Tina transformed how our team developed new product directions. Previously we had no shortage of ideas, but any given one required a heavy engineering investment, and we didn't have enough conviction in any single one of them to feel confident investing resources. Tina showed us how to move quickly and iteratively from the highly uncertain brainstorm phase to getting working demos in front of users with as little over-engineering as possible. This gave our team the quantitative and qualitative user feedback we needed to have confidence in where to invest our time and resources.
Raquel Romano
Senior Director of Engineering
FAQ's
-
How is this different from other product coaching services?
My experience is steeped in how early-stage startups operate: fast, chaotic, and scrappy. The sense of urgency that arises from a dwindling runway is much different from that at more established companies. You can expect our collaboration to match that pace. My expertise in design, interpersonal communication, and product development gives me a larger toolbox to draw from to help the team.
-
Why does my team need external help?
Working on new product development can be challenging, raising questions about competence and self-worth. Engaging an empathetic partner with deep experience in design thinking and early-stage startup growth can ease the team into this process.
-
Wouldn't it be more effective to hire in-house rather than getting external
consulting help?
The team working on the product is deeply invested in its success. Because of this, it's important to seek help from someone who isn't as emotionally attached and can provide a dispassionate perspective. It's possible to hire a product manager who has this experience as well, but it would be a lot to ask that they can do their product work and train the rest of team as well. If the goal is to grow the team's product capabilities, engineers and designers need to equally contribute to shaping the roadmap, to maximize the impact of the team.
-
Do you have examples of how you've helped teams ship faster?
As part of an in-house innovation team of two, I created an MVP that gained internal support, leading to full product development. Despite the typical year-long timeline in large companies, our team of four engineers (most were part-time) launched the iOS app in four months and the Android app the following month.
At a startup, we initially spent about a year developing a product before adopting the design thinking approach in its entirety. Afterward, each pivot took only about 12 weeks, allowing us to quickly discard mediocre ideas and focus on those with positive signals.
Additionally, I've coached in-house teams, transforming a founder-led process into a more team-based approach. Their work helped improve key metrics in a similar amount of time and they developed the capacity for driving product development, rather than merely executing. -
Does this apply to adding features to existing products or developing new products?
Building minimal prototypes—sometimes with little or no engineering—to quickly validate with users in an experiment-driven way can be applied to creating MVPs from concepts or enhancing existing experiences.
-
What's the expected ROI?
The traditional product development model can take months to years and cost millions. Forming strong hypotheses and creating lightweight prototypes to gather frequent user feedback allows teams to de-risk and make decisions to pursue or pivot much earlier and with greater confidence.
-
What type of business would this be suitable for?
While timelines for product development vary by industry, the process of reducing risk and finding user-centered solutions remains relevant. We can chat to see if this might help your team.
-
Do we have the right team?
In the early stages, a functional prototype might not be needed for user feedback, so engineering skills may not be required. However, when a functional software prototype is necessary, a small team of 3-4 individuals, including engineers, PMs, and designers, should be able to build a working front-end and back-end.
-
How long would this take?
Starting with a high-level challenge, a team can expect to have conviction in the current direction or decide to pivot within 12 weeks. Additional user research may extend the timeline, but experiencing the process firsthand allows the team to continue iterating or restart with or without continued coaching.
More questions? Schedule your 30-minute consultation.
Tina helped turn what could have been a very stressful do-or-die situation at a startup into a period that I look back on as simultaneously one of the most effective and the most fun. She was key to helping our team gel and go from idea to multiple UI prototypes, and then public launch within 2 months. Two things stand out that were most helpful to our team: (1) Her incredibly quick but deep user research and synthesis: I have never seen anyone more effectively use user research tools available, and turn qualitative research into something thoughtful and actionable (2) The way she involves the whole team in the entire process: Decision-making was clear and transparent, and involved the team in ways that were helpful but not distracting, and inclusive without being stymied by group decision paralysis.
Alyssa Caulley
Engineering Technical Lead
Tina is a powerhouse. She joined us on an in-flight product that hadn't yet found PMF. She quickly took on the vision we were working towards, conducted user research, and developed the user personas and UI prototypes that drove the MVP. Her ability to identify real user needs narrowed the scope and focused everything we were building.
Greg Hecht
CTO and Founder
I was part of an experimentation stream under Tina's mentorship ... Her approach of asking critical questions, both qualitative and quantitative, along with revisiting her insights and notes from previous experiment streams, significantly improved our team dynamics and flow.
Arjun Variar
Staff Software Engineer