William Hudson of Econsultancy discussess User centred design and Agile methods at the Valtech Agile Edge March 2010. How companies are seeing the value of incorporating user-centred design into Agile processes. Looking at challenges raised by the lightweight design approaches encouraged by Agile and how they are being addressed by companies like Microsoft.

1. User-Centred Design in
Agile Development
Addressing user experience
2 March 2010
William Hudson
Principal Consultant
Syntagm Ltd
william.hudson@syntagm.co.uk

2. The case for user-centred design
Usability and customer satisfaction are not
directly related, but better usability means:
Less frustration
Improved user experience
Fewer support calls
Lower development costs
Fewer legal concerns (Disability Discrimination Act)
Bridging the mass-market chasm...
| 2 February 2010

3. The case for user-centred design
The technology chasm
Innovators Early Early Late Laggards
Adopters Majority Majority
(Adapted from Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm)
| 3 February 2010

4. Key features of user-centred design
Direct engagement with users – observation,
research and evaluation
Investigation and understanding of contexts of
use, for example
Point of sale system for a pub versus a supermarket
Returns system for a dusty, noisy warehouse rather
than a clean and comfortable office
Main focus of UCD is suitability of solution for
real users
| 4 February 2010

5. Key features of Agile
Small teams
Close quarters
Low process overheads
Focus on team motivation and working code
There are some side-effects though...
| 5 February 2010

6. An Agile side-effect
Stamina of
Navigation skills a camel
Dexterity of
of a bat
a monkey
Memory of
an elephant
Visual acuity
of an eagle
Copyright © Syntagm Ltd – www.syntagm.co.uk
The Perfect User
| 6 February 2010

7. The Agile team
? Users
Customer /
Owner /
User Rep
| 7 February 2010

8. The Agile-to-user relationship
Two main problems:
1) No one person can represent or fully understand the
needs of users in isolation
Consider this actual user quotation:
“What do you want to talk about, what we really do or
what we’re supposed to do?”
2) Developers find it hard to appreciate – and
sometimes to understand – user-related issues such as
usability
| 8 February 2010

9. Empathizing-
Systemizing theory
| 9 February 2010

10. Empathizers

11. Systemizers

12. Please select
1 bag at a time

13. Technologists have strong systemizing
but reduced empathizing skills
| 13 February 2010

14. RTFM
| 14 February 2010

15. Empathetic design
| 15 February 2010

16. Promoting empathy
To produce usable systems reliably, Agile teams
need to understand (and empathize with) users
Site visits
Personas
Research-based user stories
Videos of user research and usability tests
These activities also help address compliance
with human-centred design standards (ISO
13407, for example)
| 16 February 2010

17. ISO standard for human-centred design
Identify need for Site visits
human-centred
design
Understand and Personas
specify context of use
System satisfies Specify the user and
Evaluate designs organizational
specified
against requirements requirements
requirements
Produce design
Usability User
solutions
tests stories
(ISO 13407)
| 17 February 2010

18. The Agile team
Users
UCD
Practitioner
| 18 February 2010

19. Personas are a key focal point
People are much more positive towards
individuals than groups
Personas are fictitious (but credible) individuals
who represent the main users of a solution
Must be developed and agreed by the team – you
cannot promote empathy by forcing solutions on
key players
Personas form the basis of all discussions about
features and user stories
| 19 February 2010

20. Personas
Jane Soames is a 28-year-old London
graphics designer who has moved into
special effects. Her experience with
graphics packages has helped her a
lot with the 2-D modeling but she still
struggles a bit with 3-D.
Her current job role has her moving
between 2-D and 3-D work, so having a
lot of similarities between the two kinds of
software makes her life a lot simpler.
…
| 20 February 2010

21. Persona-weighted feature matrix
(John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin –
The Persona Lifecycle)
| 21 February 2010

22. Changing the role of UCD practitioners
V
Present (involved)
Advisory
Some user research
Usability testing
Team not engaged in UCD
| 22 February 2010

23. Changing the role of UCD practitioners
S
Future (committed)
Engage team with users
User research (with team observers)
Usability testing (team observers or video raves)
Responsible for user stories, sketches and prototypes
| 23 February 2010

24. Personas and beyond
| 24 February 2010

25. Thanks for your time
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| 25 February 2010