This is a super darn quick post to report that my eye is on the minimum viable product that we can put in our alpha customer’s hands. To that end, I am focusing on what our primary user persona, Stella can do – minimally. We have a list of 14 things that ride on top of the foundation for our product — and we gotta get ’em done as my good pal Scotty Z likes to say.
14 things Stella needs to do. We have hundreds of backlog stories — at the end of the day, she doesn’t need that much for the product to be valuable
14 things Stella needs to do. We have hundreds of backlog stories — at the end of the day, she doesn’t need that much for the product to be valuable, so I am going back to what I learned in 10th grade Psychology: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs …..
Hierarchy of User Needs (Modified)
I’m asking these questions as we pare down the list.
- Is it useful? What is useful? Is it helpful, profitable, and advantageous for Stella to buy and use this tool?
- Is it simple? What is simple? — In the experience design of features and functions, interactions, layout and content we give the user just enough for comprehension and the ability to pursue and complete our goals.
- Is it functional? What is functional? Stella can interact with the tool, get to her content and do something with it to solve a problem that she recognizes.
- Is it accurate? What is accurate? The data and content are hers; the algo is correct; the results make sense because they can be proven.
- Is it reliable? What is reliable? The user’s expectation of consistency is met. Does the user experience the same results under the same conditions and performing the same actions?
Frankly, that’s it right now. All my fretting about the best usability and the most pleasurable experience is secondary. It’s a tough place to be as a designer — but I have my product owner hat on.
I’ve been relieving stress by catching up on Project Runway Season 10
As Tim Gunn says – we are “making it work”
