Amelia Schmidt
I create things, especially digital things. I strategise, research, design, test, validate, engineer, write, and teach. I sometimes give talks about these things.
agile ux in practice
@meelijane
Amelia Schmidt
what does it mean to do ux in an Agile way?
ux is well suited to product development
User research to discover a problem that needs to be solved.
Document knowledge about the users it affects and other context.
Refine and define the problem. Define what it means to solve the problem. Define what it means to have a successful solution.
Research how to solve the problem. Analyse competitor solutions. Reframe.
Ideate and iterate. Bring together stakeholders and users to help think of solutions.
Prototype and test those solutions. Potentially build and launch MVPs.
Gather and document feedback. Potentially decide on a solution to build with stakeholders.
Flesh out the solution. Build higher fidelity designs if required. Scope out implementation.
Build the solution. Make sure you can measure success. Measure if it's working.
product: multiple features at any time
so sometimes those "products" are actually "features"
and they are planned with a "product roadmap"
roadmaps usually are made up of features (not goals or themes)
...and are created in order to manage stakeholder expectations
the ux process is based on not knowing the solution in advance
ux might need to be a few steps ahead of the delivery team, researching and validating
in larger orgs, there are often multiple cross-functional teams working on features in tandem
User research to discover a problem that needs to be solved.
Document knowledge about the users it affects and other context.
Refine and define the problem. Define what it means to solve the problem. Define what it means to have a successful solution.
Research how to solve the problem. Analyse competitor solutions. Reframe.
Ideate and iterate. Bring together stakeholders and users to help think of solutions.
Prototype and test those solutions. Potentially build and launch MVPs.
Gather and document feedback. Potentially decide on a solution to build with stakeholders.
Flesh out the solution. Build higher fidelity designs if required. Scope out implementation.
Build the solution. Make sure you can measure success. Measure if it's working.
These bits might be done by UX while other people do other things
User research to discover a problem that needs to be solved.
Document knowledge about the users it affects and other context.
Refine and define the problem. Define what it means to solve the problem. Define what it means to have a successful solution.
Research how to solve the problem. Analyse competitor solutions. Reframe.
Ideate and iterate. Bring together stakeholders and users to help think of solutions.
Prototype and test those solutions. Potentially build and launch MVPs.
Gather and document feedback. Potentially decide on a solution to build with stakeholders.
Flesh out the solution. Build higher fidelity designs if required. Scope out implementation.
Build the solution. Make sure you can measure success. Measure if it's working.
These bits might be done by UX while other people do other things
not all agile ux is in a product development environment
agency: multiple client projects at any time
workflow and activities for ux can change depending on the project and requirements
floating
ux team
project
delivery team
project
delivery team
project
delivery team
project
delivery team
ux agency or consultant
client who does delivery
client who does delivery
client who does delivery
client who does delivery
in an ideal world...
your team should be cross-functional
back-end developer
designer
QA
front-end developer
unfortunately, ux is still in a silo in many orgs
ux
engineering
testing
sales
try: pairing
Hypothesis: building a new front page for the store will result in more people buying products
Let's validate the assumption that users don't like the current store homepage.
I'll join you for that research so I can build a better sense of what is and isn't working for users
We found that the current homepage isn't working and why. Now we need to figure out
some ways to make it better.
Let's sketch together. I have some ideas about how to improve it that might be helpful.
Great. Now we can test some of these ideas. Can you get started on anything while I do some mockups and usability tests?
Sure. We need to make it possible to create new pages and it sounds like we need to build a way to support A/B testing
I think we have a couple of things we should build into production. I'll annotate the wireframes so you can get started.
Looks like we'll need a couple of new components. Can you do a high fidelity mockup or prototype so I can add them to the pattern library?
Sure. Have you got enough to build while I do that?
Yep. There's lots to do.
Great. Hey, when you complete the new nav, can you let me know? We might put that in front of a few users to make sure the design pattern is working.
Sure! I'll come along and observe.
Make sure it's hooked up with these metrics so we can measure whether it's had any effect.
Can you pair with me for a bit to make sure I've built this bit in the right way?
Of course. The way you've made it work on small screens isn't ideal, and there's an accessibility concern with this button...
your work should be timeboxed
"what can we get done in the next two weeks?"
vs
"let's do these ten tasks."
sprint one
task
task
task
task
task
task
sprint one
task
task
task
task
task
task
sprint one
done!
done!
not done
task
task
task
sprint one
done!
done!
not done
task
task
task
sprint one
sprint one
done!
done!
task
task
task
task
sprint one
remember: agile means being flexible around scope
not just: cutting down costs and doing things faster
you can't have a strict roadmap and a strict idea of what you'll be building
timeboxing can also help you with scoping a piece of work
"let's do the version of this that can be done in a week"
you'll need to break your work down into small pieces
...without missing the "big picture"
what is the minimum viable product for each feature?
mvp: the minimum amount of work you can do so you can learn what you need
(repeat until...)
ask yourself: how can this big idea be broken down into smaller pieces that can be shipped iteratively?
test-driven design at clover.com.au
the goal:
we want to give users more financial advice before they sign up.
discover:
what is the scope of the advice we want to tackle?
validate:
do users actually want advice on these things?
to test:
should we give them small chunks of advice or a big report of advice?
discover:
what are the risks of either approach? how can we mitigate them?
ideate:
what are some ways that we can give this advice?
refine:
which ways do we want to try?
prototype:
let's test two of these ideas with users
build:
we'll build the ideas and make sure we can measure them
the case against agile ux
sometimes you miss out on the bigger picture by breaking things down
ux takes time. it doesn't always fit in a box. some ideas can't be shipped iteratively.
to do this properly we can't plan too far ahead.
designers are experts and you should trust their instincts
many companies have adopted agile in an attempt to bring costs down and move faster
"engineers are expensive"
well, ux is expensive too
agile puts pressure on ux to move too fast
the case for agile ux
to do this properly we can't plan too far ahead.
it limits the amount of superhero opinion-based design
it protects us against opinion-based design in general
it forces us to validate frequently
it requires us to work outside of a silo and build empathy for our team
it builds a culture where ux isn't a "stage" but more an ongoing activity
agile is not only about bringing costs down. it's about bringing risk down.
agile teams should be comfortable with the give and take of cross-functional pairing
but what they'll be doing will be just as important
questions for you
in this course you've been working on your individual project in a ux silo...
now you've met with your client and you'll be working "with" them
how will you design this idea in a cross-functional team?
what will your role as ux designer look like when your idea starts being built?
have you designed the mvp?
questions?
agile ux in practice @meelijane Amelia Schmidt
Agile UX in practice
By Amelia Schmidt
Agile UX in practice
A presentation for GA's UX full-time immersive cohort.
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