5 ms·

Skateboard, Bike, Car: Building Products the MetaLab Way

40 points by duck 10y ago

subpixel 10y ago
Q: Should we use Henrik Kniberg's original illustrations, and credit him for this product development meme or whatever? A: Nah, let's just recreate his visuals and call the whole idea our own. (for reference: https://blog.deming.org/2014/11/minimal-viable-product/ https://blog.deming.org/2014/11/minimal-viable-product/)
- pravda 10y ago
  Great artists steal!
  - yitchelle 10y ago
    Actually great artist evolve it.
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  Called them out directly on medium for it. Doubt they'll bother to answer, but maybe a few people will see it.
- egypturnash 10y ago
  Wow, their version is much more polished but completely drops the message of the image: the huge X over the first row. That makes it clear that it is contrasting two workflows, and saying "don't do this one". I read Metalab's version as eight stages of one project.
- whytaka 10y ago
  I knew I'd seen it before. Thanks for that.
- ZeroGravitas 10y ago
  That blog also seems to be taking more credit than it deserves, with lots of internal links to itself and only really crediting the image itself. Henrik himself has various videos and slides talking about the processes used at Spotify, and it was in that context I first saw this illustration.
aethr 10y ago
As someone at in an agency still working in a "waterfall style that was popular in the 90s", how do we convince clients with a fixed budget and a list of "must haves" to go agile? We have PMs with agile experience, all the developers are onboard, but when every other agency is promising to deliver what the client needs for a fixed cost, why would they take the risk? We've had some small successes starting agile projects with existing clients who trust us, but articles like this make it seem like we're incompetent for even engaging in a waterfall project in 2016. When you're pitching for new work with a client who doesn't know the difference between waterfall and agile, one seems like a promise and the other seems like a risk. As software engineers, we know the opposite is true, but why should they trust us?
- popdoit 10y ago
  God, I feel the same way. I've spent most of my career at agencies and, yes, many of them are still using waterfall project planning.
- repeek 10y ago
  When you say "go agile", what do you mean? Why does the client care how the project is delivered? If the client wants to pay a fixed bid then bake that added risk into your estimate. For clients - if they're asking for something new/unique, what they have in their minds at the beginning is just a theory and needs to be tested -- working in iterations and focusing on "how do we help you prove your hypothesis in the most time/cost effective manner". Agile is about incremental, demonstrable progress to provide clarity and reduce risk.
popdoit 10y ago
They didn't set the proper client expectations, which is why their strategy engagement failed. Shouldn't they have figured out the client wanted them to just start designing stuff before they went away for a few weeks and built a strategy deck? They failed to understand what their client needed and then they blame strategy for it!
ianpurton 10y ago
To me the analogy doesn't work. The skateboard has unlimited possibilities. I've never seen anyone pull of a 360 degree kickflip in a car. To suggest a scooter is an evolution of the skateboard is just crazy. Anyone who has ever turned up to a skatepark on a scooter knows the shame of finding out instantly that scooters are just not cool. Perhaps they should apply the same thinking in their consultancy.
takno 10y ago
I've never understood this. How do you turn a skateboard into a car without starting again completely? Seems like instead of building one thing in considered stages you've built four things and resolutely refused to plan any of them properly

40 points by duck 10y ago

Q: Should we use Henrik Kniberg's original illustrations, and credit him for this product development meme or whatever? A: Nah, let's just recreate his visuals and call the whole idea our own. (for reference: https://blog.deming.org/2014/11/minimal-viable-product/ https://blog.deming.org/2014/11/minimal-viable-product/)

pravda 10y ago
Great artists steal!
- yitchelle 10y ago
  Actually great artist evolve it.
Mithaldu 10y ago
Called them out directly on medium for it. Doubt they'll bother to answer, but maybe a few people will see it.
egypturnash 10y ago
Wow, their version is much more polished but completely drops the message of the image: the huge X over the first row. That makes it clear that it is contrasting two workflows, and saying "don't do this one". I read Metalab's version as eight stages of one project.
whytaka 10y ago
I knew I'd seen it before. Thanks for that.
ZeroGravitas 10y ago
That blog also seems to be taking more credit than it deserves, with lots of internal links to itself and only really crediting the image itself. Henrik himself has various videos and slides talking about the processes used at Spotify, and it was in that context I first saw this illustration.

aethr 10y ago

As someone at in an agency still working in a "waterfall style that was popular in the 90s", how do we convince clients with a fixed budget and a list of "must haves" to go agile? We have PMs with agile experience, all the developers are onboard, but when every other agency is promising to deliver what the client needs for a fixed cost, why would they take the risk? We've had some small successes starting agile projects with existing clients who trust us, but articles like this make it seem like we're incompetent for even engaging in a waterfall project in 2016. When you're pitching for new work with a client who doesn't know the difference between waterfall and agile, one seems like a promise and the other seems like a risk. As software engineers, we know the opposite is true, but why should they trust us?

popdoit 10y ago
God, I feel the same way. I've spent most of my career at agencies and, yes, many of them are still using waterfall project planning.
repeek 10y ago
When you say "go agile", what do you mean? Why does the client care how the project is delivered? If the client wants to pay a fixed bid then bake that added risk into your estimate. For clients - if they're asking for something new/unique, what they have in their minds at the beginning is just a theory and needs to be tested -- working in iterations and focusing on "how do we help you prove your hypothesis in the most time/cost effective manner". Agile is about incremental, demonstrable progress to provide clarity and reduce risk.

popdoit 10y ago

They didn't set the proper client expectations, which is why their strategy engagement failed. Shouldn't they have figured out the client wanted them to just start designing stuff before they went away for a few weeks and built a strategy deck? They failed to understand what their client needed and then they blame strategy for it!

ianpurton 10y ago

To me the analogy doesn't work. The skateboard has unlimited possibilities. I've never seen anyone pull of a 360 degree kickflip in a car. To suggest a scooter is an evolution of the skateboard is just crazy. Anyone who has ever turned up to a skatepark on a scooter knows the shame of finding out instantly that scooters are just not cool. Perhaps they should apply the same thinking in their consultancy.

takno 10y ago

I've never understood this. How do you turn a skateboard into a car without starting again completely? Seems like instead of building one thing in considered stages you've built four things and resolutely refused to plan any of them properly