Learning to fail?
The diagram to the right conveys a strong message for business owners and user experience designers (even though they might already know). It screams, “look at the power of putting users first!”
I began Ironhack on August 21, 2017. It felt as if I was a part of a current that pulled me away from the shore.
I began with a clear mind and a desire to learn (I’d been waiting to start the course since April of 2017!!). A 3 month wait that was well worth my patience. Megan Adolph was the UX/UI cohort’s instructor for the first week and she blew my mind. Megan immediately welcomed us with high-energy and a sincere smile. She began with one of the most interesting exercises I’ve come to know for developing ideas: the Google Design Sprint, adopted by Google Ventures. The design sprint was based on “failing fast” so there’s time to be more innovative with what users need. This proved to be an effective way to validate a product before putting down a huge investment. The sprint consists of a 5 day process, each day representing an advancement to a product’s longevity. Each week proving market validation.
Monday’s about empathizing with the client and the potential user of the product. Mainly general questions to better understand each perspective.
Tuesday’s for sketching the problem and objective.
Wednesday’s for deciding on solutions.
Thursday’s about building the prototype,
and Friday’s about testing.
So Megan really helped us understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ to do the sprint. Our class has a total of 7 students and a TA (Horacio, great guy). Megan split the class in half. My team had 3 while the other had 4. I didn’t think twice about it. The team (Roy Kim and Sherry Andre)and I got to work. Take note that none of us in the class had ever worked with each other and we instantly were able to collaborate like clockwork. We redesigned a website that sold flowers in a unique way. In a box…
We killed the 1 week sprint and the presentation, so the Google design sprint was engraved in my memory and I started to think of all the possible ways I could implement it in my life, businesses, and non-profit.
On Tuesday of the first week, I got a message from my digital marketing agency partner telling me that he was called by a family who recently bought 2 stores on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Both stores are beachfront. The family called my biz partner to see if he could look at the store and help him increase his profits. He said, “sure” and went to check the place out. What I was told is that this family had no idea what the area needed. Though what ended up happening was that he hired our biz to practically redesign his biz. So when I heard this news a light bulb popped into my head. I told my partner that I wanted to take the lead on the store design and any additions to the stores’ inventory. I met with the family a week later and did the design sprint with them and my team. It was great because I was full of energy, something I aim to keep high!
Our clients really felt involved in the process. The crazy part is that I learned the way to “fail fast” a week prior to doing the process with them and was able to pull it off. The GDS exercise is concrete because it emphasizes the user’s needs before any big money is put on the table. Plus, each new thing is tested and proved. Yep, it’s a science. So I’m a scientist now…
