215. Product Design in Cybersecurity with Jason Cyr of Cisco (Part 1)

How does Cisco produce one of the best-integrated cybersecurity platforms in the world? Jason Cyr, VP and Head of Product Design at Cisco, joins The Innovation Engine to talk with 3Pillar Field CTO Lance Mohring about how design is deeply embedded in Cisco’s product development process.

Jason walks us through the market and organizational context that shapes Cisco’s unified product design process, which frequently involves incorporating new products to the overall product mix in the wake of an acquisition. He then gives some specific details on how product design can improve cybersecurity by preventing everyday configuration errors, while also anticipating zero-day vulnerabilities.

Jason outlines the Cisco product, design, and engineering team’s unique GOAT process, which stands for Give Outcomes A Try and is influenced by Josh Seiden’s book Outcomes Over Output. The GOAT process allows product managers, engineers, and designers to identify and align on end-user outcomes before the iterative development process even begins.

Our conversation is so meaty we had to break it up into two parts. Be sure to stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where we’ll dive into how Jason anticipates AI will impact product design in the near future and much more.

Episode Highlights:

• A firsthand account of the modern history of cybersecurity product design
• Jason explains how product design can reduce cyberattacks
• The story of how the Cisco team created their GOAT process and the impact it has had

Resources:

• Connect with Jason Cyr on LinkedIn
• Connect with Lance Mohring on LinkedIn 
• Check out Jason’s blogs on Medium
• Read “Outcomes Over Output” by Josh Seiden
• Listen to Ep. 197 of The Innovation Engine: How to Drive Outcomes Over Outputs, with Josh Seiden

Produced by NOVA Media