Beyond staggered sprintsHow TheLadders.com integrated UX into Agile
Who is this guy?With a hat like that, he must know his shit.
Jeff GothelfCurrently: Director of UX at TheLadders.com
Previously: Publicis Modem, Webtrends, AOL, Fidelity and an assortment of startups
Blog: www.jeffgothelf.com/blog
Twitter: @jboogie
Email: [email protected]
Job site for professionals earning $100k or more and the recruiters/employers looking to hire them.
Execution team made up of product managers, developers and user experience folks.
UX team made up of Interaction Designers, Visual Designers and Copywriters.
Work spans both pre-paywall acquisition and conversion marketing as well as post-paywall product design.
User Experience is a shared service
Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line
Everything was butterflies and rainbows in our waterfall worldI couldn’t find a pic of a waterfall, a rainbow AND butterflies….sorry.
http://www.niagarafallscanadapics.net/Niagara-falls-Canada-rainbow-pdam2.jpg
3-9 month release cycles Thick functional specs In-depth wireframe decks Long visual design cycles Late-stage user validation and
testing Explicit hand-offs
We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock…In fact, we had no idea we were going for a ride.
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/museum_info/press/images/nature1_lg.jpg
Bottom-up decision No heads-up or discussion with
UX
We were told tales of glamour and victory!Improvements galore!
http://membres.multimania.fr/frodon9/hpbimg/oliphant.jpg
Better! Faster! Tighter! Nimbler (is that a word?)
But instead were treated like Hobbits.We can come along, but figure out your own way.
http://quizilla.teennick.com/user_images/T/tohrupenguin/1112394240_ryfrodosam.jpg
Many stories of failure No existing experience No clear path to success But The Precious was out
there….we were sure of it
So we set out on a quest to find the unicorn!And this was no ordinary unicorn.
http://www.boingboing.net/gimages/patrick.jpg
Preliminary research made it clear that no one had really nailed this problem.
We had some very thorny issues to tackle.These became clear very early.
http://www.africandreamadventuresafaris.com/thornbush-arusha-national-park.JPG
What to do with Big Upfront Design?
How do you maintain focus on a bigger vision?
Can we maintain product quality? How do you produce creative
work faster? How do you keep the engineering
teams busy each iteration? Will lighter product iterations be
accepted by the business? Will we be blamed if they don’t?
The journey of 1000 miles starts with one step.Our first step was research.
http://www.africandreamadventuresafaris.com/thornbush-arusha-national-park.JPG
Agile and user experience
And more research…This time with humans.
We even sought out The Oracle…He was very oracle-ish.
http://www.xqa.com.ar/visualmanagement/wp-content/uploads/XQA_9437.JPG
Add up all the research to get…..ideas!An idea and $.75 and you’re on your way to that cup of coffee.
http://legacy.lclark.edu/faculty/jsmiller/objects/idea_bulb.jpg
Our first attempt:Just get it all done in 2 weeks.
We took our 9-month waterfall process…Which was mighty and massive
http://www.julia-mathewson.com/photos/usa_2005_photos/8niagara1.jpg
And jammed it into a 2-week timeframe.We kept all the pieces and processes the same.
http://www6.worldisround.com/photos/29/323/524_o.jpg
We became chairmen of the boards.It got a little silly, actually.
“The whiteboards do not help organize the UX team’s work at all. Instead, they block out natural light from the windows and create a harsh and uncreative visual environment.”- Internal survey respondent
Functional specs were now banned.The story card had taken the spec’s place. And it multiplied.
The boards took on multiple purposes.Functional spec. Project plan. Resource allocation. And status indication.
The boards took on multiple purposes.Functional spec. Project plan. Resource allocation. And status indication.
But, hey, the UX team got its own board.Which is nice.
Wireframes picked up the heavy lifting specs had left behind.Annotations galore!
Dreams of a “vision” document never materialized.You can dream in one hand and poop in the other. See which one fills first.
Learnings from our first attempt:UX morale in the crapperFeeling of “going for the bronze”Perceived quality of work was much lowerNo time to designNo ownership or pride in the work
Summary: FAIL
Our second attempt:Introduce two secret weapons
Secret weapon #1: Style guidesThe cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.
