book

Lean Customer Development

by Cindy Alvarez

September 2017

Beginner

240 pages

6h 11m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Who Is This Book For?Who Can Practice Customer Development?How Does This Book Fit into O’Reilly’s Lean Series?Why I Wrote This BookWhat You’ll LearnA Word of Thanks
The First Challenge Is Inside the BuildingWhat Is Customer Development?What Is Lean Customer Development?What Customer Development Is NotCustomer Development Is Not Just for StartupsCustomer Development Is Not Product DevelopmentCustomer Development Does Not Replace Product ManagementCustomer Development Is Not User ResearchWhy You Need Customer DevelopmentHow Do We Improve Our Odds?Answering Common ObjectionsLet’s Make This WorkNext Step: Get Started
Exercise 1: Identify Your AssumptionsReady? Set? Go!Exercise 2: Write Your Problem HypothesisExercise 3: Map Your Target Customer ProfileNext Step: Find Your Target Customers
How Can I Find Customers Before I’ve Even Built a Product?Come On—Why Would They Talk to Me?The Importance of EarlyvangelistsThree Things That Motivate PeopleHelping Others Makes Us HappyWe Like to Sound SmartFixing Things Gives Us a Sense of PurposeCome with me on a trip to the DMVHow Can I Find My Customers?Ask Your Connections for IntroductionsWould you introduce me to your friends who ...?Casting a Wider NetFinding people on LinkedInFinding people on QuoraFinding people on forums and private online communitiesFinding people in the offline worldUsing blog postsUsing TwitterNot using CraigslistUsing a landing pageHow Should I Conduct My Interviews?Visiting the Customer’s Home or OfficeIn-Person Conversations in a Neutral LocationPhone ConversationsVideo Chat or Call with Screen SharingInstant MessagingFollowing UpScheduling Phone InterviewsScheduling Face-to-Face InterviewsSpacing Your InterviewsInterview TroubleshootingWhat If No One Responds?Interview No-ShowsNext Step: Get Ready for Customer Development Interviews
Get Started with These Customer Development QuestionsCustomers Don’t Know What They Want!What You Should Be Listening ForWhat’s the Customer Already Doing?Abstract up one levelFocus on procedure, not outcomesFocus on the present, not the futureWhat Constraints Are Holding Customers Back?Problem is not perceived as a problemLack of awareness of what’s technologically possibleLimited resourcesCultural or social expectations that limit behaviorsWhat Frustrates (or Motivates) Your Customer?How Your Customers Make Decisions, Spend Money, and Determine ValueNext Step: Get Ready to Do Your Customer Development Interviews
The Practice InterviewTo Record or Not to Record?Taking Great NotesInvite a Note-takerImmediately Before the InterviewThe First MinuteThe Next MinuteKeeping the Conversation FlowingAvoiding Leading QuestionsDigging a Little DeeperTangents HappenAvoiding the Wish ListAway from Features—Back to the ProblemThe Magic Wand QuestionAvoiding Product SpecificsGoing LongThe Last Few MinutesAfter the InterviewGet Out (Now!)
Maintaining a Healthy SkepticismAre They Telling You What You Want to Hear?Is the Customer Saying Something Real or Aspirational?Keeping Organized NotesKeeping Your Notes in One FileCreating a SummaryRallying the Team Around New InformationHow Many Interviews Do You Need?After Two Interviews: Are You Learning What You Need to Learn?Components of a validated hypothesisWhat each interview should tell youWithin Five Interviews: The First Really Excited PersonWithin 10 Interviews: Patterns EmergeChallenging the patternsNo patterns yet?How Many Interviews Are Enough?Experience with customer development and industryComplexity of business model and number of dependenciesInvestment required to create your MVPAfter Enough Interviews You Stop Hearing Things That Surprise YouWhat Does a Validated Hypothesis Look Like?Now What?
What Should My MVP Do for Me?MVP TypesPre-Order MVPCase Study: Finale FireworksUse CasesAudience Building MVPUse CasesConcierge MVPCase Study: StyleSeatThe initial hypothesisStarting on the MVPExpanding the hypothesisOngoing customer developmentUse CasesWizard of Oz MVPCase Study: Porch.comHypothesis invalidatedMinimum exceptional productUse CasesSingle Use Case MVPCase Study: HotwireMap-based search results on a shadow siteIterating on the MVPRevising the MVP to solve pain pointsThe new site gains tractionUse CasesOther People’s Product MVPCase Study: Bing OffersRoadblocks lead to pivotAn opportunity to make deals easy for customersKeep learning from customersUse CasesWe’ve Built an MVP, Now What?

Adapting the MVP ConceptNothing BrokenAttractive but FakeUse a sketchUse a different domainMore Viable than MinimumIt’s different for startupsYou know someone caresA little beyond minimum: user complaints, but not frustrationWatch out for those who can’t stop at minimumFinding the Right CustomersHow I Learned to Find the Right Customers by Finding the Wrong OnesFind the People Who Can’t Live Without Your ProductCustomers Say the Magic WordsHow Customers Lower Your Market RiskOnce You’ve Found Your Customers, Explain, Explain, ExplainYou’re Asking Questions—Not Building SomethingSay It Again: This Is ExploratoryThe Storytelling DemoIncognito Customer DevelopmentTaking on a New IdentityTalking to People Who Aren’t CustomersShow Me How You’re Using Our ProductHere’s How to Use Our ProductIt Can Work For You, Too
Who’s Already Out of the Building?Who Can It Be, Knocking at Your Door?Feature RequestsFunctionality or Design IssuesBugs and ErrorsQuestion of the WeekRecognizing BiasClosing the LoopCollecting InformationSharing the Impact of Customer DevelopmentNow You’re Ready
Questions for Any Customer Development InterviewTell me about the last time you ___If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about how you [perform this task], what would it be?What tools do you use for _____?When you started using [tool], what benefit were you expecting?The whole problem may not be solvedHow often do you do _______? Let’s say, how many times in the past month?When this occurs, how much additional time or money does it cost you or your company?Helping them quantifyWho else experiences this problem?When you do (or use) ______, is there anything you do immediately before to prepare?Online bill pay is surprisingly manualWould you be willing to help us by participating in user research or beta testing?How asking this question helps with future product developmentQuestions for an Existing ProductWhen you use [our product], what’s the first thing you do with it?What’s the most useful thing that you regularly do with our product?If you had [requested feature] today, how would that make your life better?Other customers have told me that they experience [problem]...If It Works, Keep Asking It

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About the Author

Cindy Alvarez is a product manager who turns understanding the customer into competitive advantage. Currently the Director of User Experience and Product Design for Yammer (a Microsoft company), she has worked with early- and mid-stage startups as well as Fortune 500 companies to make customer development an ingrained part of company culture and product development process.

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