How to shape an idea using Shape Up tutorial: Problem Framing [Part 1/3]

When gathering feedback from your users, do you have any preferred method? User Interviews, Online Reviews, NPS, Forms… there are so many tools out there! In this episode we dive into the world of customer feedback discussing, comparing and ranking the most popular methods. Tune in for a fun chat on what works, what doesn't, and some surprises along the way! Learn when to use different tools and tricks! Hear real life stories about our past experiences Find out how to mix different feedback tools for success! ······················································· Do you like what we do? You can buy us a coffee 🤗 ☕ http://ko-fi.com/twofacet ······················································· We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email: [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

What is the role of the high fidelity prototypes when crafting Digital Products? Do we always need them? We don’t have a clear answer but in this episode we debate the purpose, risks and pitfalls of this type of prototypes, as well as concept designs. Choosing the design approach is a strategic decision that can be influenced by stakeholders, the stage of the project and the purpose we have when building our design artefact. Join us for this episode where we put prototypes in question and try to answer the design dilemma: High-fidelity or not? ······················································· Do you like what we do? You can buy us a coffee 🤗 ☕ http://ko-fi.com/twofacet ······················································· We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email: [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

Talking with your users is always worth it. Spending just an hour with them could save you months of building something no one wants. Plus, you might validate your genius and get killer ideas for improvement! In this episode we delve into the topic of user interviews and why they are so important in the process of building digital products. We discuss the value of talking to customers and the benefits it can bring in terms of: · Saving time · Avoiding wasted resources · Gaining insights that can help improve the development process We know not everyone has a background in research or has access to big research resources, but this shouldn't be an excuse for not conducting user interviews ;) There are plenty of materials and books out there, such as The Mom Test, which provide simple techniques that can help anyone conduct effective interviews. While there are principles and tips that can guide the process, we believe that the more interviews one conducts, the better they become at it. Here we share our own experiences of conducting interviews, including the challenges we faced and the lessons we learned along the way. Tune in for practical advice on how to structure and prepare for interviews, including the importance of having clear research questions and avoiding false positives. We also discuss some of the most common problems that can occur during interviews and offer suggestions on how to avoid or overcome them. Overall, this episode is a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their skills in conducting user interviews and gain insights that can inform the development of digital products Get out there and talk to your users! It's not as scary as it sounds and could make all the difference :) ······················································· Do you like what we do? You can buy us a coffee 🤗 ☕ http://ko-fi.com/twofacet ······················································· We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email: [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

When starting a new project, you may take different approaches but, for sure there are steps you never skip. Which ones? In this episode we discuss our experiences when starting and working on a project. The things we always do and the steps we follow: from understanding the business context and the problem space, to defining the design approach, to managing expectations and communication with stakeholders. What about you on your side? We discuss topics like What do we do when starting a new project? Understanding the business context Understanding the problem space The difference between research insights and feature requests Understanding how the project aligns with the product strategy Understanding the problem space helps product designers Defining the problem Choosing the design approach Thinking about feasibility Defining boundaries The product vision Don’t create high fidelity UI just yet SaaS products and UI design Product Vision vs. Tactics Designer-developer collaboration The two types of product managers Stakeholders’ expectations management Synching with peers outside the team Following up with deadlines Communicating outside the team Communicating in longer sprints ······················································· Do you like what we do? You can buy us a coffee 🤗 ☕ http://ko-fi.com/twofacet ······················································· We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email: [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

Is Shape Up better than Scrum? 🤔 It really depends on your team and the way you want to achieve your outcomes. In this episode we discuss why Shape Up from Basecamp suits us better and we go through the main differences between them: Discovered vs. Imagined work The refinement in Scrum vs. iterations in Shape Up Having a backlog vs. no backlog Estimating vs. defining an Appetite Betting Table vs. Planning sessions We also go through some questions like: Why did we change from Scrum to Shape Up? Is Scrum bad? What is the difference between a Product Owner and a Product Manager? How to combine Shape Up with Continuous Discovery Habits? 💜 Do you like what we do? You can buy us a coffee 🤗 ☕ http://ko-fi.com/twofacet 😃 We invite you to continue the conversation! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email:  [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

