So, what do we need to create great

products?

Building a successful Product

Ingredients

An Idea

Engineering

Design

An Idea

Great Engineering

Awesome Designers

+ +

A typical product development process...

Is this all it takes?

How many of you know Path?

Great ideaThe “Anti-social” Network

Great foundersfounded by ex-Facebook / ex-apple Dave Morin and

Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning.

Great design

Only 6 million users after 3 years

Pivoted thrice

How many of you

remember Wave?

Great ideaEmail + IM + Blogging + Comments + Social + Groups + Forums + Document Sharing + Voice + Video + Collaboration + Platform

Great founders

Lars and Jens Rasmussen. (same guys who also built Google maps)

Funded by Google

Great engineering

Announced Aug 2010Shut down April 2012

So, does an Idea + Engineering + Design => Successful Product

Maybe not

Learn and understand people and their goals.

Talk to them

early and often

Lesson 1

People don’t care about your great idea

People don’t care about your awesome design

People don’t care about your engineering prowess

Oh I use that app because it has

animated buttons- said no one, ever.

People don’t care about an app

People care about what an app solves

People have jobs to be done

People don’t want to visit amazon

People want to buy a book

People don’t want to use facebook

People want to keep in touch with friends

People don’t care about your

app or website.

if there was an easier way to get their job done

without an app. they’d prefer that.

Did Path ask people if they want an “anti-

social” network?

Did Google Ask people if they want an Email + IM + Blogging + Comments + Social + Groups + Forums + Document Sharing + Voice + Video + Collaboration + Platform

Talk to people

Solve their problems

Fail early. Fail often.

People will buy it

Because we are Microsoft

Microsoft Takes $900 Million Writeoff on

Surface RT inventory.

Not a great phone.Not a great gaming

device

Spend millions on research and design

Ship fast and fail early.

Don’t fall in love with your ideas.

“Release early, release often.

We think that's the best way to develop software that delights people.”

Maps vs Wave

Fail early. Fail often.

Access to great talent

Access to tons of capital

Failure is never final

"I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not

work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find

the way that will work."- Thomas Edison

Don’t give up

Lesson 1: Talk to people

Lesson 2: Fail early. Fail often

Lesson 3: Don’t give up