The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback

Chapter 8 Apply the Principles of Great UX Design

At this point in the Lean Product Process, you are clear on the feature set you believe should be in your MVP. User experience (UX)—the top layer in the Product-Market Fit Pyramid—brings your product's features and benefits to life for the customer. Even if you have made good decisions on the other four layers, you will not achieve product-market fit without a good UX.

Unlike the other chapters in Part II of the book, this chapter does not represent a separate step in the Lean Product Process. Instead, the advice in this chapter applies to step 5, “create your MVP prototype,” covered in Chapter 7. This entire chapter is devoted to UX design because it is so critical to achieving product-market fit. You should use the guidance in this chapter when you are designing your MVP prototype.

This chapter won't transform you into a world-class designer, but it will give you an overview of UX design and an understanding of key concepts. This information is especially beneficial for product managers, developers, and others who work closely with designers. This knowledge should equip you to have richer discussions with designers, to contribute more to the design process, and to ultimately create better products.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT UX?

We have all experienced products with either a fantastic or a poor user experience. The latter feel unintuitive and hard to use. You can't find what you're looking for, and you're not clear what to do next. You ...