Blueprinting Workshop
Our Blueprinting Workshop is a 2-3 week collaborative process involving a series of in-person and remote activities where both our client and our team work together to develop a Product Blueprint. Just as you wouldn't build a house without a blueprint, you shouldn't create software without a plan.
Schedule a 30-Minute ConsultationWhy the Workshop is Critical
Having helped hundreds of startups and long-standing businesses launch new software, our Blueprinting Workshop has proven to be a crucial first step in building world-class products. The workshop provides an opportunity for your team and ours to come together as partners in shaping the vision and plan for the project.
Build the right Product
If you have a list of requirements and are simply looking for a shop to build to spec, we’re not the right partner for you. At LaunchPad Lab, we challenge our clients and work to contribute to the vision of the product. We jump into your business with you and care intimately about its success. The Blueprinting Workshop is all about embracing this philosophy and aligning our teams at a strategic level.
Involve users and stakeholders
Talking to the people who are going to use the product is the most important first step in designing software. It is a simple idea that is often overlooked (usually with dire consequences). During our Blueprinting Workshop, we will interview customers and stakeholders to make sure we build a product that solves real problems in an intuitive way.
Design and build together
Everyone at LaunchPad Lab is first and foremost Product Builders. That is, each person on our team, whether designer, engineer, product manager, or otherwise, plays an important role in shaping the product vision, strategy, design, and execution. When we combine our Product Builders’ expertise with our clients’ critical domain and industry knowledge, together we are able to design and build truly world-class software products.
The Workshop
The workshop consists of 4 phases:
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Preparing
This represents all the pre-work that happens before a Blueprinting Workshop can begin. Scheduling interviews, collecting competitive information, defining the market, etc.
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Unpacking
This is an information download from the business and an exploration into the minds of their customers. We need to know everything the team knows. Or thinks they know. And then understand their users' and customers' unmet needs.
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Designing
An iterative, customer-focused design process is the only way we've seen successful products get built. With clearly defined problems from the previous stages, our team is in a good position to build useful and usable products.
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Planning
The reality of running a Blueprinting Workshop for a client is that the findings need to be documented and delivered. Also, the potential paths ahead need to be clearly defined and communicated.
The Product Blueprint
At the completion of the workshop, the client receives a Product Blueprint, which serves as the foundation for the product development phase. The Blueprint typically includes 6 core components:
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Product Requirements Document
A list of the desired features to be built, structured as Job Stories.
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Visual Design
3-5 core pages of the application that represent the core of the product.
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Product Roadmap
A breakdown of the features by major release.
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Implementation Strategy
The plan for executing on the Product Roadmap, which includes: Milestones, Releases, Timeline, and Cost.
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Technical Plan
The engineering considerations for the projects, which include: Architecture Map and Technology List.
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Maintenance & Support Plan
An overview of the ongoing activities, budget, and team needed to maintain the application's value far into the future.
Build Products, Not Software
Anyone can make software, but very few succeed in creating products. Products are software solutions that succeed in delivering real value to its users while growing and supporting its broader organization.
A product…
- Offers the right solution, which is often not the obvious one
- Delivers an intuitive user experience and an artistic visual design
- Contains well-written code that is easy to maintain
- Sustains and grows a profit stream or delivers ROI to its owners
- Is built by individuals who care about the outcomes
- Utilizes the best resources and technologies for the problem
“Their strength is their phenomenal ability to take our vision, understand it, and develop it. They found a way to implement our vision of the platform.”
—Director of Operations at Olympus
“Their attention to detail in the discovery process, and their selective choice of questioning is what really stood out to me. The information they were able to gather from each business unit provided insights that have evolved beyond just our website and have moved on to shaping many aspects of our overall marketing strategy.”
—Amplify Credit Union
“We were having a hard time defining what a path forward would look like, and working with LaunchPad Lab helped us see what the path forward could be. We were able to better identify what we could do now and what we should save for later.”
—Steve from Artlook
“LaunchPad is absolutely interested in our success as an organization. They see our success as an indicator of their success, versus other outsourced type of arrangements where frankly it's, "Hey, we coded this. It's done to spec. If you don't like it, you should've written a different spec." I got none of that working with LaunchPad Lab. They're in it with us all the way.”
—Neil from SimplyMerit
“The biggest reason I would recommend LaunchPad Lab is their ability to take what we had envisioned and, instead of being order takers, be actual contributors and collaborators to get us where we need to. They are not afraid to challenge what they don't believe is right.”
—Arman from Kubo Health