Another View of Agile User Experience.

Virginia Hill
June, 2008
Abstract
This paper a!ocates an Agile process that organicall" integrates the user experience
focus throughout the process. #n particular, a portion of user experience wor$ will
sanwich the sprints. Then, within each sprint, usabilit" testing or test%ri!en esign,
will eter&ine specific U' wor$ to acco&plish. These touch points are the basis of
this approach.
#ntrouction
The co&&onl" accepte notion regaring user experience (U') wor$ on Agile
pro*ects is that this wor$ &ust procee in an o!erlappe or parallel fashion (+iller, ,.
User Centered Design and Agile, -", .. Journal of Usability Studies). /ith this ual
or parallel trac$ approach, the user experience professional wor$s on iteration n01,
as well as iteration n, an possibl" n%1 while the core tea& wor$s on iteration n.
This is far fro& si&ple, but fairl" co&plex an ifficult to &anage.
This paper a!ocates an Agile process that organicall" integrates the user experience
focus throughout the process. #n particular, a portion of user experience wor$ will
sanwich the sprints. Then, within each sprint, usabilit" testing or test%ri!en esign,
a close relati!e of test%ri!en e!elop&ent, will eter&ine specific U' wor$ to
acco&plish. These touch points are the basis of this approach.
To procee, the paper will consier the basic &eetings2interactions of the Agile
process as a &eans of highlighting the integration.
3!er!iew
The basic &eetings of e!er"%a" Agile inclue the sprint planning &eeting, the ail"
scru&, an the sprint re!iew &eeting (#4+ Agile .e!elop&ent class &aterial). 5rior
to the sprint planning &eeting, higher le!el planning &ust be one in orer to
eter&ine the sprints. This higher le!el planning woul inclue the pro*ect6s !ision,
an a share unerstaning of the sta$eholers 7 the principals, en users, partners,
an insiers (8essler, 9. : -weit;er, J. Outside In Software Development, 200<).
U' professionals ha!e s$ills in profiling custo&ers an in gathering their
re=uire&ents. The" shoul be an integral part of this higher le!el planning, as well
as the sprint planning, an expecte to pro!ie a&ple unerstaning of users to the
tea& uring c"cle 0 an other iteration planning &eetings.
-anwiching the Agile e!elop&ent process
#n orer to pro!ie co!erage for the pro*ect, it is i&portant to co&&unicate a !ision
with an unerstaning of roles an2or personas, as well as &a*or scenarios or user
stories up front. These &a" be a co&bination of current a" scenarios an forwar%
loo$ing scenarios that reflect $e" re=uire&ents for the pro*ect. #n aition, at the
en of pro*ect e!elop&ent, the entire pro*ect, which is &ar$ete an sol as a
whole, nees to be >teste? as a whole fro& the sta$eholers6 perspecti!e 7 the en
users, principals, an partners. #nternal sta$eholers also nee to support the final
result. This focus on user experience at the beginning an at the en of an Agile
pro*ect for&s the >brea? of the sanwich. This is, b" no &eans, the bul$ of the
wor$ re=uire fro& the user experience role, onl" the beginning an the en.
Another View of Agile User Experience.
Virginia Hill
June, 2008
User experience in sprint planning
#nception phase 7 s$etch out the entire release plan@ 9"cle 0
.uring this phase, the user experience professional shoul be a &a*or contributor
an expecte to facilitate the unerstaning of user stories. This coul occur in
&an" wa"s, incluing the scheuling an facilitation of user inter!iews. The tea&
coul participate in a structure wa" in these or not. This coul also be a
co&&unication of user stories resulting fro& user research of the user experience
professional an experiences of tea& &e&bers an custo&er >representati!es? on
the tea&. This U' role shoul also help pro!ie prioriti;ation of these stories which
will be &appe onto technical co&ponents an eco&pose into sprints.
Aor sprint planning
The user experience role shoul be the reminder of sta$eholer priorit" as it relates
to the !ision. +uch li$e the sergeant at ar&s who ensures that all ahere to Bobert6s
Bules of 3rer, the user experience role will ensure that the core tea& aheres to
the priorit" an the priorit" >polic"? set out uring the inception phase. Usabilit" is
concerne with the user experience of the /H3,E. The U' role will $eep an e"e on
the goal, the !ision, an an e"e on the current phase. This is not the notion of
wor$ing on sprint n01 while the tea& is wor$ing on sprint n, but of ensuring that the
wor$ of sprint n supports the !ision. The user experience role &a" introuce a user
interface concept2protot"pe to represent the goal. This concept will be upate as
the pro*ect iterates, an will help $eep the tea& >on the sa&e page.?
User experience in ail" scru&s
The user experience professional will be a pig on the Agile tea&, wor$ing to ensure
the following@
1) -ta$eholers pro!ie !ali feebac$
2) Aeebac$ that co&es in as efects are hanle as efects
C) Aeebac$ that co&es in as re=uire&ents are esigne (clear user stories) an
prioriti;e accoring to the priorit" polic"
User experience in -print Be!iew
#t is in the sprint re!iew that the user experience role irects &uch of his attention.
The re!iew will ta$e the for& of a usabilit" e!aluation perfor&e with appropriate
en users, if possible. The e!aluation &a" be a for&al usabilit" test, a structure
esign wal$through of the li!e coe, or, if ti&e is constraine, a heuristic e!aluation.
