StoryBox - A story of getting things done the Agile way

StoryBox | A Story of getting things done the agile way

Adrian LiemJuly 2013

STORYBOXA story of getting things donethe agile way

StoryBox | A story of getting things done the agile way

1. Background of UBC2. The Ask3. Our Approach4. The Result5. Lessons learned6. Questions

Overview

UBC : The University of British Columbia


Not to be confused with... ”BC” - Boston College a university in Central America University Baptist Church Union of the Baltic Cities United BioSource Corporation Uganda Broadcasting Corporation

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIAUBC

VANCOUVER

KELOWNA

VANCOUVER

KELOWNA

UBC


The University of British Columbia 2 campuses: Vancouver and Kelowna, BC, Canada 57,706 students 8,440 international students from 149 countries 11,836 degrees granted 275,000 alumni in 120 countries 10,186 faculty and 6,716 sta� $2 billion annual operating budget $519 million per year in research funding for 7,990 projects 153 companies spun o� from UBC research $10 billion in economic impact

Marketing & Communications


UBC Pre-2012 Coordinated by Public A�airs (with limited mandate) Strong focus on media relations Some university-wide initiatives (Re-branding 2007) No formal, central Marcomm team

At the best of times: informal, internal collaboration At the worst of times...

FIEFDOMS IN AN EMPIRE

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glodjib/

Marcomm at UBC


De-centralized, distributed, dispersed 150+ sta� with part or full-time responsibility for marcomm spread across two campuses, multiple satellite locations no direct line of reporting to central no central unit with formal responsibility for university-wide marketing communications strategy

2012: A new beginning


Communicationsand Marketing O�ce Brand team Design team Web team P+ Digital Storyteller+ Market Researcher

Public A�airsO�ce Media Specialists Brand team Design team Web team Photographer {

adrianliem

Typewritten Text

hotographer

UBC Communications and Marketing


Our Raison D’Etre

Bring our brand to life

Compel our target audiences to engage with the university

Enable an integrated distributed model of marcomm

Integrated whatnow?


“Integrated Distributed” Autonomous entities with formalized ties to central initiatives Some dual-line reporting, some restructuring Increased level of collaboration and internal communication (ask us again in two years)

Elevate through Storytelling


Our Goals Improve our storytelling CAPACITY Build our storytelling MUSCLE Increase storytelling COLLABORATION

The Blessing


UBC is story-rich

The CurseUBC is story-rich


How can wefind the best waysto tell the right storiesto our target audiences?

How can wefind the best waysto tell the right storiesto our target audiences?

The Needs


Problems we’re trying to solve What stories should we tell in this year’s annual report? Who else within UBC is writing a story on social sustainability? What has already been written about Professor X? Our President is travelling to Asia - what stories can he tell about UBC’s involvement in the Asia Pacific region? How can we elevate and shine a light on the best stories from the pockets of campus?

The “ask”:


Help me find UBC stories.

I’m looking for... Our best stories Stories about [insert field of research] Stories relevant to [insert target audience] Stories happening in [insert international location] Stories demonstrating [insert strategic pillar] Stories with photos / video Fully-fleshed out stories, but also the seeds of an idea for a story

Build me a “stories database”


Situation Analysis Unclear and undefined requirements We don’t know what we don’t know No idea how many stories we have about what/whom No direct connections to many of our story sources Complex organizational environment Embedded culture of decentralization Juggling multiple projects with limited resources Need a working solution in 3 months

Traditional Approach


One Step at a Time Discovery + Research User Experience Design Develop + Produce Test > Refine > Test Release + Take to Market

Like a waterfall


Planning

Analysis

DesignImplementation

Maintenance

Waterfall Method


Stages Discovery + Research User Experience Design Develop + Produce Test > Refine > Test Release + Take to Market

Deliverables Project Brief, Strategy IA structure, Wireframes Mockups/Comps “Beta” site, Content QA notes Big splash campaign


Waterfall

StrengthsLinearClear steps

Well-definedDiscrete stages, defined roles

PredictableFixed timeframe, fixed budgets

Planning

Analysis

DesignImplementation

Maintenance

A JUGGERNAUT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justingood/

WaterfallRisks


Success hinges on each stage before it Requirements can change rapidly Small margin for error Di�cult and costly to change course midway Learning and knowledge transfer is limited

Project-Specific Risks


Decentralized Environment.Face many unknowns, takes time to capture full set of needs.

Technically, easy. Organizationally, very hard.Need widespread participation.High risk of being thrown a loopball midway through.

Short timeframe.Don’t have much time to turn-ship.

Our Strategy


Confront the Challenges Head-On Involve our end-users in the process Actively solicit and be receptive to feedback Build prototypes to help define the scope Be prepared to change course, to “pivot”


What’s the alternative?

AGILE!

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Agile


aagile

Quick, light, nimble

AAgile

Software development methodswhere solutions evolve throughan iterative and incrementalapproach.


Our Approach

a A

DISCLAIMER


I agile.(but I’m not Spiderman)

Agile


Basics Reaction to heavyhanded nature of waterfall methods

An iterative and incremental approach

People and interactions over processes and tools

Cross-functional, self-organizing teams

”Customer collaboration”

Build working solutions that can be immediately evaluated

Adapt and respond to change

Agile


Key Principles Reaction to heavyhanded nature of waterfall methods

An iterative and incremental approach

People and interactions over processes and tools

Cross-functional, self-organizing teams

”Customer collaboration”

Build working solutions that can be immediately evaluated Adapt and respond to change


People over Processes + Tools(But there are still Processes + Tools)

User Stories


Short, simple descriptions of a featuretold from the perspective of the personwho desires the new capability.

User Stories


The Template:

As a [type of user],I want [some goal],so that [some reason].


