10 Things Designers Need to Stop Doing to Kick Agile's Ass!

Where do designers fit in the Agile process and simple things they need to stop going in order to succeed! Presented at the Denver Startup Week 2013

Transcript

1. things designers need to STOP DOING to kick agile’s ASS!
2. This event is part of Denver Startup Week presented by Chase, Downtown Denver Partnership, and Colorado Technology Association. Housekeeping
3. aaron@aaronkwhite.com @aaronkwhite Aaron K. White Lead Interaction Designer @Webfilings Who’s the Giant? Previously - Empire Avenue | MySQL | Whole Foods | Sun Microsystems
4. Water Fail Method... Maintenance Requirements Design Development Testing
5. It’s like NASCAR... only not as cool Build Measure Learn
6. What if Usain Bolt had an Evil Twin? d d d d d d b b e e e e e e e e Opportunity Backlog Backlog Execution Cycles (~2 week sprints) Discovery Cycles
7. Stop assuming you know what the user wants No Means No!
8. Talk to Real People! Cultivate a core group of users to validate ideas with Rely on the DATA!
9. Stop waiting for the product owner to tell you what to build This isn’t a Corn Field...
10. Take ownership and DRIVE the Product Dual Track Development
11. Dev Track Discovery/ Design Track d d d d d d b b e e e e e e e e
12. Stop being the hero, ninja, all-star [trendy title here] designer You're going chop your hand off
13. Don’t swoop in with the *perfect* design Don’t sit in your bat cave for weeks working on that *perfect* design Quit trying to solve every problem at once… you’re going to fail
14. Stop building from scratch You're going chop your hand off
15. Re-use existing assets Beg, borrow & steal patterns from others Get/build a style guide and use it!
16. Stop building high fidelity John Cusack wants his boom box back
17. Put down your *tools* & start sketching Quit wasting valuable time Choose the right fidelity
18. Stop over designing ...
19. Know when existing is better than better Ask the question: "Can/Will you use this feature as it is right now?" (What is the least amount needed for this to work?) Time box your work
20. Stop playing catch-up with engineering print open("getting_shit_done.py").readlines()
21. Always be working on the next feature/sprint (Research, Test, Validate & Iterate) Take advantage of complex Engineering/Tech Debt Be ready & willing to shift priorities/focus
22. Stop testing for testing sake How would you land a 747? “I'd press each button once to see what it did”
23. Not everything NEEDS to be tested Not everything CAN be tested
24. Stop assuming there are rules or procedures This isn’t going on your permanent record
25. Agile is not a rigid process that needs to be followed to the letter of the law Build, Measure & Learn on your internal processes Not everything you try is going to work!
26. Stop assuming once it’s in production that you’re done Just set it and forget it... Seriously?
27. Build, Measure, Learn, Iterate (Rinse & Repeat) Take control of your design debt Take Ownership
28. This event is part of Denver Startup Week presented by Chase, Downtown Denver Partnership, and Colorado Technology Association. Thanks Again!
29. Questions? Slides available @ http://aaronkwhite.com