There’s more than one way to skin a cat

Integrating UX into an Agile environment

Jon InnesJanice JamesKate Walton

July 9-12, 2013

2

Agile: The basic concept

Product Backlog

Sprint Backlog

Potentially Shippable Product Increment

Daily Scrum Meeting

24 hrs

2-4 weekSprint

Image from: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/

July 9-12, 2013

3

Lean UX

Based on image from Janice Fraser http://www.slideshare.net/clevergirl /

July 9-12, 2013

4

How Agile can you go?

http://www.worldrecordacademy.com/society/img/101874_lowest_limbo_Shemika_Charles.jpg

July 9-12, 2013

5

Don’t worry—No cats were harmed!

Image from: http://justcatsonline.com/

July 9-12, 2013

6

Large Government Agency employing >10,000 employees

Many employees telecommute full-time or 1 day/week

July 9-12, 2013

Janice’s Company

Image from: http://dictionary.reference.com

7

Project Designing a complex web application, integrating 3 internal and 3 external primary systems

supported by other systems

Distributed teams Internal teams representing multiple business units 5 contract firms, each with its own Project Manager(s)

Content Management System Web and Business Services Reporting Management User Interface Design and Development

6 User Interface Designers and Interaction Designers 1 Graphic Designer 6 Developers

Interaction designers primarily work remotely Agile Environment

3-week Sprints Interaction designers work 1-2 sprints ahead

July 9-12, 2013

The Project

it

Complex Application

Image from: www.carlosdinares.com

8

3-week Sprints Distributed teams

Internal teams representing multiple business units

External teams consisting of 4-5 contract firms UX team

Agile / UX Process

Image from: www. prince2msp.com

9

UX Process 1-2 Sprints Ahead

Wireframes to illustrate concepts Interviews and feedback sessions with users 2x/wk, 2 hrs each Iterate designs Write user stories for agreed upon designs

1 Sprint Ahead Final details of wireframes Review user stories formally with business architects and all

technical teams Refine if necessary

Conduct usability testing 2x/quarter Meet weekly and as needed with UI developers to review

designs, evaluate for risks and effort Meet weekly with Visual Designer

Agile / UX Process

July 9-12, 2013

10

The UI team drives the design

Steady flow of user research means fewer assumptions Usability testing facilitates

improved process of fixing problems

Rotation of users provides a good sampling

Working remotely means increased focus and productivity

The Good . . .

Image from: www.snookerbacker.com

11

Working remotely means Less in-person interaction

with UI developers Lots of meetings (in

addition to typical Agile meetings)

Juggling usability testing during other in-Sprint research and design activities is difficult

July 9-12, 2013

. . . And the bad

Image from: www.sodahead.com

12 July 9-12, 2013

Takeaways

UX within Agile is an evolving process—not necessarily a bad thing

Sprint Zero is an opportune time User Research Agile training Communication plans

Communication within teams and across teams is key

Be creative in delegation of responsibilities to allow for more user research

Image from: www.momastery.com

13

Product and service provider to the oil industry

<72,000 employees in > 80 countries

Broad range of end-users from engineers to field operators

Kate’s Company

July 9-12, 2013

14

Two separate applications which are different in: Objectives End-user populations Technical Platforms

Large, highly complex applications Engineering Tool (4 years) Process assurance tool (4 years)

2 independent, parallel timelines with shared resources; working on the projects simultaneously

26% of the team is offshore

The Projects

July 9-12, 2013

15

Agile / UX Process

July 9-12, 2013

Very typical agile process in many regards UX efforts are split between researching

and designing for future sprints and supporting the current sprint

Atypical aspects Amount of effort spent during the

sprint Last minute negotiations with

development Redesigns Interim feedback and testing UX sign-off on user stories

Detailed UX specifications

Image from: www.fourseasonsamusements.com

16 July 9-12, 2013

UX Specification Example

17

Pros UX team is a balanced

partner within the team In the trenches with the

team every day – reactive and responsive to changing needs

Assurance that the design is followed through to the implementation

The Good . . .

July 9-12, 2013

Image from: www.smartfreightware.com

18

Cons Unable to perform as much usability

research as needed

July 9-12, 2013

. . . And the bad

19

No typical agile environment; No typical UX fit within the agile environment

Some aspects of the project will force the shape that UX takes

Some things you can work to change; some things you have to accept

The most important success factor of our environment is that we assess and iterate on the process Next iteration involves ‘mini-

sabbaticals’

Takeaways

July 9-12, 2013

Image from: www.mondolithic.com

20

Early stage startup, with series A funding (some cash)

Team meets the “two pizza size” rule limit Everyone is in the same physical location Founders have good sense of customer

needs Everyone believes that user experience is

critical Some of them know what UX means!

Just trying to figure out what how to do things right

Jon’s Company

July 9-12, 2013

21

Evolve web based application to expand user base

Existing visual design defined by external agency

Goal is to add and refine features based on: Backlog of ideas from founders Competitive analysis by Product Owner Feedback from prior user studies

Founders had talked to users, but rather informal

The Project

July 9-12, 2013

22

Scrum with only minor modifications Two week sprints UX driven modifications to Scrum

“Feature toggles” used to try for continuous delivery

Basic visual style of site defined, but still evolving Team reviews product backlog a sprint ahead All user stories evaluated for UX risk & effort UX tasks split into 2 phases

Sprint ahead: Wireframes/mockups as “light specs”

In Sprint: Detailed design & user testing

Agile / UX Process

July 9-12, 2013

23

Stories move from commit to delivery in about a month

Regular user feedback cadence established Remote or in person testing of designs

Clearly defined definition of done for UX Team agrees on design hypothesis in sprint

planning Highly collaborative process

The Good . . .

July 9-12, 2013

24

Big picture assumptions often go unexamined

Balancing sprint ahead vs. in sprint work is tough Have to plan studies during sprint ahead, run

next sprint Research work can impact detailed design time

Sometimes design epics are hard to fit into sprints Beware the never ending story!

Hard to avoid reworking stuff during detailed design This makes it hard to make big changes

Prototyping is done in real code =$$$July 9-12, 2013

. . . And the bad

25

Have a solid product vision & backlog Don’t know who you are designing for? Don’t sprint! Use story mapping & design charrettes to focus team

Consider “sprint sabbaticals” for big picture UX work Once sprinting, it’s hard to change design direction Doing any research away from team is hard in a sprint

Track UX metrics to keep score as you go How many users have you interacted with? Can users complete the stories/tasks as expected? Are users satisfied with what is delivered?

Takeaways

July 9-12, 2013

UX Metrics: http://boxesandarrows.com/integrating-ux-into-the-product-backlog/

Discussion

July 9-12, 2013