Tag: digital innovators

When setting up Lab08, our cornerstone was that we wanted it to be more than a traditional outsourcing business. Rather than simply developing products, we wanted to transfer knowledge on scaling innovative software ventures to our clients to reach the next level. After all, this was deeply embedded in our DNA as entrepreneurs.

If you are familiar with Lab08, you know that we are big believers in simplicity. We want to solve the problem, causing the user pain. To do so, we always go through a thorough ideation and validation process before we eventually start building products. Think of it as laying the concrete before driving the road. We take this approach to avoid costly errors when building products – making sure that we have the right insights and a streamlined approach to product management. There is nothing worse than ending up with no fuel in your tank when you have arrived at the wrong destination.

In this piece, you can read more about our journey from ideation, where we let everything fly, to implementation, where we go in-depth with the best solution.

Working through ideas at a pace

Once we pick up working on a new product, we go through the ideation phase, which is where we let it all out. The good, the bad, sometimes the ugly. This is an exciting phase, as we generate tonnes of ideas that we can filter, cut, and discuss. Ultimately, we slice away the sub-par ideas and move ahead with the ones that have substance. Fundamentally, this stage is about defining solutions that can solve the user’s basic needs.

To get this right, we conduct various qualitative and quantitative interviews with internal stakeholders to ensure a controlled environment for ideation, we use various techniques to keep us from spiralling in a hundred different directions. Our first approach is called breadboarding. Developed by a guy named Ryan Singer, we use his method to identify all the essential components a solution requires. Then, we visualize the connections between all of them. Getting everything mapped out allows our team to swiftly talk through the different aspects and decide if they fill the user needs. With breadboarding, there are three basic elements we cover: places, affordances, and connection lines. Places are elements to navigate – like sites or menus. Affordances are user interfaces such as buttons or other actions. Lastly, connection lines indicate how users navigate from place to place using affordances.

However, sometimes mapping out an idea requires a visual aspect. Enter good old fat marker sketching. A technique often used here at Lab08. We wish this were merely a snappy name for a fancy method, but this is precisely what it reads. We find the freshest Sharpie in our office and start illustrating big picture concepts on paper. Our approach with fat marker sketching is to agree on a direction before going into the nitty-gritty. Such a sketch provides just enough context and details for a designer to move forward with it afterwards. Plus, we always feel a notch more important when we draw on the big billboard in front of our colleagues.

As you may remember, we are all about products that address basic needs, and we use these techniques to help us identify the best possible solution to run with. Navigating simple visualizations and mapping out products provide us with the necessary information on how to navigate features and functions that are easy to implement. Additionally, we can identify how to scale when requiring a more comprehensive solution that includes performance needs and a few delighters.

Does the idea function as a solution?

Once we feel happy with our idea short-list, we work to validate them as real solutions. The first step is to offer prototypes or mock-ups to end-users, with who we have a close collaboration and trust. The next step is basically a lab study, where our Product Owner observes how our test pilots engage with the prototype. It is a big chunk of touch and go, trial and error here, as the PO proactively searches for ways to improve the product solution.

Our objective is to address the critical pain points and basic needs before developing the actual product. By monitoring how people work with our solutions, we gain first-hand insights into what works and needs improving once we start implementing. It is our take on a qualitative study that gives tonnes of valuable data.

Once a specific solution is deemed solid and successfully fulfils a user’s need, we move forward to defining the minimum viable product, the MVP.

Securing smooth implementation

When we implement solutions at Lab08, we want to simplify and break them down as much as possible. Therefore, we always highlight our user stories and technical objectives that must be fulfilled to generate real-life user value.

We do this to make it easy for the development team to understand who the key user for the product is and what the success factors are, while ensuring that everyone is on the same page. With this, we enable quick navigation in the needs we are looking to solve.

In the early implementation phase, we make sure that all success criteria are detailed and scripted so our Quality Assurance team can complete thorough tests as we move along. Additionally, we start out grooming our backlogs. We do this as we will have numerous tasks and user stories sitting in the product backlog when we start the build. We need to ensure everyone is on the same page with every task before the individual sprints kick-off. This provides a homogenous understanding of the different tasks in front of us.

Once the actual development begins, we work with different approaches to meet our desired outcome. We typically work with SCRUM on specific tasks set to meet the pre-defined user stories and needs. Here, we work in sprints with a designated time for each job, strictly focusing on our end goal. When our set-up is more free-flowing with numerous moving parts, like when we build MVPs, we take the KANBAN approach, as it allows for more flexibility, and we can follow the progress on the board. 

From here, the Product Owner takes on the final stage of the actual software development, User Acceptance Testing – UAT. The PO provides end-users with the possibility of real-work testing to see how our product solution takes on the needs and tasks it was designed to address. In this final stage, the PO observes how users navigate the products or new functionalities while ensuring possible feedback to the product team.

If all checks out, we go live.

Evaluating for future improvements

Once a product is in the air, our work does not stop there. We continuously follow and track our solutions for any future enhancements, developments, or features to drop that can add value to the user experience. 

We do this, as we want to keep being focused and agile on challenging our clients’ pain points and meeting their needs. This is the Product Owner’s job, as they need to keep this in their scope once the first product has been delivered.

