Tag Archives: fail fast

Making a Case For Change

Where do I start?

You could say one of our super powers @3ones is in dot-com turnarounds. When you revamp a dot-com, you end up touching so many parts of a product that the new version is almost a completely different product. We’ve done this in the dating space and we’ve done it in B2B software space. But regardless of the market for these products, the methodology for measuring success is the same. First you must state a case for change. The opinions of the exec team don’t matter. Your case for change will come from the voice of customer or the data you cull from actual usage and subscriptions. Once you set out to change, it’s important to save your study and then measure the results of your changes using the same criteria you used for assessing that need. I wrote in detail about the need to have empirical data guide your decision-making process over on Quora. But here’s a quick cheat sheet:

  1. Come up with a hypothesis.
  2. Test the hypothesis.
  3. Make a change to your product.
  4. Re-test.
  5. Did you move the needle in the right direction? If so, keep the change and go back to step 1. If not, revert and go back to step 3.

For obvious reasons, it’s best if you do this frequently and not save up a whole bunch of changes and release at once. That’s not always the possible in a pivot though. That’s why they pay us the big bucks. We specialize is big turnarounds.

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Why “Fail Fast” does not mean “Fail Big”

I responded to the following question over on Quora:

(1) Does the “fail fast” philosophy mean we’re letting down our customers? – Quora.

There’s a misconception that “Fail Fast” means “Fail Big.” On the contrary. Failing fast means you can gather information fast enough and in small enough bites that you don’t make a splash. Failing fast is the opposite of failing big. Read more to find out why and how we employ a Fail Fast mantra a Realtidbits.

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Fail Bigger Cheaper: A Three Word Manifesto – Umair Haque – Harvard Business Review

For obvious reasons, I like this post. Go. Read. Then let’s discuss.

Fail Bigger Cheaper: A Three Word Manifesto – Umair Haque – Harvard Business Review.

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What is Fail Whale?


What is Fail Whale?.

This page is a collection of a lot of user generated images for the Twitter Fail Whale. It also answers the question above. I think this is a great example of two measures we have an eye for when we help companies develop products.

First: failure is a means to the goal and should not be avoided per se. Failures help you carve out your market because it is through failing (and failing fast, as I like to say) that we learn the correct path to success.

Second: spreadability. This is a term that Henry Jenkins uses frequently to describe how users generate content. It’s a term that most people mean when they say “UGC” or “Viral Content” and it simply refers to the ability of a meme to be spread without the encoded original message getting distorted. Not only is Twitter “spreadable” but even its longstanding “fails” are worth sharing. 

What we as product developers can glean from this lesson is that once a product makes it into pop culture, expect to lose direct control of the message. And that even a culture that gently pokes fun at the product by highlighting its shortcomings is in its own way a loving culture. We tease those we love, after all. Why should it be any different for products we love?

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Fail Fast Presentation – 1.0

Release early, release often, right?

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Fail Fast – The Lunchbox

I am going to be giving my first talk on the concept of failure as a means to success in the product development process on Monday. I haven’t produced my deck yet and believe me when I tell you that I’ll be cramming for it. Come see me sweat!

Thanks to Samir Bhavnani (an expert defenseman on my Sunday soccer team) from WorldWineGroups for setting this gig up for me with the San Diego Social Media Club. The event will be at Veoh at 6PM Monday night. Their offices are in Sorrento Valley. A full description of the talk and ticket purchase here.

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