The &etric to collect for usabilit" assess&ent is custo&er satisfaction. This, along
with the =ualit" &easure, as inicate b" the unit an acceptance tests, an the
c"cle ti&e &easure, for&s the basis of the re=uire &easures for an agile pro*ect.
U' an Test%ri!en .e!elop&ent
At the beginning of the Agile c"cle, uring the inception phase, the user experience
tea& will test the current (existing) prouct for its usabilit" against ientifie test
scenarios. #f this is a new prouct2solution, the sa&e or si&ilar concepts in a
co&petiti!e prouct will be teste. The results of the testing will pro!ie the &a*or
wor$ for the user experience professional@ efects an esigns. #f there is no current
Another View of Agile User Experience.
Virginia Hill
June, 2008
prouct or co&peting prouct to test, the U' wor$ effort will be totall" irecte to
esign. This test7esign or test%efect paraig& continues throughout each sprint.
#n the spirit of test%ri!en e!elop&ent with Agile, the Agile tea& will use current%
a" scenarios (pain points) as i&petus for establishing user >tests? D context
scenarios. The U' role will help set these user stories with the tea&. These can be
!iewe as usage tests which &ust be passe. The U' wor$ generate fro& testing
&a$es up the bul$ of the U' effort. This concept, where scenarios ientif"
>acceptance? criteria, is calle test%ri!en esign, fro& its cousin, test%ri!en
e!elop&ent. #n this case, the user stories2scenarios ictate user interaction that
&ust be pro!ie (criteria). The coe is teste against these criteria. #nitiall", there
will be failure. The test results will ictate esigns that are neee an efects that
nee to be aresse. Test%ri!en esign refra&es the notion of a failing test so
that refactoring can occur.
U' partnering with the test tea&s, both prouct an beta tea&s, to test the coe will
be beneficial, as these tea&s will learn fro& one another. This partnering is a two%
wa" street. The U' role will also be in!ol!e in the t"pical user acceptance testing
an the usage tests, an will be able to contribute to U' issues arising fro& beta
testing. This t"pe of partnering will encourage the sprea of usabilit" awareness
across Agile tea& &e&bers as the" begin to unerstan its i&portance. #n aition
the U' role will gain further unerstaning of the pro*ect as he participates in other
testing.
4eta test partnering earl" in the prouct e!elop&ent process is especiall"
i&portant, as both custo&ers an user participants for usabilit" tests an other
feebac$ will co&e fro& the beta pool. This is a change in current practice, as beta
tests no&inations occur towars the en of the e!elop&ent c"cle.
As a result of the testing that occurs, the U' role will nee to ri!e the usabilit"
efects to resolution. He also will nee to pro!ie esign ieas for the esign
opportunities. The esign wor$ will occur in parallel with the efect wor$. These
acti!ities will iterate@ test, then efect an esign wor$ 7 until all sprints ha!e
conclue.
9onclusion@ 9all to ar&s
User experience professionals ha!e s$ills that will benefit the Agile tea& an the
Agile process. The" ha!e research s$ills useful in helping to unerstan users, an
ha!e experience in esigning an !isuali;ing the prouct !ision with protot"pes. This
&a$es the& useful in helping to guar the !ision an in facilitating the ientification
of user stories. The" also ha!e testing s$ills that can be share with other testers,
both prouct an beta testers.
The list of challenges to o!erco&e in i&ple&enting the integrate process escribe
here is length". At the top of the list is the feasibilit" of test%ri!en esign.
-pecificall", how &an" U' s$ills will be neee to successfull" test, while continuing
to contribute to the tea& with esigns an ri!ing efectsE How reail" a!ailable are
U' s$ills to o this wor$E How rea" are the user experience professionals to
e&brace AgileE These are *ust a few of the =uestions that nee to be answere.
Another View of Agile User Experience.
Virginia Hill
June, 2008
Aro& a U' perspecti!e, there is certainl" a place for U' professionals on the Agile
tea&. 4ut o Agilists (e!elopers, in particular) agreeE U' professionals struggle
with place&ent in the sa&e wa" on tea&s that follow the traitional waterfall
process. Fow is the ti&e for a brea$through. Agile is the process that can &a$e it
happenG
# encourage Agile e!elopers to strongl" consier incluing U' professionals on their
tea&s. #t is extre&el" li$el" that U'ers ha!e progra&&ing experience (not that
the" shoul actuall" write coe), an ha!e s$ills that can benefit the process in &an"
wa"s. U' professionals can be generali;ing specialists too.
# also encourage Agile testers to strongl" consier partnering with U' professionals
in test%ri!en esign, perfor&ing both user acceptance an usabilit"2usage testing.
,astl", # as$ Agile%to%be U'ers to strongl" consier &a$ing the Agile co&&it&ent to
flexibilit", contributing their s$ills of unerstaning sta$eholers, writing user stories,
usabilit" testing, an esigning.
The integrate approach escribe in this paper 7 sanwiching the sprints an
incorporating user experience acti!ities throughout each sprint !ia test%ri!en esign
7 is one wa" to initiate brea$through in the Agile process. 9onsier i&ple&enting
this process, an iterating, as Agile woul ha!e it.
Aigure 1@ Agile 5rocess, integrating U'
Another View of Agile User Experience.
Virginia Hill
June, 2008
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