• Re-usable components defined once
• Housed in centralized, accessible KM system
• Asset library for designers and developers
• Reduced number of design cycles
• Reduced dev time
Secret weapon #1: Style guidesThe cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.
Secret weapon #1: Style guidesThe cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.
Secret weapon #1: Style guidesThe cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.
Secret weapon #1: Style guidesThe cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.
Secret weapon #1: Style guidesNow, everyone’s a designer. Yay?
http://iyokobat.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/village-of-the-damned.jpg
Secret weapon #2: PrototypingShow me. Don’t tell me.
Secret weapon #2: PrototypingShow me. Don’t tell me.
Learnings from our second attempt:Style guides make life easierRe-usable components FTW!“Everyone is a designer” buys more UX timePrototyping reduces the need for most documentation
Summary: We’re making progress
Our third attempt:Put everything in-line.
Wait! You forgot usability testing!How else will we know how awesome we are?
http://stevejencks.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/usability.jpg
Every other week (2 weeks sprints)
Mid-way through the sprint Enough time to reach Show whatever you have ready No more than 3 participants Clear the boulders Validate and iterate
Great, the customer likes it. What about the product owner?Opinions are like belly buttons. Belly buttons on cats.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/
Design reviews 2 reviews per iteration Initial review mid-way in the
sprint, directional alignment Second review is final – 95% done Ad hoc reviews in between Decision at second review is
made to move forward or spend another iteration designing
Great, the customer likes it. What about the product owner?Opinions are like belly buttons. Belly buttons on cats.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/
“Design reviews have made the biggest difference. Having all the decision makers in one room has been crucial to getting projects approved on time.”- Internal survey respondent
“Design reviews have helped reduce the “endless email thread” reviews we used to have.”- Another internal survey respondent
Learnings from our third attempt:In-sprint user testing provides continuous user feedback in advance of coding
Lightweight and cost-effective testing
Formal, fixed design reviews provide mileposts for everyone to strive toward
Unified approval processes buy more UX time
Summary: Win!
Our fourth attempt:Bring everyone together and then separate
Can you guess who sketched this?The answer will shock you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/
Can you guess who sketched this?The answer will shock you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/
Can you guess who sketched this?The answer will shock you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/
The whole execution team did in a modified “design studio.”You can also call it collaborative sketching.
Design studios Cross-functional team Everybody draws, presents and
critiques Refine ideas through 3 rounds Generate tons of raw ideas Huge headstart for UX Early team-wide alignment Team-wide feeling of ownership
Start small.6 of your best ideas as fast as possible.
Refine to 3 or 4 better ideas.Add detail.
And once more to one, final, detailed idea.Let your one best idea shine.
User Experience is a shared service
Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line
Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line
UX UX UX UX
Learnings from our fourth attempt:Collaboration worksAnyone can contribute ideasFocusing teams on one workstream proves effectiveCamaraderie, communication benefit from aligned teams
Summary: Win! (that’s two, but I’m not counting)
Where we are today:We’re changing our mind. Slowly.
Designers love ritual.Trying to pull them out of established ruts is a Herculean task.
http://www.strongcopssavelives.com/images/Air%20Plane%20Pull%202009.jpg
Designers are used to being heroes. Agile is distinctly, anti-hero.
http://www.abegoodman.com/Images/greatest-american-hero.jpg
What about estimates?Deadlines or points?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FfetiF7C9vo/SEeOU0ew8KI/AAAAAAAAILU/CE_tq46wDYM/S600/Washington+DC+auto+mechanic,+1942.JPG
Is it viable?Yes, but does anybody actually want it?
Minimally viable Minimally desirable
Evolution continues through the breaking of old norms.Moving towards parallel pathing development and design.
http://www.greatoutdoors.com/files/imagecache/display/files/images/articles/Wong%20leading%20a%20Powder%208%20win%20%20photo%20-%20Wong%20Collection.jpg
Thanks!Ask me some questions. Here. Now. Or later: [email protected] / @jboogie