AALTO VENTURES PROGRAM

?What do we need to find out next?

Developing a new business:

Extract value out of uncertainty.Endless quest for information.

1. What information?2. How to get it?

Levels of uncertainty

1) Unknown unknowns“Surprise”

2) Known unknownsEg blank boxes in canvas

3) Hypothesis (weak knowns)How reliable is the info?

4) Decision making foundationCan we make a decision?

Solution

Key metrics

Cost structure Revenue Streams

Channels

Unique value proposition

Customer segment

Unfair advantage

Problem

1.1.

2.2.

2.

3.4.

5.

6.

? …

Interviews = verbal communication

Let’s build a house!

Perception of «a house»!

? …

Experimentation and prototyping enhance verbal communication with artifacts

Method to gain new data

Goals and examples Stakeholder involved

Artefact Price/performance

Pre-requisites

User research Understanding user situation and problem, using eginterviews, contextual research, observations

Yes No Low reliability Almost none

Other research Competitor analysis, expert interviews, benchmarking, calculations, modelling …

No No Variable, mostly setting context and boundaries

Experts, software,specific qualification

Experiments Analysing user behaviour andpreferences in a more neutral way

Yes Yes, but not of the end-product

Improvedreliability, a bit higher cost

Almost none

Prototyping Testing solution acceptance, eg. features, customer experience, usability, design and aesthetics

Yes Yes, subset of end-product

Best reliability, highest cost

Materials, certain qualification

Example case

Starting point:

People have problems transporting big items

Outcome

Transport service tailored for second hand

market places

Experiment: How big an item causes problems?

Experiment

• Bring different size boxes to Sello shopping center

• Ask people how they would transport the boxes home.

Outcome of experiment

Noone uses boxAdditional information

Beds and sofas bought on second hand market places cause problems

Experiment: How much would a wan cost?

Experiment

• Set up a meeting with a wan company

• Discuss/ask for offer for wan + driver

Outcome of experiment

Price for wan + driverAdditional information

Cheapest time of the day 16-18

Prototype: How much would a customer pay?

Experiment

• Post a fake add on tori.fi• Offer people calling about the

sofa to deliver it home at different prices

Outcome of experiment

Price range and % of customers interested in deliveryAdditional information

Scheduling of delivery key question

Market research: How big is the market?

Experiment

• Search for relevant products ontori.fi

• Do count with some days in between to estimate turnaround

• Map relevant cases to find driving times

Outcome of experiment

Estimates of addressable market + length of wan routeAdditional information

-

Prototype: Actual delivery

Experiment

• Find customers on tori.fi that sell bed or sofa.

• Offer to handle the delivery• Borrow a wan and do the actual

delivery

Outcome of experiment

Delivery was successfulAdditional information

Insights into how the delivery process would need to be structured

*https://blog.leanstack.com/the-7-habits-for-running-highly-effective-lean-startup-experiments-f1daaa93f85b

1. Declare your expected outcomes upfront“If you simply plan on seeing what happens you will always succeed at seeing what

happens because something is guaranteed to happen.”

- Eric Ries, The Lean Startup

2. Make declaring outcomes a team sport

3. Emphasize estimation not precision

4. Measure actions versus words

5. Turn your assumptions into falsifiable hypotheses

6. Time-box your experiments

7. Always use a control group

Experimentation guidelines

*https://designabetterbusiness.tools/tools/experiment-canvas

*https://designabetterbusiness.tools/tools/experiment-canvas

BU

ILD

MEASURE

LEARN

In teams make a plan of

your next experiment.

Be ready to present it.

20 min.

TASK #1

Prototyping

• You can prototype anything!

• Build just enough to learn, no more

• Results always (more) unreliable than real life

Prototype parameters:

• A form of representation (paper, physical

object, digital ...)

• Quality / accuracy - details, realism

• Interactivity – can we interact with the

prototype?

• Lifespan – disposable or reusable?

Prototypes

Role play game

The card game

The video

Low and high

fidelity wireframes

Small scale real

prototype

Sketches

Interactive

prototype Lego serious

game

Co-creation prototyping

workshop

Sequence of prototypes in UX design process

Information

architectureSketches

Low fidelity

wireframes

High fidelity

wireframes

Interactive

prototypeMVP

Information

architectureSketches

Low fidelity

wireframes

High fidelity

wireframes

Interactive

prototypeMVP

testing

Sequence of prototypes in UX design process

Paper prototyping - sketches

Paper prototyping -

sketches

* UX design for customer relationship management for ISS Finland

Prototyping. Wireframes

• Adobe XD

• Illustrator - Invision

studio

• Sketch

• Zeplin

• FIGMA

• Flinto

• MockFlow

• Balsamiq

• Webflow

• Framer

• etc.

Programs for prototyping

Prototyping. High fidelity

wireframes9.

The role play game

Example: project

“People’s

pharmacy project

for YTA” by Hellon

(Helsinki, Finland)

The process

Full-scale cardboards mockups in

Hellon studio to simulate

prescription events involving staff

and customers.

The process

The cardboard pieces had a coating

that invited participants to write and

draw on them.

For example, the hook for bags drawn

on the counter’s surface.

Key project results

The video

Example: the one-hour prototype - prototyping for Elmo's

Monster Maker iPhone App.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SOeMA3DUEs&feature=youtu.be

Elmo's Monster Maker

Story:

The prototype made

1 hour before crucial

meeting with client;

The prototype made

with simplest

materials for free.

Outcome:

The video was fun and

endearing;

It was also much more

persuasive than just

talking about ideas;

Client accepted the

feature.

Long-term

outcome:

Designers team

subscribed to the

law:

Never have a

meeting without

a prototype!

Elmo's Monster Maker

Experiments are one way to

lower the bar in trying out an

idea. And the faster the

experiment, the more likely

you are to try.

Small scale real prototype

A mock–up on Miera Street in Riga to test what the street profile would look and

feel like with combined tram and car lanes, wider sidewalks and real cycle lanes.* https://vimeo.com/110836621

•14 meters long real installation

•Built in 3 days by 2 urbanists

•Remained in place for 1 week

•Founded by City of Riga for Riga

Capital of Culture event

Small scale real prototype

The board game

Example: project a training model to put Stockmann’s new sales and service model into practice

with staff, by Hellon (Helsinki, Finland)

Training simulation sessions for the Stockmann sales trainers.

Stockmann diamond game

• Conduct your experiment till

the 11th February

• Add report of the experiment to

the COO report for sprint 3

• Plan

• Execution

• Results/learnings

TEAM ASSIGNEMENTS

• March 5 will be Prototyping

testing event.

• Prepare a prototype for your

concept and bring it to the

event for testing with your

peers.

TEAM ASSIGNEMENTS