Lean UX: Forming & Testing Hypotheses

It’s easy to talk about features. Fun, even. But easy and fun doesn’t always translate to functional, profitable, or sustainable.

That's where Lean UX comes in-it reframes a typical design process from one driven by deliverables to one driven by data, instead. Josh Seiden has been there, done that-and he's going to show us how to change our thinking, too.

The first step is admitting you don’t know all the answers; after all, who does? You’ll then write hypotheses aimed at answering the question, “Why?”, then run experiments to gather data that show whether a design is working.

Start with a hypothesis instead of requirements

• Test your initial assumptions early to take risks out of your project
• Focus on ideal user or business outcomes, not which features to build

Write a typical hypothesis

• Create a simple hypothesis with two parts
• Decide what type of evidence you need to collect

Go from hypothesis to experiment

• Design an experiment to test your hypothesis, and keep that test as simple as possible
• Hear examples of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) others used to test hypotheses

Avoid common testing pitfalls

• Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to test every idea—just test the riskier ones
• Break down hypothesis into bite-sized chunks you can actually test

Attend this seminar if you:

• Don’t know what a hypothesis is, why it benefits UX designers, or how to write one
• Question whether features are missing and, if so, which users actually need them
• Are tired of creating deliverables that don’t make the kind of difference you want them to
• Think there must be a data-driven way to design-one that isn’t based on guesswork, yet doesn’t replace designer’s intuition

If you want a learning-focused process that rallies your entire team around continuous research—and more effective design outcomes—then watch seminar.