Buy a Feature is a research game that involves presenting customers with a list of possible features for a product or service, and giving them a limited budget to spend on their preferred ones. This game helps to understand customer needs, priorities, trade-offs, and willingness to pay. It also encourages collaboration and discussion among customers, and generates feedback and insights for the product team.
References:
Buy a Feature: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the purpose, process, and benefits of the Buy a Feature game, and provides an example of how it can be used in a SAFe context.
Buy a Feature: The Game that Teaches Prioritization: This article from Innovation Games describes the rules, variations, and outcomes of the Buy a Feature game, and provides tips and resources for facilitating it.
Customer Needs Analysis: Definition & Research Methods: This article from Qualtrics XM provides an overview of customer needs analysis, and discusses various research methods, including Buy a Feature, to identify and understand customer needs.
Questions 5
What does a successful minimum viable product (MVP) that has value in the market reveal about an Epic?
A successful minimum viable product (MVP) that has value in the market reveals that the Epic hypothesis has been validated and that development should continue. An MVP is an early and minimal version of a new product or solution that is used to test the assumptions and hypotheses behind an Epic. An MVP provides the fastest and cheapest way tolearn from real customers and to measure the impact and value of the Epic. A successful MVP means that the Epic has proven its desirability, viability, feasibility, and sustainability, and that there is still more value to be delivered by implementing additional features and capabilities. Therefore, development should continue until the Epic is completed or the value hypothesis changes.
Personas are fictional characters that represent the ideal customers or users of a product or service. They help product teams understand and empathize with the needs, goals, and preferences of their target segments. Personas explain how the customers want to use the product by describing their behaviors, motivations, pain points, and expectations. Personas also help product teams design and deliver solutions that meet the customer needs and create value.
References:
Personas: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of personas, and how they can be used in a SAFe context to support customer-centricity, design thinking, and lean UX.
What are Personas?: This article from Agile Alliance defines personas and describes their benefits and characteristics. It also provides some tips and examples on how to create and use personas effectively.
Questions 7
Which horizon describes the desired state as stable solutions that deliver high value with minimal new investment?
The horizon model is a framework that helps organizations balance their investments across different time horizons and types of innovation. According to the Scaled Agile Framework, there are four horizons: Horizon 0, Horizon 1, Horizon 2, and Horizon 31. Horizon 1 describes the desired state as stable solutions that deliver high value with minimal new investment. These are the core products or services that generate most of the current revenue and profit, and have a loyal customer base. Horizon 1 solutions require continuous improvement and optimization, but not significant new investment or disruption. Horizon 1 can be further divided into two sub-horizons: Investing and Extracting2.
References:
Horizon Planning: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of horizon planning, and describes the four horizons and their characteristics, challenges, and best practices.
SAFe®’s investment horizon model — A synopsis: This article from Medium provides a summary of the SAFe investment horizon model, and illustrates how it can help organizations allocate their resources and manage their portfolio.