Agile Design - Chicago IXDA Presentation

AGILE AND ME a story with just enough documentation

A typical waterfall project produces pages and page of end-to-end requirements for the entire project as it is envisioned (but not necessarily as it will be built). The people compiling these requirements are, of course, part of an assembly with only the most cursory involvement with others outside their department.

After all 9,238 lbs. of paper are heaved over the wall with a hearty “good luck!” and a cheery wave, the silos are once again in place and silence is golden.

?While agile was taking hold of development, design was still back in the waterfall method. So why not blend the two and run the entire project in an agile fashion, starting with requirements.

AGILE DESIGN in theory

Individuals with Overlapping SkillsAgile teams are self-organizing and highlight

TRANSLATING AGILE METHODS TO DESIGN

TTim Brown from IDEO talks about “T-shaped People” as those who have a core competency but branch out into other areas and can do them well (thus forming a T).

ShapedBeing

OVERLAPPING SKILLS = T-SHAPED PEOPLE

UxD in an agile world

Still using the same tools (wireframes, etc.)

BUT ....Project team is not divided into silos

Everything isn’t designed up front

Using more than your base skillset

UxD in an agile world

PROS ...Expanding your project role

& involvement throughout entire SDLC

CONS ...how is your comfort level with uncertainty?

AGILE DESIGN in practice

insert uxd at the beginning

User Driven requirements✦ Who is using the product?✦ What do the users require?✦ What does the business require?✦ What does development require?

DIAGRAMs THAT DEVELOPERS UNDERSTAND

User research yields user modeling; user modeling, in turn, informs data modeling. But it’s of no use if the research is ignored by the developers. Integrating design into the entire SDLC meant creating meaningful documentation that your audience can relate to.

tasks TO USER STORIES

As a General User associated with a Host Company, I need to be able to:

✦ create new reports and be able to save them so I can easily access them in the future (or delete them)

✦ have a list of standard reports that I can quickly run but can also modify/filter the results

✦ be able to view contractors who have completed PQF

✦ specify the orientation requirements for a contractor employee

Expand your activity diagram to show subtasks and begin associating user stories with the persona.

from Personas to development

User Stories yield:

> User Driven Feature List

> Project Scope Determined

> Iterations Scheduled

> Iteration 0 begins: start designing features for iteration 1 this is where feature design begins

DESIGNING A FEATUREjust enough documentation

Iteration 0For each feature in an iteration:

✦ User Stories to be developed in that iteration• stating user needs and business goals

✦ Acceptance Tests• defines when a feature is complete

✦ Workflow Diagrams• diagrams the user path when completing tasks for this feature

✦ Annotated Wireframes• what does the screen look like

• what are the screen behaviors

✦ Functional Specifications • describes how the feature will work from user’s perspective

Feature a - stories & tests

User stories state the feature’s user needs and the business benefits.Acceptance tests, which are written as scenarios and based off the user stories, define when a feature is complete. If a scenario is not defined, it is not a part of the feature that’s being developed for this iteration.

Feature a - Workflow diagram

Workflows diagram the end-to-end flow for the feature. If a section of the flow is out of scope for the current iteration or for this feature but needs to be in the flow for clarity, include it in the diagram but note that it’s out of scope for this iteration.

feature a - ANNOTATED WIREFRAMES

Annotations note behavior of various elements on the page.

feature a - functional specs

Functional specs describe how a feature will work and are written entirely from the user’s perspective. Functional specs only describe the work for that iteration

AGILE DESIGNin summary

UxD in an agile world means:

Not being in a silo

Not staying behind a wall

Designing as features are developed

Collaborating and Iterating as project progresses

Having an active voice throughout entire SDLC

Agile UXD : Your sandbox just got a whole lot bigger

ALICE TOTHsenior consultant, uxdalice.toth@gmail.com