Zero to 60: Turning a Good Idea into a Successful Product

Workshop Leader: Christina Wodtke

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?

We’ve all been in Benjamin’s shoes. It doesn’t matter if that one word is “social networks” or “search” or even if it’s a few words (making it high concept): “facebook for pets”– there is a major leap between receiving this wisdom and launching a site that actually brings in users.

What happens in this mysterious place between strategy and execution?

In this workshop, we’ll cover a few of the core steps to getting from an abstract idea to a concrete roadmap that outlines the right features and functionality to realize a strategy online.

Understanding Markets and Users: Much lip service is given to selecting and targeting core users, but did you know markets have personalities, and understanding and targeting them is critical to your strategy as well? We’ll talk about typing markets, and idetifying your most user user base.

What does your business model actually mean for design choices?: In a perfect world, your business knows how it creates value, be it revenue or usage. But do you know how to select features based on what goals you further, and how to make those choices?

Prioritization and sequencing: it’s easy to get caught up in the nifty, cool or personally satisfying features. But no one has infinite resources. it’s critical to know what to do first, what to do second and what to leave behind. Setting a shared vision can drive your team toward the goal with fewer misteps and sidetracks.

Key Takeaways

Workshop participants will learn via a series of hands-on exercises and short talks, covering

• The four types of markets, and how to approach them
• Determining a V1 feature set
• Determining goals, success metrics and vision
• Oh, and we will have fun making up dream products!