UX + AgileShould you go for it?

Sunday, 1 September 13

Blaise Galinier

Lead UX designer at AllofUs

@blasj

Sunday, 1 September 13

Disclaimer:I am not an agile guru.

Sunday, 1 September 13

• Iterative process, originally for development

• Work in short “sprints” (e.g. 2 weeks), focusing on a small scope.

• Build the product incrementally

• After each sprint, use what you’ve learnt to reevaluate where you’re heading

• Informal collaboration (sketching, pair design) instead of heavy documentation (massive wireframes doc)

• Sounds great!...

Agile in a nutshell

Sunday, 1 September 13

• You don’t know what you’ll get in the end. It might not be what you set off to build originally.

• Your precious designs are not set in stone. They could get revisited at a later sprint, maybe discarded completely.

• You don’t know when you’ll finish. It will take however long it needs.

The scary stuff

Sunday, 1 September 13

You’re starting a new project.You’ve been thinking about

“going agile” but...

is this the right time?

Sunday, 1 September 13

• Devs are usually comfortable with agile

• Graphic designers / project managers, no so much!

• If they are not, you will have to lead. Do you have the authority for it?

Has the team done agile before?

Sunday, 1 September 13

• It is better if the whole team (UX + graphic design + dev) are all on the same site, as agile requires collaboration.

• Devs separate from the rest of the team (e.g. UX + graphic design in agency + in-house dev or offshore dev): not so good.

• Don’t go agile if you can’t spend at least 1 or 2 days with the devs every week.

Is the team in the same building?

Sunday, 1 September 13

• Every sprint, there are decisions to be made. The sooner they are made, the better.

• Less available stakeholder >> you produce a lot of documentation before you get a chance to get it approved

• Documentation sitting idle becomes outdated: avoid it!

• Multiple stakeholders = not good for agile

Is the stakeholder very involved?

Sunday, 1 September 13

• In agile, you can’t get both! (it’s like quantum physics)

• If the deadline is fixed, you can’t tell what you’ll get built.

• If the scope is fixed, you can’t tell when you’ll achieve it.

• Agile is about embracing uncertainty...

How flexible is the scope?How flexible is the deadline?

Sunday, 1 September 13

• This is hard to gauge at first.

• Startups are more open to uncertainty than big corporate clients.

• It helps if you know the stakeholder...

Is the stakeholder OK with uncertainty?

Sunday, 1 September 13

• Trust is what makes the uncertainty acceptable.

• Because in agile the stakeholder doesn’t have a clear criteria to tell if you’ve done a good job or not.

• Use the early stages of the project to establish that trust.

Does the stakeholder TRUST you?

Sunday, 1 September 13

Fixed cost or ongoing retainer?

• Fixed cost ≈ fixed project duration ≈ hard deadline

• To make fixed cost work, you need a flexible scope

• Retainers are very good for agile

Sunday, 1 September 13

In summary

+ Everyone on site

+ Flexible scope

+ Flexible deadline

+Hand-on stakeholder

+ Trusting environment

+ Experienced team

+ Retainer

- Scattered team

- Aversion to risk / uncertainty

- Fixed cost

-Unmovable deadline

-Multiple stakeholders

Sunday, 1 September 13

A few more things

• Accept the fact that you don’t know enough. It’s about learning as quick as possible. Initial research doesn’t make you invincible.

• Fact: thing don’t go according to plan. Waterfall ignores this. Agile embraces it.

• Agile doesn’t mean you have to do loads of user testing (although you’re in a great position to do it).

• The early phase of a project (research/planning/strategy/envisioning...) is not agile!

Sunday, 1 September 13

• Alan Cooper on Agile: http://www.cooper.com/journal/agile2008/

• http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2013/08/why-agile-is-so-hard.php

Some light reading

Sunday, 1 September 13

Thank you!

Sunday, 1 September 13