In this podcast we talk about product management and building digital products in general. In the channel you can find topics about: · Product Discovery · Design Thinking · Lean Startup · Shape up · Continuous Discovery Habits · Product Design · Agile methodologies We are Juncal González and Matt Mikulski, the hosts of this podcast. We both work at Docplanner, a scale-up focused on healthcare; and are the co-founders User Signal, a small startup focused on improving the customer feedback management. Check out our content, we bring a lot of real-life examples of our experiences running teams both in small and large scale of digital products!

Will electricity flow from one end to the other? 🤞 This is what you’d be looking for when designing an electronic circuit. Similarly, when shaping your solution, you want to make sure the user can flow through it, from beginning to end. This is called Breadboarding in the Shape Up process by Basecamp; and, in this episode, we will show you how we do it. We also draw some super rough sketches to visualise our ideas, the so-called Fat Marker Sketches. The shaping process is basically a product design process. If you want to learn how to go through it, from the problem definition, to ideating, defining, and drawing your solution, don't this miss this three-parts episode! _____________  If you like what we do you can buy us coffee 💜 ☕  _____________  We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email:  [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

It’s rough. It’s solved. It’s bounded. These are the three principles to follow when defining a solution in the Shape Up process. Even if the outcome is a rough idea that is not very concrete, a lot of times it takes more than one session to do it. So here’s the second of the three parts real-life shaping exercise. In this episode, after the problem definition, we work on two key steps of the process: - Setting boundaries: How much time are we willing to invest in this opportunity? This is basically, defining the appetite. - Coming up with raw solutions: What possible solutions can we think of? What would be in and out based on the appetite and problem definition? We go through the process of defining a solution, trying to be not too abstract and not to concrete, zooming in and out while we rough out ideas. Also, in this session we don’t forget about the problem definition we did in the previous session, which will be essential as a north star for our solution. You can get a copy of the the template we use in the episode here _____________ If you like what we do you can buy us coffee 💜 ☕ _____________ We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email:  [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

Shaping is all about developing our ideas from abstract to concrete. In the Shape Up process it’s the stage when we define the key elements of a solution before we consider it ready to bet on. In essence it’s a design exercise where we go from understanding the problem at hand and defining it, to ideating possible solutions and designing a high-level proposition. This includes defining boundaries and risks! In this 3 part series we go through the whole process with @Juncal doing a real-life shaping exercise. In this first part we will take you through our process of: Analysing the problem space Narrowing down the problem Defining our target users Working on a problem definition using How Might We questions, making sure we cover all the W questions: why, who, when, how You can get a copy of the the template we use in the episode here _____________ If you like what we do you can buy us coffee 💜 ☕ _____________ We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email:  [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow

As a product team we need a Northstar Metric to guide us towards success: a metric that represents the vision of our product, aligns everybody on the team towards our goals and help us make product decisions. So, how do we define it and, moreover, how can we determine the steps we can take in our day to day work to impact it?  The North Star Framework by Amplitude helps us define all this in a structured and collaborative way. In this episode we discuss what is this framework, when should we use it and the benefits, as well as how to use it. We go through the core elements do the framework that can be defined in a collaborative workshop: - The North Star - The Input Metrics - The “work” We also explain and discuss with examples, the Northstar framework checklist, the list of what makes a good metric: - It expresses value - It represents vision and strategy - It’s a leading indicator - It’s actionable - It’s understandable - It’s measurable - It’s not a vanity metric To know more a about the framework and how to run the workshop, you can have a look to the original Northstar Framework Playbook by Amplitude _____________ If you like what we do you can buy us coffee 💜 ☕ _____________ We invite you to continue the conversation and give us feedback! Twitter: @TwoFacetPodcast Email:  [email protected] Hosts: Juncal González, Matt Mikulski Music: Sunlight by Lightblow