Adapting agile: How to make a blended agile approach work for you

My interactive session at the DPM Summit 2018 in Memphis, USA.

1. How to make a blended agile approach work for you #AdaptingAgile @suzehaworth
2. + A bit about me… + @suzehaworth
3. + + 2005… @suzehaworth
5. THINGS CHANGE
6. Waterfall vs Agile
8. FORGET THE SNOBBERY
9. As long as your process is right for your project, your client, your team, your organisation, it doesn’t matter what it’s called
10. YOUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT YOUR PROCESS DON’T GIVE A SHIT
11. So today I want you to get comfortable…
12. …with not following a strict process
13. FOR TODAY OUTCOMES 1
14. Assumptions
15. 1. We are all different 2. We all have different experiencees 3. We all work at different places
16. Out of scope
17. 1. There’s so much to cover! 2. Let’s chat more…
18. #AdaptingAgile @suzehaworth
19. THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET
20. THINK LESS PROJECT MORE PRODUCT
22. THINK LESS PROJECT MORE PRODUCT
23. HOW TO ADAPT AGILE
24. OUTCOMES
 FOR TODAY 1 2 3 4 CORE
 PRINCIPLES PRODUCT
 DISCOVERY HOW TO
 ADAPT AGILE
25. OUTCOMES
 FOR TODAY 1 2 3 4 CORE
 PRINCIPLES PRODUCT
 DISCOVERY HOW TO
 ADAPT AGILE ACTIVITIES!
26. Exercise 1: 
 Mapping your 
 process
27. 1. Use post-its to map your process on your current project out, thinking about the stages you go through 2. If time, add in any tools, techniques and practices against each stage BRIEF: OUTCOME: You will have mapped out your current process, plus ways of working
28. REQUIRE-
 MENTS DEFINE UX DESIGN LAUNCH DEV QA
29. REQUIRE-
 MENTS DEFINE UX DESIGN LAUNCH WIRE
 FRAMES KICK OFF
 MEETING DEV DAILY 
 STAND UPS QA BUSINESS
 NEEDS USER
 NEEDS BACKLOG STATIC
 DESIGNS CLIENT
 DEMOS SPRINTS TDD RETRO-
 SPECTIVES
30. WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES 2 OF GOOD PRODUCT DELIVERY?
31. FORGET AGILE…
32. FOR NOW! FORGET AGILE…
33. #1 CUSTOMER FIRST
34. CUSTOMER FIRST Prioritise the customer and the outcomes they will value Value getting working designs, prototypes or software to the customer over defining requirements upfront Feedback and iterate
35. FREQUENT DELIVERY #2
36. Deliver a working product quickly to the customer Team and customers working together to make adjustments Iterative development FREQUENT DELIVERY
37. TEAM COLLABORATION #3
38. Key to making your project work and building a better product Don’t rely on documentation to define requirements and share knowledge Face to face communication and shared decisions The team is your client too! TEAM COLLABORATION
40. 1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools 2. Working software over comprehensive documentation 3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation 4. Responding to change over following a plan TEAM 
 COLLABORATION CUSTOMER 
 FIRST FREQUENT 
 DELIVERY
41. 1. Focus on customers 2. Optimise the whole 3. Elimate waste 4. Learn first 5. Deliver fast 6. Keep getting better 7. Energise workers TEAM 
 COLLABORATION CUSTOMER 
 FIRST FREQUENT 
 DELIVERY
42. So what are the challenges with adopting one rigid methodology?
43. You’re not responding to change It’s harder to inspect and adapt You’re not allowing for the mix of needs on your projects
44. THERE’S NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL
45. “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” Nietzsche, 1891
46. Exercise 2: 
 Identifying the pain points
47. 1. Looking at your process and the 3 principles, think about any problems you are having on current projects. 2. Fill in the first column of the canvas. BRIEF: OUTCOME: You will identify pain points in your projects against the 3 core principles.