User Stories


Example

As an Editor for a campus publication,

I want to be able to search for stories by date,

so that I can find stories for our back-to-school edition.

Example




User Stories


User

Goal

Reason


Person

Feature

Benefit (motivation)

Example





User Stories


User Stories


Form + Formats Sticky notes, index cards, spreadsheets, online tools

http://www.flickr.com/photos/expatminister/

The Value of User Stories


Benefits Captures desired features in a simple, concise way Simplifies task of gathering requirements Shifts focus from writing about requirements to discussing them enabling the team to respond faster

Scrums


Rugby: An analogy- scrum to get the ball- sprint- pass the ball back + forth- go the distance as a unit

http://www.�ickr.com/photos/muzzanese/

Scrums in Agile


Scrum: A model for organizing meetings

Planning Meeting Meetings to organize cycles of work aka “Sprint Planning Meeting” Pick user stories to build out during the next “sprint”

Daily Scrums Timeboxed meeting to provide status updates What did you work on? What are you going to work on? What obstacles do you face?

Sprints in Agile


Sprints: When the work happens

Timeboxed 1 sprint = 1 week to 1 month Most common length of a sprint: 2 weeks

Outcomes Set of new features Designed, developed, tested, ready for release

1 sprint = 1 cycle of work, the next “set” of features

Agile


SCRUMDecide what you’re going to do.

SPRINTDo it.

Scrum Sprint Scrum Sprint Scrum

“Product Backlog”


Formalized User Stories

Product Backlog


Person Feature Benefit

Grooming the Backlog


Some stories are “epics” and will take morethan 1 sprint.

ExampleAs a Writer, when I add a new story about socialsustainability, I want the system to email ourphotographer, and our Public A�airs o�ce, andeveryone who needs to know about the story.

Breaking down an “epic”


As a Writer, I want the ability to tag a story with, for example thewords “social sustainability”, so that I can describe my story asspecifically as I can.

As a Writer, I want the system to notify other people that I haveadded a story they might be interested in, so that they can readmy story and then decide if they can use it for their own work.

As an Editor, I want the ability to be notified when a particulartype of story, for example a story about “social sustainability”,has been added to the system, so that I can stay on top of thelatest stories as soon as they’re released.

Person

Feature

Benefit (motivation)

Example

As a Writer,

I want the ability to tag a story with, for example the words“social sustainability”,

so that I can describey my story as specifically as I can.


User Stories


Product Backlog


Status + PriorityBroader Feature Set / Epics

Great! Let’s build it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabbit/

If you build it...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindus/

... ... ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferbatty/

Agile beyond software


Where? Internal consultations Workshops

What? Cross-functional teams Feedback loops Respond to change

Buy-in

Agile beyond software...


Collaboration

Why?

Cross-functionalTeams

Knowledge Exchange

Agile beyond software...


Why?

(we find out what we don’t know)

Why?Agile beyond software...


Increases collaboration, collaboration encourages buy-in Cross-functional teams increases knowledge exchange Able to adapt to feedback and change Able to test hypotheses before investing too much time

Agile approach to Workshops


Facilitate cross-functional collaboration Set up the physical space to support discussions (mini scrums) Explicitly talk about the desire for feedback, iterations, cycles Incorporate feedback Describe what has changed each time (proof points) Experiment, be prepared to change on the fly

Outcomes


What we thought we needed

Structured categorization system (Taxonomy)

Open-ended tagging system (Folksonomy)

Open-ended meta-data

Outcomes


What we actually needed

Structured categorization system (Taxonomy)

Open-ended tagging systems (Folksonomyies)

Open-ended meta-data

+ To build a shared understanding of a “story”

+ Technology to enable workflows not replace them

Multiple

(that could grow over time)

Specific

Hierarchy of Needs


(thanks Maslow)

Hierarchy of Needs


Decentralized Environment+

Di�erent Sets of Needs


Open Tags Structured Categories

Local Needs Institutional Needs

OpenTags

StructuredCategories

Local Institutional

Bingo!

Aligning our Needs + Goals


(i Venn diagrams)

Great! Let’s build it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabbit/

WordPress


Why? Suitable Core features align well with overall goals + needs Familiar and easy to use Many sta� already using WordPress Internal expertise in WordPress development Higher probability of adoption Sustainable Technical infrastructure already in place Flexible Well-suited for rapid iterations and revisions

WordPress


Basic Setup w/ Customizations Custom Theme Custom post type: “Stories” Custom taxonomies Open-ended tags Managed categorization

WordPress: Add New Post

StoryBox: Add New Story

Story Attributes

TaxonomyStructured categorizationReflects institutional attributes

an institutional lens


FolksonomyMultiple folksonomiesOpen-ended taggingGrows based on specific, unique needs

the local perspectives



LocalPerspective

InstitutionalLens

Bingo!

StoryBox Results


Zero to working prototype in 1 month

Within 6 months: 500+ stories 139 people 68 units (departments, o�ces)

Actively used for the 2012/2013 Annual Report

StoryBox Next Steps


Not all roses... Pressing need to better understand local/distributed needs and interests

Phase 2 Build further into day-to-day workflows Tie in to broader storytelling strategy

Agile - Why it worked for us


Well-defined goals, unknown “end product” We knew the problem well, we weren’t sure about the solution

Scratching our own itch We had direct access to our “end users” We were a sub-set of our end users

Right team, right infrastructure We had people willing to be agile and to try Agile We had a suitable technical infrastructure in place

Considering Agile?


What to look for “In-house” projects Have “T-Shaped” people who work well in teams Undefined scope, unclear end product Need for speed, short timeframes Direct access to target market

StoryBox | A Story of getting things done the agile way

Thank you!

Adrian [email protected]@adrianliem

Education

StoryBox - A story of getting things done the Agile way