Don’t overthink it has become a mantra to me. Whether I’m playing cricket or live drawing an idea, getting caught up in my head usually doesn’t end well. And in the end, after all the practice you’ve got under your belt, you’ve got to back yourself and just hit it…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Sometimes, in a live drawing session, someone will mention something that triggers an immediate picture in my head. A picture that demands to be drawn. And so it was, that someone whilst talking about user testing their product, was reflecting that they really only tested with the usual suspects. How can we make sure that it’s not just the usual suspects? Or just white men…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
It all looks a bit odd from this angle… There’s more than one way to get useful feedback from a user test. As best intentioned testing is often squeezed at the end of a development cycle, we usually just follow the path of least resistance. But if you want rich feedback, then you should approach from multiple angles…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Next time you’re facilitating an online session and need to get people thinking with an icebreaker, ask the participants about their favourite cheese. I guarantee you that the majority of people have very defined cheesy opinions. You may not even make it to the rest of your agenda…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
How do you get a user talking about your product in an open and honest way so that you can stand in their shoes and see what they see? It’s trickier than it looks. For starters, we usually look to confirm what we want to believe (confirmation bias). User testers, on their part, usually say what they think you, the creator and all powerful one, would like to hear. So it’s pretty tricky to construct a user test that will give you insight into how the user really sees your product. It may be worth considering getting someone independent to run the process and gather up the results…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Someone’s just thrown on Superstition by Stevie Wonder, and your body tells you it’s time to throw some shapes on the dance floor – to experiment with some grooves. Maybe, just maybe (if you can get over yourself), you should be dancing, yeah… This is the spirit of discovery (for me at least…)
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of working through new Gallery features to the Fabulous Remixer Machine with my 10-year-old. It was so invaluable: having a child ask you straightforward questions about the problem, and the solution you’re proposing helps you to see things that otherwise you might have missed. We drew out visual plans on A3 paper while keeping a landscape of user stories in our focus, then went back through to decide which parts would form our minimum lovable product (MLP). When it came to estimating when we would be finished our development (there was a certain amount of excitement in seeing our plans take shape), my son was surprised when I suggested it would take a month. He thought it would take three. Sure enough, three months later I was deploying the new features to the live server…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) you’ve probably heard of. But Minimum Lovable Product (MLP)? Put simply, it’s the minimum set of features required for your users to love your product (as opposed to just tolerating it…)
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Wouldn’t it be like crazy silly if you built something and then your users didn’t really care about the thing you built? Well take it from me, buster, it happens all the time. So it’s probably best – before you build your new features – to find out if your users will care about it. Capiche?
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Empty shelf syndrome is when those things we’ve been looking forward to – have become attached to – are suddenly made uncertain. I need a holiday. It feels like we’re in uncharted territory, and decisions are hard to make. Did I mention I need a holiday? But come on now, Bryan, you’ve got this – sure you confront uncertainty every time you create something – every time you put pen to paper and bring something to life?
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
…but King, Queen and everything inbetween. Following on from this post, the motives behind how you play your hand come through in the content itself. Open hand anyone? Here’s a blog post all about it…
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
Content to fill an empty page. Is that all I am to you? Just an image for someone to notice? Just a paragraph to draw someone in? The words and pictures have become the product…
Having said that – when we talk about what we’re up to in an open way, others can really benefit. I know I’ve learnt so much from what others have been open to share.
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.