Bridging the Gap Between PM and Dev with a Hybrid UX/BA Role

By Leon Barnard

Balsamiq Studios - @balsamiqLeon

Do you have these problems?

1. PMs who don’t have the time or interest to specify design or technical details in the stories they write

2. Designers who deliver pie-in-the-sky designs that can’t be built in the timeframe allotted

3. Products that don’t match PM expectations or customer needs

Poll

How many of you are Product Managers?

How many work in Agile environments?

How many write stories as part of their job?

Any Designers? Developers?

A story, not a prescription

This talk is really just a story - a success story.

I’m not enough of an expert to tell you what you should be doing differently.

On with the story

I was a hybrid UX/BA - managed by UX director, functional role was Business Analyst

The company:

● ~100 employees, offices in WI and WA● Web-based healthcare product, niche market

(s)● Had recently fully embraced Agile, top to

bottom

The assembly line

PM UX Dev QA

User Researcher BA (me)

Kanban / Pull system

PM UX Dev QA

No pushing allowed!

“War room” setup

PM UX Dev QA

All in one room, all the time. Not quite The Real World, but close.

PM did not write stories

PM wrote epics, defined the problems to solve

UX wrote the stories, defined the solutions

PM = what; UX = how

Examples of my stories

To make a long story short...

Something about this combination just worked.

What worked well

Since I was the story writer, I had to think about how to build it when I was designing. This meant I couldn’t go crazy with my designs.

I learned what information developers needed in a story, which meant that I could focus more on what they needed and less on what they didn’t.

What worked well, cont’d

Since PM wasn’t writing the stories, they could focus on the big picture and not worry about the implementation details.

Using mockups extensively put everyone on the same page throughout the process. No surprises when the code was done.

What worked well, cont’d

Dev always had someone they could go to with questions. And someone they could negotiate with about the design and the details.

More clarity, more accountability. UX knew what PM wanted, Dev knew what UX wanted, etc. Much harder to point fingers.

What didn’t work well

PM wanted more control, felt they were held in check by the “rules”.

Not all UX designers embraced the role. Some wanted to focus more on building great designs than hashing out implementation details.

Other usual stuff

Closing thoughts

A lot of my story was independent of my role as a hybrid UX/BA (the war room, embracing kanban model, etc.), which is why I’m reluctant to prescribe anything.

Building trust and earning respect was key.

Responsibility leads to pride.

Just one piece of advice...

Advice on hiring a hybrid UX/BA

There are many kinds of UX designers out there. But most UX jobs are looking for one kind (ninjas, rockstars, etc.).

This is because most employers don’t really understand UX, so they focus on what it looks like, which, in turn, forces designers to be more visual in their portfolios.

Look for the other kinds

Look for the ones who can tell a good story about their designs. UX designers can be the ones to shepherd the design from idea to execution.

Look for that in a prospective designer. Judge them not only on the quality of their designs, but their ability to get them built.

Thanks!

Jacob Dixon, the one who hired me and had the vision and guts to put UX in the BA role.

The great team I worked on, who made my story a success story.

Balsamiq, for giving me a role where sharing my experiences is part of my job.

My UX blog posts

Using Mockups in your Agile User Storieshttp://blogs.balsamiq.com/ux/2013/02/06/using-mockups-in-

your-agile-user-stories/

Tales from a UX Guerrillahttp://blogs.balsamiq.com/ux/2013/06/03/tales-from-a-ux-

guerilla/

The User Experience Gaphttp://blogs.balsamiq.com/ux/2013/09/17/the-user-

experience-gap/

What do you have to say?

Conversation starters

What can be done about the adversarial roles across PM/Design/Dev?

Is hybridization the solution, or do we need more distinct roles in between?

Tell me your success stories or tips & tricks.

Recommended reading

The UX Professionals’ Guide to Working with Agile Scrum Teams

How to ship good design

This 3-part series: How to Work with Designers, PMs, Engineers

Jeff Gothelf on Lean UX

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