Lean UX, the book.
NUMA , the coworking space dedicated to startups, innovation, and the dissemination of digital culture. The entrance is through the cafeteria, and you walk up to the 4th floor. The room is full – few UX designers, at first glance; the audience seems to be mostly startups. Claudio Vandi introduces Jeff Gothelf , the speaker who has just led a workshop. Jeff is a consultant at NEO and the author of * Lean UX* , a book that follows on from Eric Ries ' seminal work : * The Lean Startup *.
He starts with a Raccoon problem in his garden, which prompts him to set a trap (a cage that closes when the animal has entered). He then shows a photo or finally, his dog was caught, illustrating here the fact that the solution does not produce the expected result.
He then raised the idea of measurement, to assess the effectiveness of the solution, while warning against "vanity metrics." For example, 600,000 page views for a startup is a pseudo-indicator of success that flatters the team's ego but has little value if it doesn't move us closer to the objective. Therefore, it is essential to define indicators that are truly aligned with the strategy in order to evaluate whether the actions taken are bringing us closer to the goal.
In Lean UX, measurement is essential: it's about adopting a continuous learning approach through constant experimentation. Think/Make/Check. Of course, delivery must be continuous. For example, Amazon publishes a new item every 11,6 seconds . This allows for validating or invalidating hypotheses and progressively developing a high-performing UX. Jeff reminds us that requirements (specs) are ultimately just assumptions about user needs, and that the Lean UX approach allows for real-time verification of the product's alignment with market expectations.
According to him, Design Thinking is based on 3 pillars:
- Empathy : understand the context and the user painpoints (the difficulties encountered)
- Creativity : imagine solutions to problems
- rationality : measure and discard if it does not produce the expected result.
Jeff Gothelf then presents three case studies where a lot of energy was wasted working on bad solutions or failing to address the real problems. This helps to highlight the difference between output and outcome.
- Un output, it's a deliverable, a feature, it's what our clients expect from consulting services.
- In reality, what should be aimed for are the outcomes, i.e. end-user behavior transformations.
The industry has long focused on outputs because they are binary and contractual, while anything to do with change is much longer and more difficult. Yet this is where new sources of added value reside.
No doubt, we have to change the way we work.
Antoine Visonneau
