Agile Start Me Up - Using the Minimum Viable Discovery (MVD)

Agile - Start Me Up
Chris Chan
Using the MinimumViable Discovery (MVD)

Where does the backlog come from?
Chris Chan | @c2reflexions

Focus on the details too soon
Clear cause and effect from
work to outcomes
Disconnected “pile of leaves”;
Unclear relationships
Stories only get small and detailed just-in-time for delivery

The Underpants Gnome approach

No understanding of the business plan

#1 Task in the process is to

#1 Task (re-phrased):

Discovery – the missing piece

Discovery drives development
• Explore:
• Why are we here?
• What problem are we solving,
and for whom?
• What will customers value?
• Does the solution meet their
needs?
• Is it feasible to build with the
tools and time we have?
• Deliver:
• Describe and plan details
• Progressively refine backlog
into smaller details
• Design, develop and test
• Measure cycle time & evaluate
progress
• Evaluate quality
Adapted by Chris Chan (@c2reflexions) from Jeff Patton

Product development is a team sport
Agile Manifesto
• Value – Individuals and Interactions over Processes andTools
• Value – Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation
• Principal #4 - Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project
• Principal #5 - Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
• Principal #6 - The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team
is face-to-face conversation
• Principal #11 - The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams

Discovery is about achieving shared understanding and
alignment
Adapted by Chris Chan (@c2reflexions) from images by Jonathan Rasmusson
“We are all in agreement then”
Visualise & model
“Oh!”
Collaboratively develop
vision for execution and
iteratively model
“What if we did this…”
Shared understanding &
common objectives“Ah ha!”

Avoid assumptions on consensus
We get traction when we
leave Discovery:
1. Collective
understanding of the
vision and goals of the
product
2. Start to agree on how
we will work together
moving forward

Collaboratively co-author
• Top-down approach
• Connect people solving
the problem with the
problem space and why
• Increase your ability to
build the right thing

MVD
MINIMUMVIABLE DISCOVERY
Just enough to understand and get going

5 Step Basic Discovery Flow
Frame the
problem
Understand
the business/
customer
context
Frame the
solution
Plan
the
work
Commit
to
success
Collaborative Workshop

Chris Chan | @c2reflexions Image: http://www.biography.com/people/tom-jones-21026065

Vision
Pixar Pitch
1. Once upon a time there was …
2. Every day …
3. One day …
4. Because of that …
5. Because of that …
6. Until finally …
Twitter Pitch
<idea> #<benefit>
Geoffrey Moore ProductVision
For <target customer>
Who <statement of the need>
The <product name> is a <product category>
That <key benefit, compelling reason to buy>
Unlike <primary competitive alternative>
Our product <statement of primary differentiation>

Product Objectives and Success
Measures
• Business drivers
• What are the Success Measures
for the product?
• Revenue
• Market share
• New users
• Increased usage
• Increased customer
satisfaction (NPS)
• Other?
IRACIS
Primary
Driver
Secondary
Driver
Tertiary
Driver
Improve Revenue
Avoid Cost
Improve Service

Roman Pichler
Start building the Roadmap
We will
come
back to
Features
later
• Is a high-level, strategic plan
• Provides a longer-term
outlook on the product
• Creates a continuity of
purpose
• Sets expectations, aligns
stakeholders, and facilitates
prioritisation
Chris Chan | @c2reflexions http://www.romanpichler.com/tools/product-roadmap/

Trade-off sliders
What is “really important” to the stakeholders, what are they
prepared to trade-off
Fixed / Critical Flexible / Unimportant
User experience:
Feature completeness:
Quality:
Speed to market:
Security:
Minimise cost:

UNDERSTAND THE
BUSINESS/CUSTOMER
CONTEXT

Personas
• Makes users more tangible, less ambiguous, easier to
envision, easier to empathise with.
• Understand behaviours and user needs and goals.

User Journeys
• User’s (persona) experience
• Key interactions
• Identify opportunities for change
and improvement
Interactions Pain points
Tasks Distractions
Emotions
Channels

ArchitectureVision andTechnical
Solution
• High level only
• Discuss and validate
architectural approach

Story Mapping is an
approach to
Organising and
Prioritising user
stories
- Jeff Patton
Story Mapping is for telling bigger stories

Create Story Map
Customer
Journey
End-to-end use
Necessity
UI details
Flexibility
….
Features
Business/User
Goals
Activity
Customer journey image from www.servicedesigntools.org Adapted by Chris Chan (@c2reflexions) from Jeff Patton

Vision
Roadmap
Release
Iteration
Daily
Multi-level planning
Daily task planning by the individuals
Every iteration (1-4 weeks) byTeam & PO
1-3 months byTeam & PO
Quarterly byTeam, PO, Stakeholders
Yearly by PO, Stakeholders

Vision
Roadmap
Release
Iteration
Daily
Multi-level planning
Daily task planning by the individuals
Every iteration (1-4 weeks) byTeam & PO
1-3 months byTeam & PO
Quarterly byTeam, PO, Stakeholders
Yearly by PO, Stakeholders
Discovery

Small Medium Large Triple
Shot!!
Guesstimation: How much caffeine
does the team need?

Prioritise and identify the MVP
End-to-end use
MVP
MMF

Slice releases from the story map
End-to-end use
MVP First Release
Second Release
Third Release

Create the backlog
First ReleaseMVP Product Backlog

Roman Pichler
Update Product Roadmap
Update
Roadmap
based on what
we have
discovered
Add what
features are
needed from
Story Map

http://www.romanpichler.com/tools/product-roadmap/
Near term
more confident
Further out
details are more
vague
Roadmap is not a
fixed plan –
it will change!

31 October February Q2 Q3
Version 1
Cheetah
Version 1.5
Mountain Lion
Version 2
Yosemite
Version 3
Kangaroo
Customer
Acquisition
Improved ordering
experience
Retention
Customer
Acquisition: new segment
• Basic catalog
• Pay using Paypal
• Facebook
integration
• Stock availability
• Multiple shipping
options
• Credit card
payments
100 new user
signups per day
20% of signups
make a purchase
Repeat purchases
• Enhanced visual
design
• New products
• Promotions
• Mobile
New users
A sample roadmap

DISCOVERY
Are we all committed to this?
• The outcome is a team is prepared to execute and able
to adapt as they discover and learn more as they move
forward.
Did we achieve the
workshop objectives?

Fist-to-Five: getting to commitment
• Everyone votes at once
• 0 to 2: Explore concerns and ask what is
needed to get their vote to a ‘3’?

Final words…
• Timebox Discovery
• Couple of days to 1 or 2 weeks for a
3-6 month timeframe
• Co-locate
• No digital tools!
• Avoid committing to too much detail early
• Involve the right people, including key stakeholders
• Facilitation skills
Visualisation
is awesome!

IMPERFECT

Vision
Product Goals &
Outcomes
Personas
User Journeys
Wireframes
Technical Solution
ArchitectureVision &
Design Principles
Product Roadmap
Story Map
R1
R2
R3
Identify MVPs
and Releases
Product
Backlog
MinimumViable Discovery
Deliver and deploy

The 3Ds - Discovery, Development and Delivery is
ongoing

- Bruce Lee

At the end of the Discovery the team
will be ready to commence working

@c2reflexions
linkedin.com/in/chanchris
c2reflexions.com
chris@c2reflexions.com
I hope to be a disruptive force to
those who think the way we
develop products and services is
just fine
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Agile Start Me Up - Using the Minimum Viable Discovery (MVD)

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