why customers suck in agile and how could they be helped?

Karoliina Luoto · Alpha 1, 12-12:30 Wed 26 Aug 2015

Why customers suck and what can be done about it?Ale 2015, Paradise Center, Sofia

Karoliina Luoto + CodentoConsultant for Agile coaching and consultingFocus: customer workBefore: product owner, collaboration strategist, communications specialist

Change agent’s right handWorks in actual software development too

Let me tell youA story

[email protected] · @totoroki · +358 40 765 8504

Photo: Sam Howzit, FlickrPicture: Malabooboo, Flickr

Monsters Inc.Wanted to develop an e-child-scarer

Picture: © Disney Pixar

The productmanager team had heard about this Scrum thing and wanted to try it out



A company called Monsters Inc.Wanted to develop an e-child-scarer


The project boardWas a bit suspicious about agile



A company called Monsters Inc.Wanted to develop an e-child-scarer


But the e-scarer had potential- So they found the money

The brand new Product Owner was super happy about how Scrum seemed

”We don’t need to plan, we’ll just find a team, start developing and see what happens!”



The Development Team Was talented and visionated


The Product Manager TeamWorked their arses off


Writing and prioritizingBacklog items

And the team really got Sprint goals completed

And the team really got Sprint goals completedOften Sprint ReviewsWere revelations for POs


So this is the kind of productWe are building! Seems Excellent!


POs got loads of user feedbackAnd tried to answer it all


Time flied, project board tiredWhen do we get the results?


The Scrum Team did greatBut nobody seemed to understand


Finally the PO burnoutedIt seemed impossible to succeed


The project was shut down:”Agile is not for us”


Monsters returned to The old manual scaring system


*The dev team was baffledWhat had gone wrong?

The team and others were baffledWhat had gone wrong?

The team was baffledWhat had gone wrong?

So how could theDevelopment Team have helped?

Agile Client Hand-Holder Testfor Scrum Masters and Dev Teams1. Have you had a liftoff (kickoff) for both product vision and

methods?

Test by: Karoliina Luoto Further reading: Agile Liftoff / Diana Portland

2. Have you asked for project board vision on the value of different features? Vision document? Lean canvas?

3. Do you collect user feedback on the value of features?

6. Have you told the product owner what you feel is worth focusing on? 7. Are you focusing on 20 % solutions that can fulfill 80 % of the need?8. Are you telling the PO about differently-sized implementation options for items?

4. Are you tracking business value over sprints?5. Are you asking the PO to test – early and often?

9. Is your Product Owner attending retrospectives?

Tools forHelping the client


Loan poker cardsTo the project board

Photo: karla_k., FlickrPhoto: Karoliina Luoto

Value poker for epics in project boardNeeds somebody to facilitateAligns Product Owner’s vision with the project board’s


Value feedbackFrom Users

Billing or ”How much is this feature worth to you?””Will this feature keep you from going to competitor?”Get the feedback to the board


Value burnup chart to keep track


Based on project board’svalue poker or real value feedback from usersEnsures that effort is used on valuable stuff


Alternative plannig pokerIn planning meetings


Play for lightest possible implementation…and the for the perfect oneTo help PO see the scale


Default solutionsFor piloting

Modules put up with default settings, code from old projects…Get the PO to pilot the workflows and get feedbackAfter that iterations add value


Open reviewsFor product understanding

Photo: Karoliina Luoto

Also project board to reviewsHave the end-user feedback at hand for everyoneFor shared vision and effort discussion


Usually it’s value managementAnd you can help!


The End www.codento.comwww.agileownership.com

Karoliina Luoto · @totoroki · +358 40 765 8504

why customers suck in agile and how could they be helped?

Leadership & Management