1. Affordance-Driven
Process Improvement
Designing a Process that Works for Your Team
Ariadna Font Michael Keeling
@quicola @michaelkeeling

2. Workshop Agenda
• The Theory of Affordances
• Affordance-Driven Process Improvement
• Workshop Time!
FYI -- We’ll spend about
the last hour hands-on
2

3. Goals for this Workshop
1. Unlock your mind so you can identify
affordances in your team’s process
2. Practice affordance-driven improvement
in a retrospective simulation
3. Map typical team behaviors to common
agile practices
3

4. Warning
4

5. THE THEORY OF
AFFORDANCES
5

6. You’ve seen these concepts before…
• Software Architects
• Object Designers
• User Experience Experts
• Kanban Experts
• Agile Coaches
• “Systems Thinkers”
6

7. Goal: Design an object that
makes it feel natural and easy
to do the right thing.
7

8. What is an affordance?
An affordance is any perceivable
element, such as an object or idea,
that directs a person’s thinking
toward a specific set of actions.
J. J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception.
Psychology Press, 1986.
Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things.
Basic Books, 1998 8

9. What is an affordance?
An affordance is any perceivable
element, such as an object or idea,
that directs a person’s thinking
toward a specific set of actions.
J. J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception.
Psychology Press, 1986.
Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things.
Basic Books, 1998 9

10. The Dutch Airport Problem
10

11. 11

12. 12

13. The Urinal Fly
“It improves the aim. If a
man sees a fly, he aims at
it. Fly-in-urinal research
found that etchings reduce
spillage by 80%. It gives a
guy something to think
about.
That’s a perfect example of
process control.”
Robert Krulwhich, “There’s a Fly in my Urinal”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php
?storyId=121310977 13

14. Good Affordance..Bad Affordance
Push Pull
Good Affordance 14

15. Bad
Affordance
15

16. Gary Larson
The Far Side
16

17. Qualities vs. Functionality
17

18. Example: Blend a Drink
• Functions
– Prepare the blender
– Blend
– Clean the blender
• Qualities
– Countertop-ability
– Clean-ability
– Transportability
Galvao and Sato, “Affordances in Product Architecture: Linking Technical
Functions and Users’ Tasks” Proceedings of IDETC/CIE 2005 18

19. 19

20. Portable…
but noisy.
Motorcycle
Gas Engine Throttle
20

21. Application to Software Process
• Example Process Functions
– Write software, test software, release software
• Example Process Qualities
– Plan-ability – Performance
– Predictability – Reliability
– Changeability – Estimate-ability
– Quality – Harmony
21

22. AFFORDANCE-DRIVEN
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
22

23. Goal: Design a process that
makes it natural and easy
to do the right thing.
23

24. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe
Behaviors
Evaluate
Behaviors
Identify
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
25

25. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe What is your
Behaviors
team doing?
Evaluate
Behaviors
How do
Identify they act?
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
26

26. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe Is this the behavior
Behaviors you want?
Evaluate
Behaviors Positive
Identify Negative
Affordances Neutral
Alter
Affordances
27

27. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe
Behaviors What nudged
your team to act
Evaluate
Behaviors the way the did?
Identify
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
28

28. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe
Behaviors Keep the good
Evaluate affordances,
Behaviors change the bad
Identify affordances
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
29

29. Example: Team Square Root
Observations:
Arguments about tasking
Team over-committing
Resist giving up tasks
Michael Keeling, “Process Affordances: Ignore at your own Peril”
http://neverletdown.net/2009/03/process-affordances-ignore-at-your-own-peril/ 30

30. Values: Baseline for Evaluating Behavior
As a team we valued
Predictability
Adaptability
Respect
Open Communication
31

31. Evaluate Behaviors
Observations:
+– Arguments about tasking
– Team over-committing
– Resist giving up tasks
32

32. Identify Affordances
Reflecting on our practices…
“Milestone Owners”
Nudge: Attitude of lone responsibility
No backlog
Nudge: Anxiety over future tasks
33

33. Alter Affordances
Created a backlog
Abolished “Owners”
New burndown chart – show
progress against commitments
34

34. Team Values: Evaluating Behaviors
“Qualities your team values”
• Examples:
– courage – scalability
– predictability – responsibility
– sustainability – feedback
– face-to-face
– improvability
communication
– measurability
35

35. Examples of Good Affordances
• Iterative planning, light documentation
– Nudge: changeability
• Pair programming
– Nudge: knowledge sharing, performance,
quality
36

36. Examples of Bad Affordances
• Large planning buffers
– Nudge: procrastination
• Developer Branches
– Nudge: solitary development
37

37. LET’S PRACTICE!
38

38. What is an affordance?
An affordance is any perceivable
element, such as an object or idea,
that directs a person’s thinking
toward a specific set of actions.
J. J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception.
Psychology Press, 1986.
Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things.
Basic Books, 1998 39

39. Goals for this Workshop
1. Unlock your mind so you can identify
affordances in your team’s process
2. Practice affordance-driven improvement
in a retrospective simulation
3. Map typical team behaviors to common
agile practices
40

40. Ground Rules
• When your team is ready to move on,
have somebody wear the party hat
• Manage your time, watch the clock!
• Raise your hand if you have a question
• Have fun!
41

41. Workshop Agenda
1. Establish context, agree on team values
2. Evaluate behaviors
3. Identify affordances nudging your team
4. Propose changes to your team’s
practices
5. Finish posters and share findings
6. Wrap-up
42

