Getting real
- 1. “Getting Real” The Best Selling Book by 37Signals The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application. PowerPoint Presentation On “Getting Real”
- 2. What is Getting Real? -Getting Real is staying small and being agile. -It is an approach ideally suited to web based software and evolving software on a day to day basis.
- 3. What they want to show in “Getting Real” -The Importance of having a philosophy. -How to “Build Less”? -Why “Staying Small” is a good thing? -How to get from idea to reality quick? -How to staff your team? -How to promote your app and spread the word? -Secret to successful support.
- 4. Point to keep in Mind while making a software application: -Ship less features but quality features. -With the web we have an incredible advantage.Just ship it and let the customers tell you if its right and if its not we can fix it and ship it same day. -Once you iterate quickly and react on customer feedback,you will establish ‘Customer Connection’,that is the goal. -And don’t forget you need to be honest with your customers,It is the best policy.
- 5. Why “Build Less” The under do process. -Don’t go for one up.Instead solve the simple problems and leave the hairy,difficult,nasty problem to everyone else. -Build software for yourself.You will be the target audience and you should know whats important and whats not.This will give you a great head start. -”Constraints Force Creativity”.
- 6. How to get from idea to reality quick? -While making a software application,if you can not fit everything in within the time and budget allotted then do not expand the time and budget,instead back the scope.There is always time to add the stuff later. For Example- When basecamp was launched,there is no billing in it,but they know they can add it later.Be flexible with things.Flexibility is our friend. -Always keep your software application as simple as possible For Example-While creating basecamp,Signal37 team decided to make a no fuss.Project management is all about,all taking small responsibilities and they created an app that let people share and collaborate on simple ideas.
- 7. Be Lean -Remember,all the cash,al the marketing and all the people in the world can not buy the agility you get from being small. -Work from Large to Small.You should have the bigger picture in mind,don’t stuck into the details.Like you begin with three parameters,this will give you a sketch.Then divide the sketch and apply teh same thing.
- 8. Just Wing it. “Don’t sweat stuff until you actually must”. People often waste time on the problems they don’t even have and most important is here to be honest with your customer.Tell them you are experiencing some growing pain,they may not be thrilled but they will appreciate the candor.
- 9. Hire the right customers. “If you try to please everyone you can’t please anyone”. Have sides,don’t try to be all things to all people.Your application should have an attitude.Seek out customers who are actually partners.Speak to people who share your vision.You are either on the bus or off it.
- 10. “Feature Selection” You should know the heart of the application you are making.Stick to what truly essential.Start off with a lean,smart app and let it get traction. This will save the time you spend on wasted things that just don’t matter.It will result in productivity.
- 11. Start With a No. Make each feature prove itself,that is why you should start with a No. For Example- While ‘Steve Jobs’ giving a private presentation on itunes music store,and people were asking does it do X and are you planning to add Y,to this ‘Jobs’ replied,listen i know you have thousands of ideas,so do we.But we don’t want a thousand features,that would be ugly.Innovation is not about saying yes to everything,its about saying ‘No’ to all but the most crucial features.
- 12. Can You handle it? Make sure whatever it is that you are doing is something you can actually sustain,Organizationally,Strategically and financially. Keep asking this question to yourself,so that if anything you have done wrong would not make it hard to handle the same.
- 13. Get It Working as soon as possible. To get into the real picture make it working unless you will be giving time on things inventing features that turn out to be unnecessary. It is natural,you might make a bad call.But so if you do,people will tell you.As always,you can adjust. Getting Real is all about being able to change on the fly.
- 14. The process to get Real. -Brainstorm. -Paper Sketches.(Sketches are languages that communicate) -Create HTML screens.(Mock Up) -Code It.(When mockup looks good) During this whole process remember to stay flexible and expect multiple iterations and as we have discussed its natural.
- 15. Don’t do Paralysis through Analysis. -Decisions are temporary so make the call and move on. -When you get to done that means something has been accomplished.A decision has made and you move on. -Done means you are building momentum.
- 16. Test in the Wild -Be a user. -Release a beta version to use. For Example:- When ‘Dave Thomas’ wrote the book ‘Agile development through Rails’,he published a beta version 2 months ago in pdf format.The result were,they have got 850 reports or typos,technical errors and almost all made their way into the final book.Its a win-win.
- 17. Break It Down. -Smaller tasks and smaller timelines are more manageable. As software developer are a special breed of optimists.When presented with a task they think that will be very easy.Won’t take too much time at all.
- 18. How to staff your team? -You can’t fake Enthusiasm.Find someone who is enthusiastic.Someone you can trust to get things done when left alone. -Hire Less and Hire Later.(Example GE CEO ‘Jack Welch’) -Each member of your team should be able to wear another cap as well if needed. -Anytime you get confused to staff A or B.Always go for a good writer.(Good writing skills are an indicator of an organized mind).
- 19. Design -There should be a epicenter of design. -You can plan designs with keeping in mind three screens. Regular-The screen people see when everything work fine. Blank-The user see when using your app first time,before entering data. Error-The screens people see when something goes wrong.
- 20. Points to keep in mind. -Write stories not detail. -Personify your product. -Easy On and Off. -Soften Bullets.(Prior notice to things like price hike as our customers are our Bread and butter and we should make them feel valued.)
- 21. Launch -Teaser. -Preview. -Launch. This is the hollywood style. -Ride the blog wave. -Educate People(Education comes in many form,Teaching is all about Good karma.You are paying it forward.You are helping others.You get some healthy promotion.
- 22. Support -Always do it yourself,you should hear what your customer saying.You need to get annoyed too when your customer get annoyed too.Never outsource customer support or a third party. Unless “The software chef doesn’t get to hear what the customers are actually saying”. Zero Training - The product should not be that complicated that users would need training to run it.A product like Google,Yahoo doesn’t require training or manual to run it.
- 23. Answer Quick Customer don’t expect your product to be perfect.However do except that you are listening and acknowledging so show that you care. During Business hours ‘Blinksale’ people replied 90% of emails within 90 minutes and people love it. “Get bad news out and out the way” Be as open,honest,transparent as possible.
- 24. Post Launch -Release a version that shows you are updating things. -An abandoned product blog is a sign of an abandoned product.A living product is one that is talking and listening to its users. -Beta should be private. -Prioritize your bugs,they all are not equal.Make difference between annoying or destroying. -Be honest,if any customer comes up with a bug,tell them we have noted it down and working on it.
- 25. “Don’t Inflate just for the sake of Inflating” Be a surfer watch the ocean and figure out where the big waves are breaking. Everyone can have an idea,can write a blog,can hire someone to write code but the difference between you and everyone is how well you execute it.