What The Martian teaches us about project planning and development?
Mark Watney, main character and narrator of Andy Weir’s book The Martian found himself in an awful situation. Stuck on Mars he must use all his skills to survive. His adventures can teach us a bit about work habits and building products.
Science-fiction novel The Martian and Ridley Scott’s movie under the same title were great hits. No wonder. Credible plot, a great mix of humor and drama and a main character that we keep our fingers crossed for from the first minutes. This is a story about the human will to survive. But if you carefully read through it, you can find a few similarities with work on physical and software projects. In this article, we will go through them together.
Have you already read or watched The Martian? If not, I encourage you to do so, and please, don’t read the rest of this article until you do. I don’t want to spoil the fun for you.
One thing at the time
When Mark woke up alone on the red planet, he immediately jumped into his “work the problem” mode. He decided to fix one problem at a time as they appeared, starting with the critical ones. The first priority was to patch himself and then his focus was on creating a sustainable source of food. After that, he shifted to making contact with the earth and starting preparation for his journey to the rescue point.
In current times, where society praises multitasking, focusing on one task may be not trendy, but in fact, it is the quickest way to get things done. It doesn’t matter that we are talking about a developer’s day to day job or planning your product (using Minimum Viable Product strategy) — you should always prioritize things and focus on the most important from the start. Extending this example to MVP — core functionality of your app is more important than the settings section or profile edit screen. Always start with the core functionality and if something goes bad (money shortage, etc.) you will have something that brings value.
Something is better than nothing
Watney’s road to rescue isn’t easy or pleasant. Disasters and problems show up one after another. But the brave astrobotanist is able to solve them cleverly and quickly. One thing that he immediately realizes is that in this harsh environment it is better to have something than nothing. He picks small, but achievable goals (like growing something to eat, or finding a way to communicate with Earth) and does everything he can to accomplish them. When there is a success, he improves his project to the next stages.
This is a method that we should also follow when we are working on a big and complicated system. Iteration is the key. Let me again call my favorite Instagram app example from the previous article Start with MVP. The first version of the app supports only twelve filters and the possibility to easily share square photos with the world. No hashtag support, no searching. Start with something simple that gives your users value, then add new functionalities if they are needed. You don’t have to make a smartphone from the beginning. The simple telephone line will be enough to start.
Breaking a project down into small pieces
Did you notice how Mark Watney breaks his goals into smaller pieces and makes action points from them? To grow potatoes, you need water, soil, lights, and of course plants. Water production requires burning hydrazine… And then everything goes wrong. But this is not part of my story.
Every goal should be divided into smaller points that can be done in a reasonable time. Speaking with Agile Scrum methodology language — you should break your project into User Stories (goals), and each user story should contain tasks (usually created by designers/developers) that describe what has to be done to make this goal a reality.
This, and the next points are not directly related to MVP planning because they usually happen when the product is already under development, but they are equally important to make the product come to life. And you, as a product owner should keep them in mind.
The team is most important
Hermes crew, like classic musketeers, quickly decided that “one for all and all for one” and significantly extended their own flight to rescue Mark. The bravery of Commander Lewis and his fellow astronauts pays off. Mark was reunited with his colleagues and safely returned to Earth.
This one is crucial. Your team is the best asset that you have. Make them happy, make them feel important, care about them and they will pay you back in commitment to your project. On the other hand, if they feel that you don’t respect them, they probably will do their job (because after all software developers, UX/UI designers, and all those in the IT industry are professionals) but without a deep understanding of the problem, and without sharing their knowledge and expertise. And they probably will stop working with you as soon as possible.
Don’t lose hope
In the end, I left one last crucial fact out about Mark Watney — he never lost his humor or his will to live. This element of the book/movie may be the reason for the great success of both. If something bad happened to our hero, he gritted his teeth and found a way out his misery.
This example you can take and apply to your whole life, not only to your product or work. The world seems like a brighter and better place when we are looking through rose-colored glasses. But don’t let this mislead you. To achieve your goals, you have to work hard and believe that your hard work will pay off in the future.
I’m here to help
I’ve created this blog to share my experiences and teach others about the best methods for quicker product evaluation. I plan to create a new post every month or two. I know that this is a long time in the modern era of information overflow. You will forget about this blog until this time. So, I encourage you to follow this publication, so you know when a new article is posted.
Join the Corps
On this blog, I want to present other people’s view on MVP and quick product/idea evaluation as well. If you have successfully created and published MVP, have a software that allows creating products quicker, or you just want to share your thoughts on the concept, please contact me. I’d be happy to host a guest article or an interview.