42. Qualities your
“team” values
Summary of practices
nudge your team’s
behavior
Action items – how to
change behavior?
43

43. Establishing Context – 2 min
• Task: Introduce yourselves to one another
– Briefly share some interesting facts about
yourself and your role(s) at work
• Context:
– You are now a team, working together to build a
new awesome piece of software.
– You’ve gathered together for a team
retrospective….
44

44. Agree on Team Qualities – 5 min
• Task: Agree on the 3 – 5 core qualities
you value most as a team.
– Annotate worksheet and add to poster
• Goal: You are going to focus on these
through the workshop and use them to
evaluate behaviors and determine what
improvements to pursue first.
46

45. 47

46. Qualities your
“team” values
Start populating your poster!
Start
48

47. Agree on Team Qualities – 5 min
• Task: Agree on the 3 – 5 core qualities
you value most as a team.
– Annotate worksheet and add to poster
• Goal: You are going to focus on these
through the workshop and use them to
evaluate behaviors and determine what
improvements to pursue first.
49

48. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe
Behaviors
Evaluate
Behaviors
Identify
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
50

49. Evaluate Behaviors – 10 min
• Task: Decide whether your team’s
behaviors (Blue Cards) are positive,
neutral, or negative relative to your
values.
• Goal: Learn to observe and analyze team
behaviors in your work environment.
51

50. 52

51. Evaluate Behaviors – 10 min
• Task: Decide whether your team’s
behaviors (Blue Cards) are positive,
neutral, or negative relative to your
values.
• Goal: Learn to observe and analyze team
behaviors in your work environment.
53

52. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe
Behaviors
Evaluate
Behaviors
Identify
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
54

53. 55

54. Identify Affordances – 15 min
• Task: Map practices to negative behaviors.
What affordances nudged your team?
– Try the “5 Whys” technique
– If there is no practice in your deck that you
think leads to this bad behavior, use one of the
wildcards
• Goal: Have a handful of patterns like this on
your poster
<Practice> nudges <Behavior> because ____
56

55. Qualities your
“team” values
Summary of practices
nudge your team’s
behavior
Don’t forget your poster!
Start
57

56. Identify Affordances – 15 min
• Task: Map practices to negative behaviors.
What affordances nudged your team?
– Try the “5 Whys” technique
– If there is no practice in your deck that you
think leads to this bad behavior, use one of the
wildcards
• Goal: Have a handful of patterns like this on
your poster
<Practice> nudges <Behavior> because ____
58

57. Affordance-Driven Change
Observe
Behaviors
Evaluate
Behaviors
Identify
Affordances
Alter
Affordances
59

58. Propose Key Changes – 10 min
• Task: Create 2 or 3 action items for your team
and document why you think they will get rid of
the negative behavior
• Goal: Add or remove affordances to your team’s
process. Turn the undesired behaviors into
desired ones.
Practice P(Bad Behavior)  Practice P’ (Ø / Good Behavior)
60

59. Example…
Free dinner nudges developers to stay
late…
Change the Free Dinner affordance
Free breakfast – nudge developers to come
to work early, not waiting for a signal to
mark the end of the day
61

60. Propose Key Changes – 10 min
• Task: Create 2 or 3 action items for your team
and document why you think they will get rid of
the negative behavior
• Goal: Add or remove affordances to your team’s
process. Turn the undesired behaviors into
desired ones.
Practice P(Bad Behavior)  Practice P’ (Ø / Good Behavior)
62

61. Qualities your
“team” values
Summary of practices
nudge your team’s
behavior
Action items – how to
change behavior?
63

62. Share your findings! – 15 min
• Task: Share your poster!
• Goal: Tell a story so that others can learn
from your thinking process
• Reflection
– Any surprises in your practice/behavior map?
– What can you take back to your team?
64

63. WRAP-UP
65

64. Goals for this Workshop
1. Unlock your mind so you can identify
affordances in your team’s process
2. Practice affordance-driven improvement
in a retrospective simulation
3. Map typical team behaviors to common
agile practices
66

65. Practices vs. Affordances?
We simplified things a little for the
simulation…
The world is not this simple.
Affordances can be subtle, tricky to identify.
67

66. Tools for Retrospectives
• Identify valued team qualities
• “Like to Like” game
– Create your own behaviors and practices card
decks
• Affordance Awareness
– It’s not your fault!
68

67. “A bad system will beat a
good person every time.”
- W. Edwards Deming
69

68. Go forth and design
GREAT systems!
70

69. Thank you!
Michael Keeling Ariadna Font
@michaelkeeling @quicola
http://neverletdown.net http://ariadna.font.cat/
71

70. References
• Robert Krulwhich, “There’s a Fly in my Urinal”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121310977
• Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books,
1988
• J. J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception.
Psychology Press, 1986.
• Galvao and Sato, “Affordances in Product Architecture: Linking
Technical Functions and Users’ Tasks” Proceedings of IDETC/CIE
2005
• Michael Keeling, “Identifying Process Affordances: Nudging Toward
Change” http://neverletdown.net/2010/03/identifying-process-
affordances-nudging-toward-change/
• Michael Keeling, “Process Affordances: Ignore at your own Peril”
http://neverletdown.net/2009/03/process-affordances-ignore-at-your-
own-peril/
72