Edition 1 - Introducing LeadReads

Good Afternoon ,

Last Q4 I penned down starting a Newsletter this year. The world then flipped on its axis and we’ve been adapting to change ever since.

Who knew flipping would be this good? In the past 6 months, we’ve moved on to launching 3 enterprise-grade Gen AI and data projects that have increased efficiency and productivity!

However, I digress The Newsletter -this is the first edition of the “LeadReads” Newsletter in which I’ll share mistakes, learnings, and turned-the-ship-around stories across my journey of building digital products for companies and teams of different sizes and industries. I humbly request your feedback and thoughts on how we can make it better.

Enough fluff; time to get to the good stuff. In this edition, I’d like to talk to you about finding the guiding light and bringing about alignment among stakeholders. Technology exists to support business, not the other way around, and as technologists, we must focus on what brings the most business value. KUFI (Key User Flow Identification) is the process of identifying “flows that bring the most business value” and providing means of nurturing, benchmarking, and evaluating those flows.

KUFI involves a comprehensive 6-step plan (UMAAMI) that encourages a superior user experience.

Here's what UMAAMI stands for:

1. Understanding and Mapping (U.M) Expected Outcome: Detailed understanding of user behavior, clear visualization of key user journeys, and well-prioritized paths based on business and user value. Activities

   1. Understand Your Users: Conduct user surveys, and persona development workshops, and utilize user behavior analytics.

   2. Outline Key User Journeys: Create user story maps, and journey maps, and apply task analysis.

   3. Create User Flow Diagrams: Use wireframing and diagramming tools to visualize these user paths.

   4. Prioritize User Flows: Apply methods like the MoSCoW technique or the Eisenhower Matrix.

2. Automating and Analyzing (A.A) Expected Outcome: Reliable test setup for user flows, consistent monitoring of application performance, identification of potential issues before they affect users, and continuous test enhancement. Activities

   1. Set Performance Benchmarks and Introduce Events: Define performance standards for each identified flow and introduce event tracking to juxtapose simulated test performance with actual user experiences, focusing on p95/p99 latency times.

   2. Design Automated Tests: Use automation frameworks in alignment with your tech stack and objectives to create automated tests that mimic identified user flows.

   3. Implement Daily Test Runs: Schedule daily runs of these automated tests using CI/CD tools to proactively identify potential issues.

   4. Set Up Ad-Hoc Tests: Implement random, ad-hoc tests to robustly validate your user journey and simulate unpredictable user behavior.

   5. Analyze Test Results and Iterate: Collect and scrutinize test data, using A/B testing or multivariate testing to improve any underperforming areas or unexpected outcomes.

3. Monitoring and Improving (M.I.) Expected Outcome: Accurate measurement of the user experience and continuous improvement in line with user expectations and business objectives. Activities

   1. Measure Success: Monitor metrics like revenue growth, reduction in user journey time, increased user activity, and user retention rate.

   2. Improve Continuously: Apply methodologies like Lean Six Sigma for continuous improvement and Agile for incorporating feedback.

Implementing KUFI unlocks observability into your system, and gives you insights into user behavior and critical performance indicators. Observability is a deeper, more sophisticated level of system understanding that builds upon traditional monitoring. It paves the way for a more proactive, user-centric digital strategy.

Endeavors that require people to come together and build something don't fail due to a lack of skill, commitment, or dedication, but instead fail due to a lack of unified actions in a single direction. KUFI has helped us find the guiding light when we’re building from scratch, as we transition parts of the technology, and even as we help reduce tech debt.

I’d love to hear your use case and explore how KUFI could help you.

Until next time,

Mac ✌️