Getting2Alpha Cindy Alvarez on customer research and iterative development
Sep 17, 2016
Cindy Alvarez, an expert in customer research and iterative development, brings her rich background to the conversation. She shares insights on the critical role of customer research in product decisions and the challenges of prototyping in tech. Alvarez discusses her unexpected journey from psychology at Harvard to tech leadership at Microsoft, emphasizing effective communication’s role in customer engagement. She also explores how mobile games can enhance physical activity, showcasing innovative ways to improve user engagement through technology.
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Tech Support Awakening
- Cindy Alvarez started in tech support helping Harvard professors who struggled with technology usability issues.
- This experience sparked her passion to make technology more human and accessible for people.
Ensure Team Alignment Early
- Align your team by individually writing down your assumptions about the problem and solution.
- Share these to reveal mismatches and ensure everyone points in the same direction before building.
Disprove Assumptions Early
- Avoid falling in love with your solution too early; instead, focus on understanding the real problems.
- Actively disprove assumptions to avoid wasting effort on the wrong solutions.
