Design Sprint + Growth Hacking = Growth Sprint
We’ve just completed a fantastic Growth Sprint workshop delivered by AJ & Smart and Form in Manchester at the imposing Gorton Monastery. The workshop is part of Amplify, a Business Growth Hub initiative to help a cohort of 14 companies (including DigitalBridge) to focus on business growth.
In the space of two days, a team of senior leaders from our company have worked together to design 14 business growth experiments, prioritise them and define key actions to execute over the next few weeks.
Not only that, but we’ve learnt how to effectively work as a team in a disciplined way…
In the world of modern tech startups, a lean approach to product building is now almost universal. No longer do companies spend years and millions of dollars secretly building a brand new product, only for it to be released and fail spectacularly due to solving a problem that doesn’t exist or developing for a market that is too small.
The Lean Startup approach advocates customer development to validate the problem, and building a minimal viable product which can be released quickly to validate the solution.
Apple’s “building block” approach
There is one company however (the largest in the world, in fact) that thumbs its…
First published on the the Home Living Retail Tech newsletter. Subscribe now.
It’s been a busy start to 2018, but we’re back with a bumper edition of news and links! Let’s get straight to it:
Retailers
I’m excited to announce that I have taken on a new role at DigitalBridge, that of Chief Operating Officer!
I’ve been with the company exactly two years now, joining as Head of Product in January of 2016. Since then, I’ve seen the company almost triple in size, add new product lines and deliver successful projects for very exciting customers.
As Head of Product, I’ve worn many a hat; determining product strategy, defining vision, laying out roadmaps and helping to build a strong team.
Going forward, I will continue to be responsible for product but will also be taking on day-to-day…
First published on the the Home Living Retail Tech newsletter. Subscribe now.
The final newsletter of the year sees augmented reality still dominating the news as more retailers and tech companies launch new products.
Onto the news…
Augmented Reality
Amazon adds an AR shopping feature to its iOS app
Until last month, augmented reality was a feature that retailers were using to stay ahead of the online retail giant, Amazon. Now, however, it’s a feature they’ll need to add in order to keep up!
Williams-Sonoma is buying a 3-D imaging and AR startup for $112 million
The owners of Pottery Barn are buying Outward, which specialises in replicating physical products in high-quality 3-D imagery that can be used for visual merchandising on retail websites and apps.
Microsoft thinks it can make holograms the future of retail
Augmented reality is already having a big impact on how…
First published on the the Home Living Retail Tech newsletter. Subscribe now.
Augmented reality for the masses is here
Augmented reality is now a viable technology for retailers to start building customer experiences with. Last month Apple released iOS 11, the latest operating system for iPads and iPhone devices, which includes ARKit, a software development kit that developers can use to build AR powered apps.
This effectively has enabled millions of iPhones and iPads owners to start experiencing AR for themselves. The obvious application is being able to see how furniture will look when added to a room, but I believe this to be just the beginning of an exciting new wave of apps and experiences.
New AR apps
Ikea’s ARKit furniture app ‘Place’ is now available on the App Store
IKEA’s new place…
Yesterday, Apple unveiled their latest iPhone line-up: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the all-exciting iPhone X. For the first time since the iPhone 5C, Apple have introduced a new model, with new industrial design, display and features.
Whilst the Apple rumour mill had pretty much ruined the element of surprise, (we’d heard about this new phone for months and by the time of the event even knew the name of the new device), one thing that was still a mystery was how Apple would introduce the iPhone X and position it.
My first feeling is that they’ve actually done…
A little over a year ago, I joined DigitalBridge as Head of Product. Having never worked at a startup before I was immediately aware of the importance of managing my time efficiently. I had a lot of different tasks at different levels to deal with, from working with the development team to drive through a new feature to working with the CEO to develop a high level roadmap.
What follows is how I’ve learned to record, track and prioritise my tasks and manage my time as efficiently as I can. …
…and it’s all Apple’s fault.
You might have heard: the iPhone 7 doesn’t have an earphone jack. I wasn’t too concerned. After all, the phone ships with an lightning to earphone jack adapter. Which I lost in within a week of getting the phone…
So I tried using the earbuds that come with the iPhone. But I’ve never got on with Apple’s earphones. They don’t fit my ears well and keep falling out. And because they tended to fall out at any slight excuse, the wire that attaches the buds to my phone started to really bug me. Every time I got it caught on…
In this article I will explore the role of Progress Making Forces. They are one of the key ideas behind Jobs To Be Done (JTBD), a framework that sets out to understand what ‘job’ people are hiring a product to do.
The Progress Making Forces act upon a customer to change her perceptions around a product. They subliminally push and pull against each other over a period of time, and are ultimately responsible for determining if the customer sticks with what she has or switches to something new.
If a product team can discover these forces and understand how they…
James Lewis
COO at @DigitalBridgeEU — Ponder over tech, lean startup, product management, business & strategy and make occasional stabbing guesses at the future.
