The importance of identity and vision to UX designers on agile projects

Agile 2009Johanna Kollmann, Helen Sharp & Ann Blandford

The importance of identity and visionto UX designers on agile projects

@johannakoll

Introduction

Research method

Results & Analysis

Conclusion

Introduction

Research method

Results & Analysis

Conclusion

Waterfall doesn‘t work for me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadphotos/1312528502/

Agile & UX - a perfect match?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenbennett/3819786633/

Methods & techniques

Working ahead

Using lightweight tools

Adapting agile methods

Integrating communities

UX designers as active participants

Risks and opportunities of collaboration

So how do they play it?

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Introduction

Research method

Results & Analysis

Conclusion

Qualitative approach

Interviews

Contextual observation

Interview outline

Understanding of agile

Methods & tools

End user involvement

Collaboration & work environment

Interview participants

in-house

freelancedigital agency

UX consultancy

Observations

One interaction designer

In-house team Explore and revise interview analysis

Introduction

Research method

Results & Analysis

Conclusion

Results & Analysis

Interview analysis

Observation insights Discussion

Results & Analysis

Interview analysis

Observation insights Discussion

Identity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sozesoze/320117614/

An agile mindset

Agile is a way of thinking

“I guess my first impression of agile was that it's a framework, but it definitely affects your way of thinking, in a kind of philosophical sense in some respect....

“...so that the way that we approach tasks or problems or things within the brief are fundamentally different from how we would approach them in awaterfall manner.” – P4

An agile mindset

A way of thinking

Flexibility and sufficiency

“I don't ever believe in the right products, it's never gonna be right. I think that sits at the core of agile mentality. Which is actually good in some ways, but it's kind of counter-intuitive design mentality.” - P8

An agile mindset

A way of thinking

Flexibility and sufficiency The smarter approach

“It's very important for us as UX designers and creatives to be able to talk and feedback and find better ways to work with developers, because that's inherently the problem.” – P6

Roles & responsibilities

Communication hub

Roles & responsibilities

Communication hub

Blending of roles

“It's blending it all together. Equally developers need to be more skilled at design. As not to say they should do design, I should do code, but we need to be able to speak each others language. ” – P2

Roles & responsibilities

Communication hub

Blending of roles

End user advocate

“Essentially I was advocate for the user (...) I was an advisor, a sort of a consultant within the team on UX issues.” – P5

Vision

“It’s not only about understanding users, but also about understanding clients: If you don't get your foundation right, it's dangerous.” - P6

Participants found it challenging to establish, evaluate and develop the UX vision

Interim sprint zeros: “(...) time to make sure that we are happy from a user perspective, that things are getting done in the right way and everything's prioritised correctly”. - P4

The risk of losing the UX vision was named as a big disadvantage of agile

Pro: agile facilitates communicating and protectingthe UX vision.

Integrating the end user perspective

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiderpops/169966925/

“Fitting user research in is the hardest thing.” - P8

Strategies to include end users

Working ahead: up-front research

Satellite designer: outsourcing research

Just do it: lightweight research

“I think there are so many problems to solve that we don't really need to get tied up in how methodologically sound it is. It comes down to being a sensible researcher.” - P7

Results & Analysis

Interview analysis

Observation insights Discussion

Identity

Team mindset

Impact of organisational structure and perception of UX

Pros and cons of being a communication hub

Vision

The importance of a shared team vision

Collaboration tools: the question board

“It shows where what team members think is important clashes, so it facilitates discussion. And it helps to find out who to talk to about things.” - Backend developer

Results & Analysis

Interview analysis

Observation insights Discussion

UX practitioners’ attitude towards agile matters. A lot.

Benefit of agile: co-location and collaboration facilitate bridging the gap and overcoming silos.

If the UX team is too small or not structured appropriately, user-centredness is the first thing that’s compromised.

Sprint zero is not sufficient to establish a vision. To guide strategic decisions and activities, user research has to take place before agile development starts.

Introduction

Research method

Results & Analysis

Conclusion

Implications for practitioners (1)

Become a design facilitator and active participant

Align UX team members around a clear vision and make sure your project‘s vision is clear, too

Implications for practitioners (2)

Consider user panels, test no matter what, combine evaluative and generative research Explore lightweight methods and agile tools

Use interim sprint-zeros to reflect on and refine your vision

Areas for future research

Impact of co-location (or the lack of it)

Exploration of different environments and contexts (e.g. in-house vs. freelancers, web vs. mobile applications)

Agile 2009Johanna Kollmann, Helen Sharp & Ann Blandford

The importance of identity and visionto UX designers on agile projects