SOFTWARE DESIGN: SESSION 13

THE HORIZON-
TRENDS FOR
INTERDISCIPLINARIANS
Alex Cowan

2015 COWAN+
WHERE YOU SHOULD BE NOW
Epic Stories Experiment(s) for
CUSTOMER
Child Stories DISCOVERY &
hypothesis testing
EXPERIMENTS
Supporting Storyboards Usability test suite
?
Parallel Prototypes

E
M
Interactive Prototype

WH
W

AT
S HO
PRODUCT &
Usability Test Plan + Test

IF
PROMOTION

?
Results
Personas, Problem Scenarios
VALUE
including Think- Alternatives PROPOSITIONS &
USER STORIES
ASSUMPTIONS Summary Value
See-Feel-Do Value Propositions & PROTOTYPES
Hypothesis
(Converged) Before & After
Storyboards MVP Ideas

E?
Assumptions for Value

AL
PIVOT?

SC
Hypothesis
AIDAOR Storyboard
?
AT
WH
PROBLEM Interview Guide
PERSONAS WHO? SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
2 (or more) Interviews

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CREATING SOFTWARE

Writing Software Spending Money

Minimize Software Subject to User Experience

Corollary: If the software is really needed for any kind of scale,

its probably worth doing well
(since most cost accrues over the long run)

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF WHATS WHAT
YOUR SOFTWARE

{technology you are developing}

HELPER PACKAGES

{libraries with helper functions}

FOUNDATION PACKAGES

{Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails...}

OPERATING SYSTEM

{Linux, Unix, MSFT Server...}

HARDWARE

{Storage, CPU, Memory...}

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF WHATS WHAT
YOUR SOFTWARE

{technology you are developing}

HELPER PACKAGES

{libraries with helper functions}

FOUNDATION PACKAGES

{Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails...}

OPERATING SYSTEM

{Linux, Unix, MSFT Server...}

HARDWARE

{Storage, CPU, Memory...}

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF WHATS WHAT
APPS FROM YOUR SOFTWARE
APP STORE
{third party applications} {technology you are developing}

HELPER PACKAGES

{libraries with helper functions}

FOUNDATION PACKAGES

{Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails...}

OPERATING SYSTEM

{Linux, Unix, MSFT Server...}

HARDWARE

{Storage, CPU, Memory...}

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF WHATS WHAT: CLASS SITE
YOUR SOFTWARE

(various plug-ins) {technology you are developing}

Wordpress
HELPER PACKAGES

{libraries with helper functions}

FOUNDATION PACKAGES

{Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails...}

PHP
OPERATING SYSTEM

{Linux, Unix, MSFT Server...}

WP Engine
Platform
HARDWARE

{Storage, CPU, Memory...}

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF HOW THINGS TALK

CLIENT 01 SERVER
clients make servers respond
requests to requests
02

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF CERTAIN COST DRIVERS
Quality of inputs (user stories, comps, wireframes, testing)
Dev. Availability of talent with relevant experience
Quality of available tools & environments

Quality of inputs for focal test development

Amount of
SW Cost QA
Custom How often stuff breaks
Drivers
Software
Availability/ability to leverage automation

Quantity of HW, OS, apps to manage

Ops. Availability of documentation/notes
Quality of configuration and logging facilities

2015 COWAN+
A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF CERTAIN COST DRIVERS
Quality of inputs (user stories, comps, wireframes, testing)
Dev. Availability of talent with relevant experience
Quality of available tools & environments

Quality of inputs for focal test development

Amount of
SW Cost QA
Custom How often stuff breaks
Drivers
Software
Availability/ability to leverage automation

Quantity of HW, OS, apps to manage

Ops. Availability of documentation/notes
Quality of configuration and logging facilities

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF CERTAIN COST DRIVERS
Make sure the Quality of inputs (user stories, comps, wireframes, testing)
current value
proposition really Dev. Availability of talent with relevant experience
requires software Quality of available tools & environments

Quality of inputs for focal test development

Amount of
SW Cost QA
Custom How often stuff breaks
Drivers
Software
Availability/ability to leverage automation

Quantity of HW, OS, apps to manage

Min(SW) Ops. Availability of documentation/notes
s.t. UX
Quality of configuration and logging facilities

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A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF MAKING GOOD CHOICES

