Agile methodologies are transforming not only the way we work, but also what is expected of us as researchers. At BeyondCurious, we think that’s a good thing. In our experience, agile, iterative user experience research is the best way of conducting ux/usability research. Why? It ensures that you’re making things that matter. Agile Research delivers rapid results to internal and client teams in as little as one week, allowing for quick pivots to align prototypes to user needs. This flexible, modular approach reduces client risk because it allows teams to test and learn. The research process iteratively informs development, and concrete, ongoing results enable rapid evolution, and ensure that you are making the best product for your end user. Another benefit of Agile Research is that client and internal design/dev partners are part of the research team: there is no black box. This integrated team co-develops areas of inquiry, prototypes, and key questions. Agile research sprints do not produce dust-attracting research tomes. Instead, reports answer key questions, propelling product development forward with clear and targeted opportunities and recommendations. These sprints also quickly uncover additional questions that could be answered with future research to help move projects forward. Sounds good, right? But how do you do it? How do you plan it? What kind of team do you need? How do you get recruits in so little time? What kinds of tools and techniques are best suited to agile? And what kind of mindset do you need to be able to pull it off successfully? This presentation, given at World Usability Congress, teaches researchers, strategists, and designers how to plan and manage Agile Research, including: Methodology Research Approach and Planning Recruiting Tools and Techniques Team Mindset

1. World Usability Congress
October 11, 2017
MANAGING AGILE RESEARCH
Carrie Yury, SVP Research & Strategy, BeyondCurious
Twitter: @carrieyury
Instagram: BeyondCurious

2. Why do we need to be agile,
anyway?

3. Digital transformation is a
business imperative
3
©2017 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.

4. We work with large organizations
to accelerate digital transformation
of their business models,
capabilities, customer experiences,
and cultures.

6. ©2017 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.
6
Our approach is designed for momentum
LEAN METHOD
Agile, Not
Monolithic
NAVY SEAL TEAMS
Pods, Not
Pyramids
PURPOSE-DRIVEN
Missionaries,
Not Mercenaries
ENTREPRENEURIAL
TECHNIQUES
Pioneering,
Not Lagging
SPRINT-BASED
PRICING
Flexible,
Not Rigid

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Agile, not monolithic
TRADITIONAL METHOD BEYONDCURIOUS METHOD
We work in 2-week sprints across ALL disciplines adapting to change rapidly

8. What is agile, and how does it
work?

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Waterfall vs. Agile
Testing
Implementation
Design
Maintenance
Requirements
analysis

10. Waterfall:
How we
used to roll
10
Testing
Implementation
Design
Maintenance
Requirements
analysis

11. Manifesto for
Agile
Software
Development
11
“We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.”
© 2001, the Agile Manifesto authors

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Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software.
Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development. Agile processes harness change
for the customer's competitive advantage.
Deliver working software frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
preference to the shorter timescale.
Principles
behind the
Agile Manifesto

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Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they
need, and trust them to get the job done.
The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-face
conversation.
Principles
behind the
Agile Manifesto

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Working software is the primary measure of
progress.
Agile processes promote sustainable
development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be
able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.
Principles
behind the
Agile Manifesto

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Simplicity - the art of maximizing the amount
of work not done - is essential.
The best architectures, requirements, and
designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and
adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Principles
behind the
Agile Manifesto

16. Waterfall:
• Good for projects without changing
requirements
• Easier to manage as the team is
focused on one activity at a time
• Every phase has a defined start and
end date
Waterfall vs Agile: Pros
Agile:
• Organized involvement of customer and
stakeholders
• Continuous feedback
• More flexible; can accomodate changes
• Transparent
• Reduces “Silo” effect
16©2017 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.

17. Waterfall:
• Change – Change in scope can
seriously impact time/cost/quality
• Customers must know what they want
up front
Waterfall vs Agile: Cons
Agile:
• Team needs to embrace the
methodology. Must have a very open,
communicative mindset
• Requires commitment and time from
the client and team
• Estimating time and costs is more
difficult as requirements are not defined
17©2017 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.

18. A manifesto is not a
playbook
18

19. How have we adapted lean/agile to
research at BeyondCurious?

20. What is Agile Research?
Agile research is an adaptive, iterative approach to quantitative and qualitative user
experience research
©2016 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential. 20

21. Waterfall Research:
Slow moving and
monolithic
Siloed teams
Too abstract to be
actionable
How is it different?
Agile Research:
Immediate Impact
Integrated innovation
Concrete results enable
rapid evolution
21©2017 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.

