The product design sprint: prototype (day 4) At the Google Ventures Design Studio, we have a five-day process for taking a product or feature from design through prototyping and testing. We call it a product design sprint. This is the sixth in a series of seven posts on running your own design sprint. On day 2 you drew concept sketches. This part of the sprint is super exciting for me as a designer. But wait a second… what should this prototype look like? What your prototype should look like Quite simply, a prototype is anything a person can look at and respond to. Make it minimally real You’ll probably be amazed at how much real feedback a user can give you on a slide deck of mockups that aren’t even pixel-perfect. They can tell you what they understand about your product — and what they don’t. You’ll also learn things that metrics alone can’t tell you, in particular why users do the things they do, rather than just what they do. Why? Keynote versus code Occasionally you’ll need to write some code for your prototype.
How To Become a Millionaire In Three Years /* This was originally a comment made in response to a hacker news thread titled: Ask HN: How to become a millionaire in 3 years? . The comment has over 200 upvotes, which means people found it useful. I decided to add more thoughts, refine existing ones, and put it in a permanent place. This is just my own humble advice and I hope it’s useful for entrepreneurs. I move forward the only direction Cant be scared to fail in Search of perfection -Jay-Z, On To The Next One I’m going to go and replace 3 years with a “short time frame”. Market opportunity- A million dollars is not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly is a lot if the market opportunity is not large enough. Inequality of information- Find a place where you know something that many undervalue. Leverage skills you know- You can go into new fields such as say Finance, but make sure you’re leveraging something you already know such as technology and/or product. Stick with it- Don’t give up too fast.
Sketchboards: Discover Better + Faster UX Solutions The sketchboard is a low-fi technique that makes it possible for designers to explore and evaluate a range of interaction concepts while involving both business and technology partners. Unlike the process that results from wireframe-based design, the sketchboard quickly performs iterations on many possible solutions and then singles out the best user experience to document and build upon. It’s what we do well Designers love the “breakthrough moments” in a working relationship. The ability to convey a solution pictorially Showing a solution is more vivid and far less abstract than talking or writing about it; pictures are both louder and more clear than words.The ability to presuppose new solutions Despite incomplete information about the problem, designers make instinctual leaps to offer potential solutions that would not have been arrived at through deductive logic alone. The trouble is that these moments are all too rare on normal design and development projects.
Top 100 Free eBooks for Business Students and Entrepreneurs Whether you’re enrolled in a business school degree program or desperate for a review of b-school basics as you start your own company, it’s hard to pass up free study materials. These 100 ebooks on marketing, management, ecommerce, and finance are all free and worth checking out. Basic Business These foundational courses focus on basic business skills like earning money, understanding your relationship with the customer, and more. Management Become a better manager with these courses, which cover topics in psychology, change management, and more. E-commerce and Internet Marketing Review the cutting edge techniques necessary to master online business. 3 Vital Steps to KickStart Your Web Business: Daniel Sudhakar’s book helps you "avoid all the mistakes that start-ups make." Finance Here you can review accounting, investments and other business finance guides. Budget Breeze: Learn new budgeting strategies for your business. Human Resources Marketing and Advertising International Business Economics
Prototyping in Systems Analysis Prototyping in Systems Analysis Introduction Organizations of all types do it. Microsoft, Disney, and Boeing do it. This paper will look at what prototyping is to systems analysis. Table of Contents What is Prototyping? As mentioned earlier a prototype is like a model or a simulation of a real thing. A survey of MIS managers in Fortune 1000 firms [3] suggests that there are four prototyping methodologies in use today which supplement the traditional systems development life cycle: Illustrative: produces only mockups of reports and screens. Others suggest such categorizations as evolutionary versus throw-away [10]. Another way that prototypes are classified is by the fidelity of the prototype, or the degree to which the prototype represents the appearance and interaction of the system.[4] A low-fidelity prototype is one that is quickly constructed to depict concepts, design alternatives, and screen layouts. Included in the chart above are terms used to describe other prototyping concepts.
Start a Company - F the Rules I am a 28 year old start-up CEO. Last week I read an article titled “the 57 things I learned starting 3 tech companies.” While the list was brilliant, the human brain can only simultaneously hold seven independent thoughts. Lesson #1 – Do something you are passionate about. Really. Lesson #2 – Recruit your friends and colleagues. My company started with two founders. Lesson #3 – Get up Sunday Morning. If your idea is not exciting enough to get you out of bed on Sunday morning, you did not pay attention to lesson #1. Lesson #4 – Put your Money where your mouth is. When we started Ethical Ocean, I had $40k in student debt. Lesson #5 – F the Rules. Ethical Ocean is doing it. All this said, you would not believe how many people discouraged us from starting this company. Working on Ethical Ocean has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life – and it is only just beginning. Chad Hamre is the CEO of EthicalOcean.com and is based in Toronto, Canada.
The Benefits of Top-Down Thinking & Why it is Critical to Entrepreneurs For the first 5 years of my career I was a “bottom up” thinker and worker. I assembled tons of data, grouped things, found results and drew conclusions. It was difficult to make the transition to a “top down” thinker but as a senior executive – and as an entrepreneur – you’re far less effective without this skill in your arsenal. The difference is in formulating hypothesis then testing conclusions / data vs. assembling data and finding patterns. I started my career as a programmer. In billing we literally started thinking about all of the types of bills that would be generated for customers: full payment, partial payment, split payment, senior discount, student discount, level pay plan, etc. I next moved into system design where I designed computer systems to deal with large industrial natural gas customers and telecommunication companies. I spent the first 5 years of my career as a “bottom up thinker.” The wisest mentor I ever had was Ameet Shah, my partner on several projects.
The Top 10 Things Successful People Do To Reach Their Dreams Our bookshelves are lined with habits that successful people do on a daily basis. We read about them and implement them into our routines and practices. Quite often these practices improve our productivity and make our lives better as a result. But that’s not what this article is about. It’s not about what successful people do, but what they did. Here’s a brief study of 10 things that these hungry and unstoppable people did to see the success they all eventually achieved. The 10 Things Successful People Live By Before They Make It 1. We all have two voices. We also have the voice that tells us to take a break, to think about what’s on TV, or to visit a site that we like to visit that entertains us – whether it’s ESPN.com or facebook. In life we’re the victim of injustice from time to time. Nelson Mandela could have used his unjust imprisonment as an excuse to give into his anger. Listen to your excuses. 2. Yes we can make money when we have the primary goal of making money. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.