Day 86 — Moving from Product Vision to Pen and Paper
Getting the product design ready for launch
Product Planning
I spent the first few hours today getting our design assets ready and figuring out where we have holes.
I find I’m way more productive when starting from paper — here’s what I sketched out:
Goals
I got some feedback on our app yesterday from a 14-year old. He was really into video games and shared with me how his favorite game was one that he started using when it was still in its alpha release. And since, “the app just keeps getting better and better with every release.”
This is exactly my goal. Our 1st version is going to suck (at least relative to what it will become). We just need to put ourselves out there.
Here are our launch goals:
- Build our muscles for shipping product (internal). There’s just something different about building towards a deadline that forces the right things to happen. Without a launch goal, it’s easy to procrastinate. Building with the intention to launch forces new skills to be developed, quick decisions to be made, and value to be delivered.
- Get teens with type 1 excited about what we’re doing (external). For this first release, I’m trying to take the pressure off. Sure, we have aspirations to change the way the world learns about health. But that’s not gonna happen with v1. What can happen with v1 is that we build a small following that helps us learn and get better. And with v2, v3, and v4, we can start to hone our craft and build something that truly delivers value to teens and families.
The Product
The Outline
We’re way beyond MVP stage at this point, so having something shippable isn’t a problem. I still wanted to put our best foot forward though.
I initially planned on creating a bunch of new modules, but after writing down the goals above, creating a whole bunch of content quickly is just not the point of this release.
It did make me wonder: content is going to be an ongoing challenge for us. What are ways we can creatively solve for this? How can we bring kids and families closer to the development process so we can let them help us build the app from the ground up?
The Storyboard
When I ran my Design Sprint a couple weeks ago, I found the storyboard process to be invaluable. There’s just something about putting pen to paper before you dive into moving pixels. It allows me to be more creative and think about what could be vs. what is.
As we tailor the app to a teenage audience, a few things are key to hone in on:
- Messaging: How we introduce the app changes. This includes the screens users see when the first download the app and how we communicate within lessons.
- Real Stories: Out of everything we’ve produced so far, I’m most proud of the stories that have been told through the Invincible Kids Network. There’s no better way to connect to kids than from other kids. Each module will include an individual story that can demonstrate to kids they’re not alone.
- Fun: We need to amplify this. We’ve tested varying degrees of gamification, and I think this will be a major component going forward.
- Connections: I want to build real connections with our users. We need to be relevant and useful to them, but I want them the feeling that they’re partners in this experience with us.
Here’s the storyboard I created:
The Flow:
1 — App Launch. We have a new splash screen that probably won’t make it into v1.
2 — Welcome. I updated the messaging to cater to a younger audience.
3 — Learning Dashboard. No changes.
4 — Intro. Creating a new video to introduce users to the app that emphasizes what we’re all about.
5 — Progress. We don’t have progress and points officially built yet, but I’m going to fake it in the meantime with screens and images.
6 — Basics. No major changes here.
7 — Emotions. Incorporate the mental health module we tested 2 weeks ago.
8 — ???. Knowing content will be an ongoing challenge, I’m simply going to ask users what they want to see. If users make it here, they’re clearly engaged, so we’ve done something right. This could be our opportunity to learn as we grow with our users.
Now What?
Tomorrow I’ll dive into the key launch risks we have so I can start addressing them one by one.