22. Agile Research: Sample 2-Week Sprint
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
FIELDWORK
REPORT + RECSANALYSIS
REPORT BUILDING
FINDINGSINTERIM FINDINGS
DEVELOP RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
NEXT SPRINT :
REVIEW
ENVIRONMENT +
KEY QUESTIONS
REPORT FROM THE FIELD
PARTICIPANT RECRUITING AND SCHEDULING ONGOING
REVIEW PROTOCOLS & APPROACH
22©2017 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.
DAILY STAND-UPS ONGOING

23. How do I get started?

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Planning
Fieldwork
Analysis
Model building
Break it down
into sprints

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Recruiting matrix
Discussion guide
Research plan
Notes from the field/interim findings
Final report
Delivery every
two weeks

26. Find a way to say yes
• Collaboration and
partnership built on
mutual respect and
trust creates an
environment where
innovation flourishes
(fast failure, test and
learn)
• Flexible, non-
dogmatic mindset
allows for creativity,
pivoting, and
innovation
26
Innovation
Mindset

27. Focus your inquiry
• Each sprint has a
targeted learning
objective, developed
with integrated
team
• These MVF’s yield
targeted insights
that push key
aspects of the
experience forward
27
Minimum
Viable
Findings

28. Track your progress
• Sprint-over-sprint
quant/qual metrics
• Visible in one place
• Patterns and themes
about the process,
not just individual
sprint results
• Success metrics
defined and
achieved
28
Experience
Index Score
(XIS)

29. Keep it simple
• Based on strategic
insights gained from
research sprints
• Simple, easy-to-
remember principles
keep user needs top
of mind
• Guide the experience
29
Experience
Principles

30. What effect does agile have on how
people work together?

31. More collaboration. Not less.

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Team is client/stakeholders and
project team
Involve them every step for the way:
planning, creating discussion guides,
fieldwork, data review
Standups, Protocol reviews, Notes
from the field,
Black box is a bad box
Keep your
team close

33. inVision – Quick prototyping
ScheduleOnce – Easy participant
scheduling
Trello – Sprint planning and burndown
Respondent.io - Online recruiting
Zoom – Standup, interviews, recording
Dscout – digital journals
Treejack – Information Architecture tests
Google docs/slides - collaboration
Sticky notes, paper and pen
iPhones, dropcams, GoPros
©2015 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential. 33
Tools we use:

34. What does it look like in real life?

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Agile research was applied across the product development lifecycle to
both lead with the customer and innovate at speed.
Exploration: To get a deep and broad understanding of users and their context to inform
strategy and design, we conducted exploratory ethnographic research to understand users and
identify opportunities.
Creation: To bring users along throughout the design process and ensure success, we get
qualitative user feedback early on in the prototype stage through iterative prototype testing,
participatory design, and UX testing (in-person or remote).
Validation: At the final stages of a project or product’s development, we did UX or usability
testing to validate decisions and inform final refinements.
Sonos Flagship Retail Agile research

36. Range of techniques
In-context testing
• Self-tracking studies
• In-home ethnography
• Shop-alongs
• Intercepts on Sonos.com
Prototype store testing
• Digital prototype testing
• Experience testing
• Service model tests
• UATs in Prototype store
36

37. 37
An experience like no other
Results
©2015 BeyondCurious, Inc. Confidential.

38. Store Architecture
The results were first
manifest in the bold pivot
from a traditional store
layout - typically a
monolithic floor space
filled with bright, shiny
products – in favor of an
innovative pod model,
designed to simulate an
in-home experience.
38

39. Digital Experience
Next, experience
principles helped drive
how to convey complex
ideas. This was
instrumental in designing
all elements of the in-
room digital tablets
(concept, UX and
content), which are used
to orient consumers to
the product by putting
them in control of the
experience.
39

40. Results
Through engaging in
Agile Research as part of
an integrated team, we
were able to deliver
astounding results to
launch a ground-breaking
retail concept.
Store NPS is currently 89
40

41. How will agile evolve?

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Hiring: At BC it has meant that I
look for more unicorns
Question: how can we gain
important cross-methodology
and cross-disciplinary skills in
order to be effective
collaborators, while maintaining
deep expertise?
Evolution of
the approach

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Data: it has also meant that we
are open to more data sources
Question: what will sensor
data or data science have to
offer to change or augment
how we work?
Evolution of
the approach

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Perceptions of research: At an
industry level, Agile has affected
how people see user research.
Question: How can we find a
way to say yes and take this
opportunity to evolve the depth
and breadth of the ways in
which we understand human
behavior?
Evolution of
the approach

45. What do I do now?

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Talk to your teams about how they are using agile
• Are they doing Scrum? SAFe? Lean? Wagile?
• Do they use the concept of Epics or hills?
• What is the sprint cadence?
• What is the meeting cadence?
• What tools are they using for
• Planning?
• Communicating?
• Tracking?
• How can you get involved?
If you work in an agile organization

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Talk to your teams about what agile means
• Frankly discuss the pros and cons
• Make sure that people understand the cultural and process differences
• Take a test and learn approach, and make it work for you!
If you want to introduce agile to your organization

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