Cultural change: building blocks, not stumbling blocks

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Successfully developing a minimum viable product (MVP) can represent a big step forward for an organization. Technology is no longer the problem; this is readily available nowadays. The real obstacle is the culture: getting people within the organization to get on board with creating something valuable without too many skills being required – for example, a mobile app or another front office application.

Companies that have been around for some time sometimes wrestle with the development of new things. If one or more tangible products can be delivered reasonably quickly, the idea that it is possible for people to innovate quickly takes hold and the business culture changes on its own. With the Bluemix platform, the CxO and the organization can help create something new and wonderful based on proven methods, with the right tools using a modular approach.

Whether you develop a minimum viable final product, a ‘pretotype’ or something in between depends on what you are after. For example, in some cases it is opportune to immediately deliver an MVP to address a current opportunity or challenge. In other situations you simply want to create something tangible. The following four ingredients are important for a culture that focuses on development. This is inspired by experiences with the so-called IBM Bluemix Garage, which brings together the latest methods and technologies.

1. Design thinking – With design thinking an idea is detailed from scratch, and then developed via a pretotype and prototype into a minimum viable product – a product that it is actually viable, but is then further improved and expanded during its life cycle.
2. Pretotype – Sometimes it is difficult to convince people of the value of innovative ideas with words alone. Pretotyping uses a minimalist method to concretely demonstrate how a service works or what it will look like. One commonly used type of pretotype is the so-called ‘digitized paper app’, with which an idea is developed into a value position in stages. You draw something, using strong elements from existing apps, and ultimately create six to eight clickable screenshots.
3. Prototype – When a pretotype is detailed into a prototype, its possibilities begin to become apparent to everyone. The discussion is no longer about opinions and ideas, but about something that actually works. It is also possible at this phase to test the ultimate users’ opinions. It is preferable to do this in a team context, so that others’ feedback can be incorporated. This method suddenly brings success and broad-based support within reach.
4. Building with APIs – Thanks to the Lego principle, users can piece together and combine components to their heart’s content. IBM Bluemix makes 150 standard APIs – such as IBM Watson – available. It also lays the foundation for creating and integrating your own APIs and those of third parties. In practice, hundreds of building blocks are available that can easily be reused. It simply comes down to finding or creating the right “lego blocks” for your specific application.

With these steps, you can build an MVP in no-time. For example, an app with all its content and interaction using all the hardware in the device and interesting APIs: cognitive, analytical, IoT, block chain, big data, etc. An app that continually adapts to the user’s desires, requirements and context. This is analogous to a song that can be sung as a canon. All the parties involved must know the song, but must also be able to count to four and know when to come in with their part. This is exactly what happens when you work based on this principle.

Of course, you must have access to the right development environment, in which products can quickly be designed, deployed and scaled up if they become successful. IBM Bluemix forms the basis for simply, quickly and cost-effectively developing, running and scaling your application.

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