ux and agile: best practices

Best Practices Sally Abolrous UX Strategist, Researcher, and Designer sally@salouli.com www.salouli.com

UX and Agile

What I love about Agile ·  Teaming

·  It’s collaborative and cross-functional ·  Incremental

·  You don’t have to answer everything now ·  Rapid

·  Frequent releases to test your designs ·  Flexible and Adaptable

·  The team’s goal is to keep improving

What I don’t love about Agile ·  Velocity is everything ·  Quality is an after-thought

A great user experience must be rooted in an understanding of business needs and user needs; Good user interface design is not enough.

User Experience

User Experience Beyond the 30%...

·  We immerse ourselves in the business ·  We listen to stakeholders and users ·  We identify problems ·  We propose and test solutions ·  We create and share a vision ·  We drive decision making

A great user experience must be rooted in an understanding of business needs and user needs; Good user interface design is not enough.

User Experience

How do we fit this into the

process?

Experiments that work ·  7 Best Practices based on successful experiments

·  Resulted in high velocity ·  Resulted in high quality

1. Ad-hoc “Discovery” Sprints Best practices for Agile UX

Why?

Ad hoc “Discovery” Sprints

·  “Sprint 0” is short. We can’t plan for everything ·  We need time to answer big questions ·  We need time to reach a decision ·  We need to take a step back and look at the big

picture

Sprint 0

Sprint 1

Sprint 2

Sprint 3

Sprint 4

Sprint 6

How does it fit in Agile?

Ad hoc “Discovery” Sprints

·  Design (UX, BA, Arch) is 2 sprints ahead

·  “Discovery” sprints as needed

·  Prioritize non-UX stories/tasks for the team while doing discovery

Design Sprint 0

Design Sprint 1

Design Sprint 2

Design Sprint 3

Design Sprint 4

Discovery

Design Sprint 6

Sprint 0

Sprint 1

Sprint 2

Dev Sprint 3

Dev Sprint 4

Dev Sprint 5

Dev Sprint 6

What do you do?

Ad hoc “Discovery” Sprints

·  Talk to the users, the business, and the stakeholders

·  Create and evaluate concepts ·  Research the industry and the

competition ·  Conduct surveys, participatory design

sessions, usability testing ·  Etc…

What are some deliverables?

Ad hoc “Discovery” Sprints

·  Process Flows ·  Stories ·  Scenarios ·  Wireframes ·  Design guidelines

2. Assign a UX Owner Best practices for Agile UX

Assign a UX Owner Why?

·  Team is focused on the details of the current and next sprint, not on the big picture

·  Multiple designers on different teams can lead to inconsistency

·  Need someone to ensure the vision is carried through and the design doesn’t lose its integrity

Make it

my way! 80/20 Rule

Zero training

Less is More!!!

How?

Assign a UX Owner

·  Embed UX members in the agile teams ·  Increased collaboration ·  Increased understanding of UX

process ·  Common vision

·  UX owner may/may not be on a team ·  UX owner ensures consistency ·  UX owner maintains the vision and

design goals ·  UX owner passes/approves deliverables

Team A

UX VD

PO

BA Dev

Arch

QA

SM

3. Don’t lose sight of the Big Picture Best practices for Agile UX

Why?

Don’t lose sight of the big picture

·  In Agile, stories are small and focused on one feature

·  It’s easy to forget about the big picture

·  The navigation and interaction of the whole system is UX’s responsibility

Sprint 1 Team A

Sprint 2 Team B

Sprint 3 Team A

Sprint 3 Team B

Sprint 4 Team C

Sprint 3 Team C

Don’t lose sight of the big picture ·  Everywhere…

·  Process Flows ·  Personas ·  Design Mantras ·  Wireframes/Sketches/Ideas

·  Design team… ·  Cross-team design sessions

to ensure pieces fit together ·  Maintain and use the UX

framework ·  Think ahead

Don’t lose sight of the big picture Anticipate

what’s coming next based on process flows.

Is there a next step or is this final

step? What if the user gets

interrupted?

Out of scope

Out of scope

4. Get Buy-In from the Team Best practices for Agile UX

Why?

Get Buy-In from the Team

·  Everyone should be invested in the design ·  Development, Business, QA insight is crucial

Solid Design

Technology Context

Business Goals

Customer Needs

How?

Get Buy-In from the Team

·  Talk! Often! ·  Whiteboard sessions with Arch/Dev/BA ·  Make Informed decisions

·  Understand the technology: ·  Limitations, Customizations, Effort required…

·  Understand the business: ·  Goals, Motivations, Priorities…

·  Share early design sketches/ideas ·  Are there better solutions? ·  Are there technical concerns? ·  Are there testing concerns?

5. Put the user in the user story Best practices for Agile UX

A great user experience must be rooted in an understanding of business needs and user needs.

Put the User in the User Story

Why?

Put the User in the User Story

·  Business objectives and goals drive design decisions ·  and users’ objectives and goals drive business decisions

·  Bring the user’s voice to requirements gathering sessions with the business ·  Bridge the gap between the business and the users

We think beyond the requirements

Put the User in the User Story

·  Question how things work today ·  We ask “why?”

·  Think beyond a user story ·  What’s happening before this? After this?

·  Channel the user ·  Will users understand this term? Add tooltips ·  Do users have enough information to make a decision? Add info ·  Do users know where they are? Add breadcrumbs ·  Do users know who to contact in case they get stuck? Add content ·  Are we missing key requirements needed to complete a task?

We look for ways to delight users, make their lives easier, and form an emotional connection with our product or service.

Put the User in the User Story

6. Form a User Committee Best practices for Agile UX

Why?

Form a User Committee

·  Feedback is needed quickly ·  No time for formal user research

Made up of key personas

Form a User Committee

·  Available for the entire team to: ·  Gather additional requirements ·  Understand and create process flows ·  Review wireframes ·  Review visual designs ·  Review prototypes or implementations ·  Complete surveys ·  Help expedite decision making ·  Ensure that nothing is overlooked or missed

7. Have your UX Laundry List Ready Best practices for Agile UX

Why?

Have your UX Laundry List Ready

·  There’s always room for improvement and refinement ·  Inconsistencies get deprioritized during sprints ·  Visual design often gets deprioritized ·  Iterations are important in both UX and Agile ·  There’s always some unexpected down time – be prepared!

How?

Have your UX Laundry List Ready

·  Evaluate and test the release frequently and keep a log of desired enhancements ·  Discuss your list with the team and get their buy-in ·  Keep your list prioritized at all times

Thank you! Questions or comments? Contact me at sally@salouli.com