The things we learned along the way
We learned a lot from picking up this project together. First of all, the importance of having a clear shared goal. We were often working asynchronously, and we did not have a lot of time to spend. Making sure we’d make the most out of what we had was of vital importance. We met regularly but briefly and spent most of our time communicating with each other on what the end result could look like, and how we could best get there. By making clear choices on what was in and out of scope, we made sure we deliver on an MPV with room to add more if we would ever have time left. Also, this clarity allowed people to make choices whilst coding, because everyone knew the story we wanted to tell and what we wanted to achieve. Finally, heated arguments up front ensured we’d end up on a strategy to build things we knew would be the best we could come up with and best utilize all we had at our disposal. We for instance saved a lot of development time, by connecting to the right experts which already had a library available. We also found smart ways to inform the device where the wearer was located, by putting up specific QR-codes. By having conversations up front on how to implement this solution, we saved a lot of time on preventing reworks and making sure we’d get it right the first time around.
Secondly, we learned the power of putting technology in peoples hands and letting them experience what is possible. We got the best possible feedback, simply because people now had experience which they did not have before. This helped us improve the DEMO, this helped Google to learn more about their Glasses, this helped bol.commers learn more about their own company. Everyone involved had something to gain. It also affirmed our belief that the discovery of new products and solutions is very valuable and does not have to take a lot of resources. In the end, most of what we built was done by three people in two weeks. That is something that should fit in any roadmap. The learnings we got informed us about the best path forward, something that would otherwise be learned only after building a suboptimal solution.
Finally, we found how far you can get by focussing on the discovery process and getting a minimal viable product up and running first. This does not have to be perfect to get vital feedback. We used simple prints stuck to cardboard boxes that allowed us to play around with the location of the QR codes. And the moment we got actual users into our DEMO, we learned we were going about it all wrong. And that is the type of feedback and rapid learning that prevents waste created from assumptions. Combine that with a growth mindset and not taking yourself and your project too seriously, and you have all the ingredients to learn at rocket speeds.
