Assumptions on the Road to Success or Failure
summary
Defines a four-step practice: identify the problem (not the proposed UI), document assumptions on post‑its or FigJam, rank by risk versus confidence, and validate the riskiest assumptions with cheap proofs of concept. Gives concrete failures: a bank rollout rolled back because hidden keyboard‑shortcut assumptions slowed tellers, a Haiti aid project misprioritized ceiling fans over roof repairs, and a team avoided a costly SQL upgrade after a short POC; mentions considering ElasticSearch when search ranking fails and measuring success as top‑3 results 90% of the time.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:40About Matthew
- 2:01What is Craft
- 3:17What can I teach you
- 6:12We are decision makers
- 8:54How to avoid doing this
- 11:25The common trap
- 13:14Bank tellers misfortune
- 17:20The physical world
- 21:11Recap
- 23:11Bias reminder
- 23:39Defining the problem
- 25:40Finding the problem
- 26:24Documenting assumptions
- 27:40Framing assumptions with risk
- 31:27Validating assumptions
- 32:03Communicate your assumptions
- 32:53Questions
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