If you enjoyed learning more about the Lab08 process from idea to implemented product, make sure you also check out how it all starts – with a product discovery team. You can also keep an eye out for future articles. We will drop small bits and pieces on our approach to product development. Maybe we touch upon just the right topic that piques your interest?

At Lab08, we help upcoming ventures scale their software products and solve challenges in intelligent ways. We are not just another outsourcing agency that solves pre-set projects and works as ‘hands-on keyboards.’ We are not fans of taking orders and implementing them blindly. On the contrary, we see ourselves as problem-solvers, making us advocates of a much more profound relationship. We like to understand your business and pain points, ask questions, and maybe even challenge you on a thing or two. This to collaborate fully and engage with early-stage scale-ups on their journeys to superstardom. In our experience, this gives our clients a lot more bang for the buck.

Our approach to succeed on the above is to leverage our know-how and competencies to maximize business value for our partners. We like to team up into long-term partnerships to our clients build solid products and capable teams accordingly. There is always more value to be found when you start digging a bit deeper rather than just scratch the surface. Our usual first step is to set up strong discovery teams with each client, which provides the foundation for the job to be done.

The role of this team is what the article will elaborate on. However, we will continue to address other key points over the following months to see successful product management in the software game. Make sure you keep an eye out for the next nugget that will drop further, describing our approach and what sets us apart.

Assembling a discovery team

Fundamentally, the role of the discovery team is to define the right software product that will best serve the specific needs of the designated target users. Easy, right?

This may sound relatively straightforward, but getting it just right is a complex process that requires different areas of expertise and focuses on challenging the status quo from all angles. We have defined the fundamental roles in our discovery team set up to address that need specifically.

• The Strategic Product Manager

  
  One of the Product Manager’s (PM) essential tasks is defining the ‘why’ behind product development. Meaning what is the overarching need and the end goal that we are looking to meet. To achieve this, the PM’s job is to define a solid strategic vision of the core problems that we are looking to take on – both in short-, medium-, and long-term perspectives.
  Additionally, it is of the utmost importance that the PM identifies the Ideal Client Profile (ICP) to enable the rest of the team to tailor our product solutions to the key users. The ICP is never based on gutfeel, written in the stars, or through reading tea leaves, but rather a solid user research that enables us to discover the most critical underlying needs. What the PM does is steer the ship in the right direction through fact-based decision-making.

• The Product Owner

  
  In defining the user’s actual needs, the Product Owner (PO) provides input and collaborates with the PM to ensure quality and validate the strategic vision. One of the most critical tasks of the PO is to transform the user-needs and high-level vision into an actionable roadmap so you do not just stick the data in the bin. To do so, the PO acts as the voice of reason that consistently challenges the input from the PM. The PO works closely with the UX designer and the tech team to ensure a viable final solution that meets business targets. This requires setting clear goals and tasks for the tech team to facilitate an agile development process – keeping them inline rather than running wild.

• The UX Designer

  
  The role of the UX Designer comes down to making the product solution intuitive and easy to use. Naturally, this is defined by the frame set by the PM and PO to ensure that everything meets the strategic vision and solves the pain points. This process requires a fundamental understanding of the ICP and the user needs. It should always be based on a deep interaction and collaboration with the rest of the discovery team. The UX Designer can then map out the user journey and optimize interaction points with the product from a user perspective.

Solving needs rather than chasing requests

At Lab08, one of our significant definitions of success is to simplify throughout the product development process. We write clean code, create simple MVPs, and build intuitive products.

The discovery team has a vital role in this, as they must understand the fundamental user pain points that must be alleviated. Again, we never work to solve requests – we work to meet needs.

Requests can be misleading. They change over time as users think of new ‘nice-to-have’ add-ons and shiny features that muddy the MVP and the code behind it. On the other hand, needs are consistent as they address a necessity in the business present due to underlying causes or motives. The discovery team is constantly engaged in identifying such needs and defining them clearly and concisely. This provides the foundation for a stable product development phase, as you keep your eyes on the end-goal from start to finish rather than bring on new features that ultimately do not add business value. Think of it as putting blinders on a horse. Tunnel-vision.

Recapping the role of the discovery team

The easiest way for a ship to get to its destination is to set the best course as it undocks. The role of the discovery team is precisely this. To set the best possible direction for the product development phase from the start and to ensure that it is fact-based rather than built on gut feel. If you would like to hear more about our work with discovery teams and experiences with design thinking, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

If you enjoyed learning more about the Lab08 approach to product management in software, make sure you keep an eye out for future articles. We will continue to drop short, digestible pieces that describe what sets us apart and makes us a strong partner and collaborator when you look to develop or refine your software products.

Role	Key responsibilities
Product Manager	High level strategic vision Definition of Ideal client profile (ICP) User interviews to discover underlying needs High-level solution
Operational Product Owner (PO)	Understand user need and transform them into a product roadmap Validate solution viability and challenge PM’s assumptions Scope for minimum viable product (MVP) – with PM’s approval Clear goals and tasks for tech team Facilitate agile development process
UX Designer	Understand the target user and their needs Define user journey maps and points of interaction with the product Work within the constrains described by the PO and PM