applying lean ux in designing enterprise software from ground up
TRANSCRIPT
Applying Lean UX in designing enterprise software from ground upKok Chiann
UX Manager, Ezypay & iconnect360
I’m here to share about our learnings Around evolution
IntroductionInfancy
Exponential growth
Alongside our product growth, and how Lean UX principles served as an enabler
How our UX process evolved
Just do itGrowing
User Research
Laser focus on
outcomes
Let’s dive right inHere’s how it all started
IntroductionInfancy
Exponential growth
- Scoping issues- Endless iterations- Delayed releases- Priorities changing
But there were problems
It’s all breezy. The primary target market of the product is gyms.
Before release
Gather requirements from stakeholders
User stories from product backlog
Prototype Requirements Internal validation
Things were going along. Kind of a Kanban approach.
The UX process during then
…After rolloutThings were less breezy
- Uncertainty around new target market’s needs
- Lack of user or customer data to inform decisions
- Customer impact on changes- Priorities changing
But there were also problems
Our customer base was growing steadily. Progression towards targeting new market –Swimschools
iconnect360 was newly rolled out
IntroductionInfancy
Exponential growth
Our UX process had to evolve…
We’re based in KL, target customers
are in Australia
We don’t know our
users personally
?
We need the right users to get
the right data
But….
User research became critical
Focus groups (We call them
industry panel)
Guerilla/discount user testing
Personas
User research practices implemented within UX process to inform design
Refining our practices around Conceptualisation & Prototyping
• Sketch and firm the concept first
• Designing hi-fidelity prototypes with realistic data to validate designs
• Switched to using Invision for prototyping
- Front-end engineer required
- Takes days
- UX designers can do it
- Takes hours
Just the ones around user/customer validation.
Lean UX principles adapted into the UX process
Gather requirements from stakeholders
User stories from product backlog
Prototype RequirementsInternal validation
User research data (Personas, User
stories, Pain points, etc)
External validation
Concept
Case Study: The crude persona
Case Study: Feature request to delete a member
Many support requests
Manual work by technical
support needed
Feature got prioritised
In our site visits, one of the clients brought
this up
“I’ll need to be able to delete a member”
When enquired further…
“Actually I want debtors that I cannot
recover removed from the report.”
After digging further, it led us to a
completely different solution
Our product fared pretty wellAnd we got on-board more and more clients
- UX bottlenecked- Coping with monthly releases- Paying technical debt- Endless feature requests- Endless documentation work- Priorities changing
More problems
Rolling out to NZ, 6 countries in Asia & new target market of Swimschools. Process improved towards monthly release cycles for both products.
Our growth was exponential
IntroductionInfancy
Exponential growth
Our UX process had to evolve…again
User needs
Business goals Technology
Design goal
We needed to work smarter and focus on the top priorities constantly
A laser focus on outcomes was necessary
Empowering execution teams
• Cross functional teams
• Democratising creativity & decision making
• Sense of ownership
• Skills brought to table
• Collaborate towards the best outcome
Engineer Engineer
Tester UX designer
The changing role of the designer
"When you look at design as a process and
not an artifact, everyone on your team
becomes a designer.“Cap Watkins, “Should Engineers Design?"
FacilitatorCustomer Advocate
Designer
PrototypeInternal
validationConcept
RequirementsInternal validation
Concept
Concept
E.g.: Improvising for low-risk, low uncertainty features.
Flexing the process
Requirements
“Okay” solutions are okay
• Designing for the best/great experience is not always necessary, nor possible
• Not all solutions are born equal
• Design towards the best trade-off to enable outcomes
Kano model
Avoid further iterations (if possible)
• Designs that work would not need to be iterated further
• Be careful on designing towards planning on iterating as a fail-safe
Gather requirements from stakeholders
User stories from product backlog
Prototype
Requirements(Document as you go)
Internal validation
User research data (Personas, User
stories, Pain points, etc)
External validation
Concept
Collaborative focus towards outcomes
More Lean UX principles adapted into process
Case Study: Designing the Online Bookings Form
Wrap upWith a quick summary
Be pragmatic in evolving your UX process
Just do itGrowing
User Research
Laser focus on
outcomes
1. Know your users2. Importance of prototyping
with the right fidelity & realistic data
1. Empowering execution teams
2. Designers as facilitators and customer advocates
3. Know when to break the process
4. Document as you go5. Not all features are equal6. Design towards avoiding
future iterations
There is no one-size fit all process. Adapt principles that work for you.
