Featured writing
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How Design Thinking, Lean, and Agile Work Together
The ideas of Agile are great. It’s the way it has been codified into rituals and certifications, and rolled out mindlessly that misses the point.
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To triumph in the unknown, don’t try too hard
Innovation is about entering the unknown. To win, first we must let go our fear of failure, and try thinking differently.
More writing
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How to cross functional
Welcome to Answer Me This EP03, this week, I spoke with a PhD candidate from RMIT University. Her research topic is cross functional collaboration. She asked some good questions—read on for my answers! What is the best way for teams to work cross functionally? Well many people would rely on Scrum for that, but I […]
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Does experimentation really matter?
Answer Me This—Episode 02 This week’s question comes from Anne and she asked: It seems like people are very focused on experimentation as a core skill for product management and innovation today. So how much does it matter? And how should I go about learning it? Here’s my thoughts in a snack-sized 7 minute audio […]
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Product Consulting vs. Product Management
Answer Me This—Episode 1. Dear Jonny, answer me this: What different skill sets are needed for Product Consulting vs. Product Management, and at what stage in a career can one switch between them? I have experience doing both, I’ve been consulting for the last 5 years, but I don’t want to be a consultant forever. […]
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Three things I didn’t do: 2018 in review
It’s the time when everyone is reflecting on achievements through the year and the things learned along the way. But what about the things I didn’t do, don’t know, or can’t understand yet? Let’s explore those.
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Finding the fastest path to feedback
Asking better questions and learning to facilitate simple customer interviews is one of the fastest ways to bring customer-centred design into the boardroom. Customer learning is a powerful for developing strategy, and it’s not just their wants and needs. Learning their motivation, attitudes and behaviour helps to define products and services that have a chance […]
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Digital product development explained in 5 minutes
Here’s 5 minute animated walkthrough of the why, what and how of digital product development using the Double Diamond. The high-level approach is very intentional and deliberate. How it’s executed in practice is infinitely variable to suit specific needs. It’s a way of thinking, not a process!
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Product Strategy Constellations
I’m always looking for workshop methods that work. I have some favourites, but workshop facilitation is full of uncertainty. Nearly always, modification is needed, and most planned activities work better when we’re willing to stay loose. This time, the situation called for something completely new. We needed something to cut through the noise. More than […]
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Idea Capture Cards
Remembering a brilliant idea after a ‘back of a napkin’ moment is hard when the initial inspiration has evaporated. Returning to a notebook in a desperate search for clarity is devastating when all that’s left is illegible and inadequate scribbles. That’s tough when it’s just a one idea. Impossible when dealing with any more than a few ideas. During recent weeks of ideation, hundreds of ideas […]
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Archetype Mapping
What is it? A fast way to define customer groups in a workshop. Customer Archetype Maps describe the needs, behaviours and pain points for different kinds of customers. Quickly, on definitions: A behavioural archetype describes common behaviour and tasks exhibited by customers with similar needs. Personas package behaviours and motivations of a customer group into a believable […]
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Sketchboarding
Credits: Jason Furnell Sketchboarding is a rapid, sketch based, iterative design method for defining the blueprint of a product experience. A sketchboard shines brightest during the early stages of product design, when shared understanding is more valuable than a highly evolved design. Sketchboards are then used as an artefact of understanding, to help drive out more […]
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Shipping Products While Adapting to New Information
It was a pleasure to speak at UX Scotland this year. This talk extends previous work on design approaches and get’s to the heart of applying theory in practice. I talk about how strategy adapts through doing, describe the mechanics at play, and tell honest stories of failure and success. Find out about a universal design model applied […]
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Using the Double Diamond for product strategy and development
Joining strategy together with the execution of the right solution challenges most teams today. It’s difficult for many reasons. Defining a strategy is not a static exercise. Predicting the future is difficult, full of uncertainty, and new information is always being discovered. Complicating things further, teams often divide responsibility for strategy and execution. This makes […]
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Pragmatic Product Strategy – Presented at XConf 2014
This talk explores new ways of framing the work we do in order to create effective software products. A super-pragmatic model of thinking and doing that promises to bring together technologists, designers and business folks alike, across the entire software delivery lifecycle.Watch the video at thoughtworks.com.
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An alternative to features and showcases. Introducing Hills and Playbacks
Recently, I attended an Adaptive Path conference called Managing Experience.It was brilliant, and here’s a writeup if you want to know more about that. I was lucky to spend a bunch of time with Todd Wilkins in a workshop about IBM’s Design Thinking Framework. There’s lots to like, but in particular, two out of three principles resonated strongly. […]
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Managing Experience 2014 by Adaptive Path
Managing Experience is a 2 day conference hosted by Adaptive Path.Here’s the emergent themes from the last four years of the conference:2011: Business2012: Strategy2013: Change2014: Leadership & The Organization The big draw-card for me this year was Todd Wilkens, Design Principal at IBM. He delivered a talk ‘Scaling Design Beyond Designers’ with a corresponding 1/2 day workshop on […]