A. ID & describe your building blocks

B. Review building blocks holistically
C. Get the right advice & decide

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A: ID & DESCRIBE YOUR BUILDING BLOCKS
1. Make sure youve thought
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
through your Venture Design +
?
EXPERIMENTS your next step requires a

PRODUCT & custom application
E
M

WH
PROMOTION
W

AT
S HO

IF
2. Abstract your building blocks
?
to review with a software
USER STORIES
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS &
architect/designer in your area
& PROTOTYPES ASSUMPTIONS

PIVOT?
?
LE

A
HO SC
W?
T?
HA

PROBLEM
PERSONAS WHO? SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES

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B: REVIEW YOUR BUILDING BLOCKS HOLISTICALLY
Can I use something off-the-shelf (vs. build from scratch)?
How widely is the block module used by the talent I want to
work with?
- comparative searches on job sites
- general prevalence of posts via Google, etc.
Where is it headed? Who supports it and why?
How well is that aligned with my direction?

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C: GET THE RIGHT ADVICE & DECIDE
Work with your team & contacts to seek out advice &
perspective, even if its outside.

Making the right decisions about building blocks up front can

deliver geometric returns on the value of the time invested.

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ROLES
Inputs: User stories, wireframes, etc. Inputs: Working software, notes
Outputs: Software design & on function
implementation Outputs: Validated test plans

DEV QA
Inputs: Validated software, notes
Outputs: Working systems, monitoring &
analytics thereof

OPS
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ROLES
DEV-
OPS

DEV QA

OPS
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THE CONTINUOUS DELIVERY PIPELINE

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THE CONTINUOUS DELIVERY PIPELINE

Functional Tests
Non-Functional Tests
Acceptance Tests
Contract Tests
System Tests
End-to-End Tests

Unit Tests Integration Tests

Component Tests

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GOOGLE ON TEST TYPES
FEATURE SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Network Access No Localhost Only Yes
Database No Yes Yes
File System Access No Yes Yes
Use External Systems No Discouraged Yes
Multiple Threads No Yes Yes
Sleep Statements No Yes Yes
System Properties No Yes Yes
Time Limit (seconds) 60 300 900+

source: Google Testing Blog Test Sizes 2015 COWAN+

THE CONTINUOUS DELIVERY PIPELINE

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THE CONTINUOUS DELIVERY PIPELINE

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NOTES ON RESPONSIVE DESIGN

What is the minimum

screen resolution we
design for? 1024x768?

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NOTES ON RESPONSIVE DESIGN

X
What is the minimum
screen resolution we
design for? 1024x768?

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NOTES ON RESPONSIVE DESIGN

X
What is the minimum There are four
screen resolution we corners.
design for? 1024x768?
Also, think about (and
then observe) which
interactions are
relevant on mobile.
2015 COWAN+
A LITTLE GAME FOR BETTER PERSONA DISCOVERY

Day in the Life

We look at a few photos for a given persona (not a full picture, just snippets)
You make some guesses about them
There are no right answers BUT
There is a right process: observe and infer

OBJECTIVE:
Get a feel for whats real; start to create something vivid

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OUR CAST

Sven the Miguel the Umberto the

Salesperson Mid-Mellenial Undergrad

Luke the Late Trent the Techie Bob the Baby

Millenial Millenial Boomer
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WAKE UP!

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WAKE UP!

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ON THE JOB

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LUNCH BREAK

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FINISHING UP WORK

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ON THE ROAD

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UNWINDING AFTER WORK

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DINNER

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WINDING DOWN & BED

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ABOUT SVEN THE SALESPERSON
Whats his favorite kind of music?
What do you think he looks at to set his agenda
for the next day?
What movie did he last see?
How much do you think he uses his PC vs. his
mobile? Which in which situations?
If he had a dog, what kind?
What one change on the way he uses Salesforce
would most change his life for the better?

