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Agile in Wonderland

Agile in Wonderland

Designing for an agile client with an offsite UX team
Jason Taylor and Diana Runkle
Agile UX 2012
March 2 - Sydney, Australia

Diana Runkle

March 02, 2012
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  1. Hello... we work for Boomworks. Diana Runkle (@drunkleAU)  Senior

    UX Designer Jason Taylor (@although)  UX Team Lead boomworks.com.au
  2. The project. This is what we’ll be talking about today...

     Self-service web application  Massive in scope (and still going)  About how we worked (not what)  We’re evolving our approach
  3. Why did we work offsite... for this client team and

    project?  It’s how we produce the best results  We have our own flavour of agile  We have all the skills in-house  We can’t just move Boomworks on-site  There’s no right or wrong way
  4. Other factors... in working offsite for this project.  They

    are still assembling their team  Agile was new to our client  Client team in multiple locations  Some growing pains
  5. When we started... with this client team and their project.

     Existing product eco-system  User stories created  Playing a game of catch-up  Working in two week sprints
  6. How we kicked off... and engaged with the agile team.

     Fact finding workshops  Design sprint zero  Upfront collaborative design  Produce multiple concepts
  7. Working on the project... and what we did in each

    two week sprint.  Collaborate on user stories  Design and review etc...  Hi-fi prototyping  Test and report in real time  Make any changes
  8. To achieve an ideal goal... we have a flexible approach

    to our team.  Core project team  Scaled up when needed  Stand-ups, team reviews and design walls  Everyone kept in the loop
  9. To achieve an ideal goal... we try to work smarter

    (not harder).  Try to design things right the first time  Keep the client involved at all times  Rapid tempo for regular activities  Iterate on the hard and easy stuff  Plan early and often
  10. Communication. What worked was open communication...  Embedded Project Manager

     Client and home team feedback  Review meetings and backlog  Transparency
  11. Information. What worked was getting good information...  Validating user

    stories  Knowing the system constraints  Leveraging their style guide  Best practice design  Opinions
  12. Rapid design. What worked for us was collaboration...  Collaborative

    sketching upfront  Pair design on the computer  Imaginative interaction scenarios  Try to break our own ideas  Collaborative client reviews
  13. Hi-fi prototyping. What worked was being grounded in reality... 

    High value in building interactions  Real data completes the picture  Detailed slices driven by our test plan  Smoke and mirrors where needed  Time to build multiple versions
  14. Regular testing. What worked for us was the shared vision...

     Test core tasks within the big picture  Test large chunks of functionality  Formal testing process  Real time review and reporting  Mentoring
  15. Working offsite... and how we feel about the approach. 

    It can be hard and you can’t drop the ball  For us the benefits are the greater good  We have our own creative space to play in  We can draw on Boomworks’ resources  There’s no need to wear pants 
  16. What is the hard stuff... when working offsite with agile?

     Two week cycle for key elements  Testing slices of a product  Defining an IA upfront  Keeping everyone up to speed  Perfect world vs regular releases
  17. What is the good stuff... when working offsite with agile?

     Regular testing timeframe  Rapid feedback and reporting  Daily stand-ups and review process  Project retrospectives  Collaboration is essential  Usability driven outcome
  18. What we’ll be improving... for this and future projects. 

    Extend the design cycle to three weeks  Include a secondary round of testing  Solve the hardest problems first  Seek new ways to work and collaborate  Continue to share skills and knowledge
  19. So...why offsite? Why do we think it’s possible?  The

    approach to date is successful  The project has forward momentum  We’re still shipping software  We can draw on all our resources  Our team can maintain our flavour of agile  There’s no definitive rule book
  20. But really...why agile? Because agile isn’t about co-location.  Individuals

    and interactions over processes and tools  Working software over comprehensive documentation  Customer collaboration over contract negotiation  Responding to change over following a plan agilemanifesto.org