The BSACI Conference 2021
An embarrassing but valuable reminder of priorities, wrapped up in a admittedly cringe-worthy blog that I hope will be helpful for others on a similar product iteration journey:
Last week we went along to the The British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology Annual Conference in Harrogate.
James Cohen and I were finally able to showcase the ana. Allergy Care prototype product and meet face to face with the people we'd only had the pleasure of zooming with for the last year.
The stage was set, the prototype was mounted to the wall on one of the largest stands at the conference, and a (small) crowd had gathered.
As we slid the key card into the lock, took the ana. kit off its wall mount, and lifted the latch for its first public opening...
The front cover of our showcase prototype slipped out of its fitting and clanged to the floor.
Right in front of the esteemed healthcare professionals we were hoping to impress.
My face proceeded to turn a bright shade of red and I scrambled to pick up the fallen part... But then I realised something.
No-one else seemed to care.
They were all too interested in how great and straightforward the product looked inside, with the treatment medication and instructions on full display.
As I re-fitted the slightly-too-loose plastic cover back onto the prototype, the words of Guy Kawasaki echoed in my ear:
"Don't worry, be crappy".
What we had showcased was a tiny, easy to fix flaw in our MVP.
Our Minimum. Viable. Product.
We still showed people that we had made SOMETHING.
Something that was BETTER than anything else out there right now.
And as the next stage of iteration would bring tighter product tolerances and higher quality material finishes, there's no doubt it's only going to get better.
What we showed was our continued commitment to solving the problem that we originally set out to solve.
The rest of the conference went off without a hitch - One loose prototype part wasn't even worth writing home about! (maybe a blog post though).
Remember - It doesn't need to be perfect on the first try, but it does need to prove a point.