48. REQUIRE-
 MENTS DEFINE UX DESIGN LAUNCH WIRE
 FRAMES KICK OFF
 MEETING DEV DAILY 
 STAND UPS QA BUSINESS
 NEEDS USER
 NEEDS BACKLOG STATIC
 DESIGNS CLIENT
 DEMOS SPRINTS TDD RETRO-
 SPECTIVES LACK OF
 DESIGN
 TIME NO USER
 TESTING NOT
 WHOLE 
 TEAM NO SPRINT
 RELEASES
49. Pain points (Principles) Opportunities (Processes) Actions
 (Practices) Customer first: • No user testing until we’ve launched the product • Lack of design time means we’re focusing on tech defining the product Frequent delivery: • Despite working in Sprints, we aren’t releasing frequently Team collaboration: • We don’t have the entire team involved from the start of the project
 #AdaptingAgile @suzehaworth
50. WHY WE SHOULD PRODUCT 3 THINK MORE
51. All core principles come back to one thing: Building the best product possible
52. “We have come to realise that bespoke software delivery is far more akin to product design and development than it is to project delivery.” John Yorke, 2017
53. DISCOVERY? WHAT IS PRODUCT
54. Discover and test that what you are building is what the customer needs
55. Deliver what your customer needs… rather than what you (or they!) think they want
56. E X I S T I N G 
 D A T A & 
 R E S E A R C H 
 I N S I G H T S A S S U M P T I O N S F U R T H E R R E S E A R C H H Y P O T H E S E S STAGE 1 I D E N T I F Y 
 P A I N P O I N T S I D E N T I F Y 
 O P P O R T U N I T I E S
57. U X / D E S I G N P R O T O T Y P E T E S T I N S I G H T S STAGE 2 I T E R A T E
58. Gather requirements Review data & research Think in terms of deliverables Identify customer pain points Develop features Develop assumptions & hypotheses Build & launch Design & prototype Test after dev Test & learn before dev Product Project
59. 3. A better backlog 1. Validated learning 2. Build things customers need 4. Business value
60. DELIVERY FREQUENT DON’T FORGET
61. Keep discovery lean and fast Feed into delivery quickly Involve your dev team in the discovery process We don’t need to pick sides!
62. Exercise 3: 
 Identifying opportunities
63. 1. Thinking about product over project process, where are the opportunities to improve in your projects? 2. Fill in the second column of the canvas with a couple of hypotheses BRIEF: OUTCOME: You will identify what the opportunities in your project process are
64. I believe that [creating this experience] For [this persona] Will achieve [this outcome]
65. Pain points (Principles) Opportunities (Processes) Actions
 (Practices) Customer first: • No user testing until we’ve launched the product • Lack of design time means we’re focusing on tech defining the product Frequent delivery: • Despite working in Sprints, we aren’t releasing frequently Team collaboration: • We don’t have the entire team involved from the start of the project
 Customer first: • I believe that testing designs on customers • For my whole team • Will help us define the correct solution before we start build and help eliminate waste Frequent delivery: • I believe that reviewing the release process and uncovering blockers • For my developers • Will help us to release more frequently #AdaptingAgile @suzehaworth
66. HOW DO YOU ADAPT AGILE? 4
68. The problem
69. APPROACH DUAL TRACK THE
70. John Ciecholewski
71. John Ciecholewski
72. John Ciecholewski
73. PROTOTYPING CUSTOMER FIRST PURPOSEFUL
74. Static Gauge reactions to concepts/propositions Test short journeys and simple goals e.g. Invision Low fidelity
75. Medium fidelity Interactive Get input on experience / 
 mechanics of a journey Test new products/features, 
 look & feel & motion principles e.g Principle
76. High fidelity Live Gauge reactions to true 
 functionality of full scenarios Test look & feel & complex interactions e.g HTML prototype
77. USER & USABILITY TESTING CUSTOMER FIRST
78. Face to face interviews Guerrilla testing Online testing Surveys
79. DEFINING AN MVP FREQUENT DELIVERY
80. SUSTAINABLE PACE FREQUENT DELIVERY
81. It’s actually more of a marathon, than a sprint!
82. It’s actually more of a marathon, than a sprint!
83. VISUALISE WORKFLOW FREQUENT DELIVERY
84. Camilla Chakiri
85. LIMIT WIP FREQUENT DELIVERY
86. Camilla Chakiri Limit: 4 Limit: 6
87. TEAM COLLABORATION
88. 1. Balanced team
89. “We are one team” Aaron, 2018
90. 1. Balanced team 2. Understand team needs
91. “Learn about what makes them tick” Aaron, 2018
92. 3. Communication that’s just enough 1. Balanced team 2. Understand team needs
93. “How can I help you to have 
 a better project experience?” Yvette, 2018
94. 3. Communication that’s just enough 1. Balanced team 2. Understand team needs 4. Retrospectives
95. HOW TO IMPLEMENT
96. 3. Involve the full team 1. Small increments 2. Test and learn—and trash 4. Understand and sell the value
97. Be confident—don’t let the process own you, own the process
98. Adapting agile is about trying to work with more agility using the core principles
99. Exercise 4: 
 Your actions!
100. 1. Think about any of the techniques I’ve gone through (and any others!) and what you can takeaway to your projects. 2. Fill in the third column of the canvas. BRIEF: OUTCOME: You will identify actions to apply within your projects, against the 3 core principles
101. OUTCOMES
 FOR TODAY 1 2 3 4 CORE
 PRINCIPLES PRODUCT
 DISCOVERY HOW TO
 ADAPT AGILE
102. T HANK YOU! @suzehaworth