2015 COWAN+
WHY DO THIS?
A certain PERSONA exists PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
QUESTIONS
and they have a certain
Does this person exist?
PROBLEMS(S)
Can you identify them?
Do you understand them really well?
What do they think-see-feel-do in your
where theyre currently using certain area?
ALTERNATIVE(S) Could you make a Google AdWord that
theyd click through on?

and I have a VALUE PROPOSITION TOOLS
thats better enough than the alternatives Photos/Day in the Life
to cause the persona to act (purchase, Think-See-Feel-Do
use, etc.). Discovery Interviews
Storyboards
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WHY DO THIS?
Say you have a 3 month Say you do Day in the
project to improve the Life for 2 personas
business
1 Project Lead 8 Hours
3 Engineers @ 120k/annum
.5 Designers +30% Loading, SG&A
@ 120k/annum $546
+30% Loading, SG&A
$175,000 Are the improved personas likely
to deliver insights and focus that
make the project .003% better?
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DRAFT DAY IN THE LIFE QUESTIONS
What time do you usually wake up? What usually wakes you?
Whats the first thing you do when you wake up? Why?
What do you have for breakfast? With who?
Any other morning rituals before you settle into work?

Whats a typical work morning like? Tell me about last Humanize the persona
Tuesday?
Focus on your area
What do you do for lunch? What do you eat?

bit.ly/do-dil

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ACQUIRE PHOTOS, EDIT & SCRUB PER PROTOCOL
* Wake up at 7- look at email on phone in bed.
Anything urgent or pressing on email or calendar?
[you holding phone in bed; that ones a little tricky
since youll need a secondary shooter; I can fake one
here if its not convenient]
* At the residential gym doing stretches- yoga,
calisthenics (this is 7AM-8AM) Humanize the persona
[some selfie of stretching; maybe just sitting stretch
Focus on your area
fingers to toes w/ photo of that; not the most inventive
stretch but its familiar]

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OUR CAST

Bob the Baby Boomer

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WAKE UP!

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WAKE UP!

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TO THE OFFICE

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AT THE OFFICE

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WORK/PLAY

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FITNESS

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LEISURE

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DINNER AT HOME

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ABOUT BOB THE BABY BOOMER
Whats his favorite kind of music?
Where did he buy his last pair of shoes?
What movie did he last see?
How does he prepare his taxes?
Whats his favorite magazine?

ALEX COWAN
alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF

2015 COWAN+
TODAY: STORYBOARDS!

source: Fred Moore & Disney Pictures 2015 COWAN+

STORYBOARDING: EXAMPLE

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STORYBOARDING: EXAMPLE

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THE BEFORE & AFTER STORYBOARD

What? A comparison of the customers life with

and without your proposition.

Why? To make sure you really get it; or, at least,

that you are pushing yourself to get it.

When? When you want to make sure you have a

actionable understanding of the problem
youre going to solve.
2015 COWAN+
ENABLE QUIZ: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

PERSONA Helen the HR Manager Frank the Functional Manager

Its hard for me to screen on I have limited time and I dont want to be a
PROBLEM technical skill sets and I end up jerk. Its hard to screen for all the relevant
SCENARIOS sending Frank unqualified recruits. technical skill sets.

- Call references - A few probing questions

ALTERNATIVE(S) - Take their word for it - Take their word for it

New ability for meaningful screening

VALUE of technical candidates, increasing % Less time doing interviews, and better hires
PROPOSITIONS of successful hires and lowering sooner.
Franks workload on recruiting.

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STORYBOARDING THE BEFORE SCENARIO
BEFORE

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STORYBOARDING THE BEFORE SCENARIO
BEFORE

AFTER

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STORYBOARDING AIDA(OR)

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THE HOOK FRAMEWORK

ALEX COWAN
alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF

source: nirandfar.com 2015 COWAN+

THE HOOK FRAMEWORK
THE TRIGGER
Internal or external stimulus leading to ACTION.

(internal) (external)

source: nirandfar.com 2015 COWAN+

THE HOOK FRAMEWORK
THE ACTION
The smallest possible act leading to a REWARD.

source: nirandfar.com 2015 COWAN+

THE HOOK FRAMEWORK
THE VARIABLE REWARD
The unpredictable but tangible gratification
from the ACTION.

source: nirandfar.com 2015 COWAN+

THE HOOK FRAMEWORK
THE INVESTMENT
Actions that increase involvement, preference
and load the next TRIGGER.

source: nirandfar.com 2015 COWAN+

EXERCISE: STORYBOARDING THE HOOK FRAMEWORK
1) TRIGGER 2) ACTION
What feelings What is the simplest
or events thing the user can
initiate use? do to be rewarded?

4) INVESTMENT 3) REWARD
How does the user How is the user
accumulate a gratified by their
preference? action?

source: nirandfar.com
v1 2015 COWAN+