Series
Impact Factories, Volume 1: The Need
Discovering and formalizing a real customer need
- Ongoing
- 31 episodes
- 736 min read
The first volume of Impact Factories, devoted to the need. Nine months of cash, no customers, no users, no investors. Julien and Sophie have that long to figure out what their customers actually need, and to pin it down clearly enough to build on, before MelonsNet shuts down. You follow their investigation chapter after chapter: the interviews they run, the false leads they chase, the methods that finally work. The next volumes follow the same team on to the opportunity, the product, the factory, the launch and growth.
-
Why this book
What led to writing Impact Factories, and why as a novel.
-
What is an impact factory?
The working definition the whole story rests on.
-
What you are about to read
What the book is about, who lives in it, and the questions it will put to you.
-
Chapter 1: Surviving a breakup with the solution
“Did you know that every click, every search, every purchase you make is already being tracked, analyzed, and exploited without your full knowledge?” The activist asking…
-
Chapter 2: Rising up thanks to collective intelligence
At the entrance to NUMA, two hosts hand each new arrival a sheet of stickers: one for a first name, then little flags to show which…
-
Chapter 3: Revealing the need
Léo pulls out a chair, spins it around in one move, and sits facing them, forearms folded over the backrest. He has an athlete’s build and…
-
Chapter 4: Categorizing information sources
The next morning, Julien and Sophie call an emergency meeting with their team. Around the table, Laura, the product owner, and the four developers, Éric, Marc,…
-
Chapter 5: Navigating the irrationality of human need
The meeting has changed hands without anyone really deciding it. Laura steps back and leaves the whiteboard to Max. She keeps hold of her marker, which,…
-
Chapter 6: Following the red thread of the goal
Cassandre has opened her mouth to ask a question. Léo sees it coming and raises a hand. He takes his time. You can tell he has…
-
Chapter 7: Avoiding the white box trap
Léo opens the meeting room door, Max on his heels. The members of MelonsNet are already standing around the whiteboard: Laura and Julien of course, but…
-
Chapter 8: Beware the shining crystal
The room is still buzzing with compliments about the shortbread when Léo stands up. The team is refilled with sugar and enthusiasm. Making the most of…
-
Chapter 9: Questioning the need
Annonay, 1782. In the fireplace, the fire crackles softly. Joseph watches the ashes rise, drawn upwards by something invisible. The curls of smoke climb with a…
-
Chapter 10: Understanding the cost of the need
The camera is already rolling when she sits down. Laura stays behind the lens, out of shot. "Hello, my name is Lisa Duval." She gives the…
-
Chapter 11: Varying how we listen to the voices of the need
The debrief board is still covered in the names brought back from the field. Taking stock of how far they have come, Sophie suddenly bursts out…
-
Chapter 12: Convincing the sponsors to move forward
The next day, Julien and Sophie take time to talk things over in a café near the office. The atmosphere is heavy. They know that a…
-
Chapter 13: Looking for concrete ground truth beyond the voices
They start by reading, before they call anyone. Emma keeps her promise and puts them in touch with Claire, the marketing director, and Thomas, head of…
-
Chapter 14: Identifying the success indicators to track
The week drags on for Sophie and Julien, set to the rhythm of an avalanche of paperwork. They have started reading a first draft of the…
-
Chapter 15: Understanding the system
The metro rumbles beneath their feet as Sophie and Julien squeeze into a packed carriage. It is the school holidays, and all around them groups of…
-
Chapter 16: Understanding culture to assess motivations
Mars, 23 September 1999. After nearly ten months traveling through the immensity of interplanetary space, the Mars Climate Orbiter probe is finally approaching its…
-
Chapter 17: Consolidating knowledge to move forward
It is Friday morning, and there is a palpable energy in the air. The whole team can't wait to meet Olivia, the well-known Product Designer Max…
-
Chapter 18: Killing ambiguity
Olivia waits until everyone is settled again, then speaks calmly: "Third and last step of this sequence: evaluation. It's a key moment. We don't judge the…
-
Chapter 19: Scripting the system
After this aside on handling ambiguity, Olivia walks slowly up to the wall covered in Post-its, as if she were studying an unfinished fresco. She lets…
-
Chapter 20: Getting to know the actors
The following week, the interview guide is carefully prepared: it follows the steps of the CUX, but leaves room for the unexpected. Three main objectives are…
-
Chapter 21: Finding the tensions in the system
During the break, they find a quiet corner of the offices. Julien and Sophie try to reach Max by phone. They want to suggest meeting up…
-
Chapter 22: Detailing processes and their requirements
In the hallway, the school bag is waiting by the door. "Come on, Jonas, hurry up, we're going to be late for school!" Ever since they…
-
Chapter 23: Confronting views to hit the mark
On the very evening the contract is signed, Sophie meets Max for a rather special dinner. He has invited her to meet a few of his…
-
Chapter 24: Identifying actionable levers
On Max's recommendation, Sophie, Laura and Julien go to a lecture at a university. The lecture hall is packed. Julien, Laura and Sophie slip quietly onto…
-
Chapter 25: Evaluating the levers
The bell rings again, echoing off the walls of the lecture hall. Little by little the conversations die down and footsteps sound in the aisles. Sophie,…
-
Chapter 26: Organizing experimentation
Julien spreads butter on his still-warm bread; the coffee machine gurgles in the kitchen. As he does every morning, he turns the knob of the old…
-
Chapter 27: Adopting a learner’s mindset
San Francisco, 2007. Drew Houston sits down in his small flat, cluttered with cables and laptops. A USB stick lies on the desk. He plugs it…
-
Chapter 28: Communicating the results
Sophie's phone vibrates among the pastries. She puts it on speaker and holds it between herself and Julien. "Hello Sophie, hello Julien, it's Frank, Emma's new…
Extras
To read on the side, in any order.
CC BY-SA 4.0