Lessons from Duo's design program, shared across Cisco
Dug SongChief Strategy Officer, Cisco Security (former Duo co-founder/CEO)Some thoughts from our journey at DuoElevating Design
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2© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialDuo: Product, Culture, BrandPurposeThe WhyProtect Others From HarmMissionThe HowDemocratize Security:Make Security Easy & Effective for AllVisionThe WhatThe Most-Loved Company In SecurityPillarsOur PromiseEasy Effective Trustworthy EnduringValuesOur PrinciplesEngineer TheBusinessLearnTogetherBe Kinder ThanNecessaryBuild ForThe Future
3© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialProduct Priorities to Balance1. Customer requests- Easy to measure impact, leveraged by sales to drive roadmap- But typically overweighted and reactive2. Customer delight- What customers need, but don't know or can't articulate (e.g. workflow)- How to build cars, not mechanical horses? Design!- How to measure feelings? NPS is lagging – but see Olson's "The Product-Led Organization"3. Metrics movers- The –ilities: usability, reliability, scalability, availability, extensibility, maintainability, quality, security, … seeDuo's "Single Responsibility Architecture"- Typically overlooked & underappreciated, but often Job #1
4© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential
5© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialBuilding for the FutureDesign / Architect /ExperimentAdd FeaturesEnhance CapabilitiesManage ComplexityUnplanned Work /InterruptionsAdd FeaturesUnplanned Work /InterruptionsEnhance CapabilitiesManage ComplexityUnplanned Work /InterruptionsDo this Not this Or suffer this
6© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialDuo Product Development ProcessProduct ManagerProduct DesignerDeveloperApplication Security
7© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialDuo Product Development Operating ModelProductManagerEngineeringManagerSoftwareDevelopersProductDesignerUserResearcherQAEngineerApp SecEngineerProjectManagerPlatformArchitectDevelopment Pod/TeamSite Reliability Engineering [SRE]Bi-weekly releases I 100% on AWS I XX Development pods/teams I Discipline of ADPsADP: Active Development Program
8© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialProduct Design TeamThe Product Design team consists of four core disciplines:• Product Design: We are the practitioners of democratizing security. We help craftintuitive, learnable and cohesive products so being secure is the easiest thing for ourcustomers to do.• Design Research: We inspire and inform Duo by deepening our understanding ofhuman context, needs, behaviors, and motivations.• Design Thinking: We support a culture of human-centered innovation at Duo byproviding Design Thinking training, support, and resources.• Design Operations: We define and manage internal processes and focus on the cultureand communications across the design team, as well as with external stakeholders.
9© 2020 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco ConfidentialLearning TogetherOld Guard New GuardKnows how to navigate the mess Sees the mess, but doesn't understand itApplies knowing eyes Applies fresh eyesSkeptical other patterns can work Eager to apply what worked elsewhereStuck around despite challenges Recently left their prior challengeLeverages informal networks In network creation modeOverindexes on nuance Overlooks nuance (generalizes)Feels they know what to ignore Trouble knowing what to ignoreLots of autopilot Lots of cognitive overloadOptimism steeped in reality Optimism slowly hitting the wall of realityLong game seeking novelty Quick wins seeking regularityYeah, but... So what...May be threatened by the outsider May be threatened by the insiderSeeking acknowledgment Seeking acceptancePreserve influence Expand influence