we work together?
5. What work will we do?
6. What about grading?

6. © 2015 COWAN+
ALEX COWAN
alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF
1. WHY WOULD THIS CLASS BE IMPORTANT TO YOU?
Scale
Friendly
Innovation
Friendly
$ !?
? ! ? ? ?

7. © 2015 COWAN+
1. WHY WOULD THIS CLASS BE IMPORTANT TO YOU?
$ !?
? ! ? ? ?
#1: Start with the
individual
#2: Anchor to
problems,
not solutions
#3: Become a better
storyteller
#7: Learn first,
scale second
#8: Find yourself,
then create new identities
#4: Circulate ideas
#5: Test early, test often
#6: Let ideas die
with dignity

8. © 2015 COWAN+Hacker, etc: The ‘H2D’ pattern from David McClure of 500Startups
2. HOW WILL YOU BE IMPROVED AT THE END OF CLASS?
BETTER IDEAS, SOONER
You’ll improve your ability to generate
and test high-quality ideas, both
strategic and tactical.
HUSTLER
BETTER COLLABORATOR
You’ll learn to supply better inputs
and more innovation-friendly
project framing. You’ll drive better
discussions.
HACKER
BETTER PRACTICE &
INTERFACE
You’ll learn foundation product design
skills and be able to engage on
problems with the practice of design.
DESIGNER

9. © 2015 COWAN+
3. WHAT METHODS WILL WE USE?
SCALE?
PIVOT?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
USER STORIES
& PROTOTYPES
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
SHOW
M
E
…
?
WHATIF?
Is the problem
relevant? Is the
proposition better
vs alternatives?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
Did the
implementation
deliver on
the story?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?
How did the customer
/user react?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

10. © 2015 COWAN+
3. WHAT METHODS WILL WE USE?
TERMS
Design Thinking
Design Research
Needfinding
Product Design
Industrial Design
Human-Centered
Design
PEOPLE
Donald Norman
David Kelley+IDEO
Jeanne Liedtka
Studs Terkel
BOOKS
The Design of Everyday
Things
10 Faces of Innovation
The Designing for
Growth Field BookVALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
WHO?PERSONAS
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

11. © 2015 COWAN+
3. WHAT METHODS WILL WE USE?
TERMS
Lean Startup
Customer Development
Effectuation
Growth Hacking
PEOPLE
Eric Ries
Steve Blank
Saras Saravathy
Sean Ellis
Andrew Chen
BOOKS
The Lean Startup
Four Steps to the Epiphany
Effectual Entrepreneurship
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
WHATIF?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?

12. © 2015 COWAN+
3. WHAT METHODS WILL WE USE?
TERMS
Agile
Pair or Extreme Programming
(XP)
Test-Driven Development
PEOPLE
Kent Beck
Martin Fowler
(Agile Manifesto Crew)
+ many others
BOOKS
(agile manifesto)
(various)
USER STORIES
& PROTOTYPES
SHOW
M
E
…
?
How did the customer
/user react?

13. © 2015 COWAN+
3. WHAT METHODS WILL WE USE?
TERMS
User Experience (UX)
User Interface (UI)
Responsive Design
PEOPLE
Donald Norman
+ many others
BOOKS
(various)
PIVOT?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
USER STORIES
& PROTOTYPES
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
SHOW
M
E
…
?
WHATIF?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
Did the
implementation
deliver on
the story?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?
How did the customer
/user react?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

14. © 2015 COWAN+
3. WHAT METHODS WILL WE USE?
SCALE?
PIVOT?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
USER STORIES
& PROTOTYPES
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
ASSUMPTIONS
SHOW
M
E
…
?
WHATIF?
Is the problem
relevant? Is the
proposition better
vs alternatives?
Do we understand
this person? What
makes them tick?
Did the
implementation
deliver on
the story?
Was the implemented
story relevant to the
proposition?
How did the customer
/user react?
WHO?PERSONAS
WHAT?
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

15. © 2015 COWAN+
4. HOW WILL WE WORK TOGETHER?
time
alternatives
divergence convergence
source: adapted from ‘The Design of Everyday Things’
generate
divergent ideas
(by working
individually)
converge the best
of what you’ve
created (as a
group)

16. © 2015 COWAN+
4. HOW WILL WE WORK TOGETHER?
Finding the Right
PROBLEM
Finding the Right
SOLUTION
time
alternatives
divergence convergence divergence convergence
source: adapted from ‘The Design of Everyday Things’

17. © 2015 COWAN+
4. HOW WILL WE WORK TOGETHER?
CLASS 1
Eve (team A) completes her
assignment and sends it to Kris
for peer review. Also to the
instructor.
Kris (team B) does the same.
CLASS 2
Eve (team A) sends Kris (team B)
feedback on his assignment from
Class 1.
Kris (team B) does the same.
CLASS 2+
Team A consolidates the
work from Class 1.
Team B does the same.
Eve
Kris

18. © 2015 COWAN+
4. HOW WILL WE WORK TOGETHER?
Diverge
Eve has her own version of the
Google Doc template.
Converge
Eve by Eve
Team has a shared group
version of the Google Doc
template
by
Team A
team
convergence
activity

19. © 2015 COWAN+
5. WHAT WORK WILL WE DO?
Finding the Right
PROBLEM
Finding the Right
SOLUTION
time
alternatives
divergence convergence divergence convergence
source: adapted from ‘The Design of Everyday Things’
User Stories
Personas
Problems
Alternatives
Field
Discovery
Value Hypothesis &
Assumptions
Product
Hypothesis
Software
Prototypes
Experiments on Motivation

20. © 2015 COWAN+
6. WHAT ABOUT GRADING?
Attendance, Participation, & Peer Reviews: 30%
Completion of Individual Assignments: 20%
Venture Design- Team Project: 50%

21. © 2015 COWAN+
ALEX COWAN
alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF
SETTING SAIL: 6 QUESTIONS
1. Why would this class be important to you?
2. How will you be improved at the end of this class?
3. What methods will we use?
4. How will we work together?
5. What work will we do?
6. What about grading?

22. © 2015 COWAN+
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Do/Individual: Draft Project Personas, Problem Scenarios, and Alternatives
(30-60 min).
2. Do/Individual: Draft Customer/User Discovery Questions (20-40 min.)

23. © 2015 COWAN+
bit.ly/vdesignCheck out
Venture Design
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
@cowanSFTwitter
acowan@alexandercowan.comGet in touch!
Use Customer Discovery
Handbook
bit.ly/cdhandbook
bit.ly/sw-classView this deck
FINI