Oplægget blev holdt ved InfinIT-arrangementet Temadag om integrering af usability-arbejde i agile udviklingsprocesser, der blev afholdt den 6. maj 2014. Læs mere om arrangementet her: http://infinit.dk/dk/hvad_kan_vi_goere_for_dig/viden/reportager/hvordan_kombineres_agil_udvikling_og_usability-arbejde.htm

1. Methods
for
explora/ve
user
research
in
an
agile
context
Lars
Bo
Larsen,
Aalborg
University/Infinit
Designpeople,
Tuesday
May
6
2014
Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

2. Overview
1. What
are
the
special
requirements
for
UX
methods
to
fit
into
the
agile
process
(if
any)?
2. Why
should
soQware
developers
be
involved
in
UX/usability
work?
3. Which
methods
are
we
talking
about?
• Jan
will
speak
about
usability
methods,
I
will
concentrate
on
user
requirements
gathering
early
in
the
design
process
• Tina
will
speak
about
the
different
ways
UX
and
Agile
can
be
integrated
• I
will
only
address
Scrum
as
the
most
widely
adopted
agile
method
07/05/14 p. 2Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

3. Requirements:
The
philosophy
of
Agile
soQware
development:
• “Individuals
and
interac/ons
over
processes
and
tools”
(Agile
Manifesto
2001)
• “Agile
is
itera/ve,
values
face-­‐to-­‐face
communica/on
and
emphasizes
collabora/on,
also
with
the
customer”
(Kollman
2008)
-­‐
fits
well
with
UX
design
ideas,
which
are
also
itera/ve,
involves
the
user/customer,
etc
• Methods
must
be
“light
weight”
and
quick
• Scrum
sprints
are
typically
two
or
three
weeks,
so
we’ll
look
at
methods
which
will
fit
into
this
/meframe
07/05/14 3Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

4. Why
should
developers
be
involved
in
UX
work?
One
way
to
achieve
an
integra/on
with
Scrum
is
to
directly
have
the
developers
carry
out
(or
par/cipate
in)
UX
work:
Key
benefits:
• Developers
could
be
the
only
resource
available
(no
dedicated
UX
specialists
in
the
company).
Or:
Will
reduce
UX
bo`leneck
• Developers
will
gain
a
greater
insight
into
the
user’s
point
of
view,
which
could
lead
to
be`er
UX
in
itself
Key
Drawbacks:
• Developers
have
other
tasks,
UX
work
will
take
/me
from
these
• Not
trained
• Might
not
be
mo/vated
07/05/14 4Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

5. Example
of
Study
(Latzina
&
Rummel):
Findings
from
Personas
case
study
from
SAP:
• User
perspec/ve
had
improved
• Able
to
develop
own
ideas
for
poten/al
solu/ons,
• Mo/vated
to
engage
in
more
usability
training.
• Key
observa/ons
on
organiza/onal
demands:
• experienced
a
need
for
good
communica/on
both
between
team
members
and
collabora/ng
teams
in
order
to
succeed
with
their
user
driven
approach,
and
the
use
of
usability
standards
and
user/task
informa/on
required
/me
and
solid
project
management
07/05/14 5Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

6. Requirements
revisited
Suitable
methods
must
be
applied
by
developers,
who
are
non-­‐specialists
Therefore:
•
Methods
must
be
easy
to
learn,
use
and
analyse
• Methods
must
be
fast
and
“Light-­‐weight”
–
fit
into
sprints
• Results
must
be
easy
to
understand
and
communicate
07/05/14 6Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

7. 07/05/14 7Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen
(from Færch & Dam 2013)

8. 07/05/14 8Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen
(from Færch & Dam 2013)

9. To
Sum
up:
• A
number
of
studies
have
shown
that:
• Enabling
developers
to
carry
out
certain
UX
tasks
is
a
feasible
way
to
achieve
an
integrated
Scrum/UX
environment
• But
important
to
be
aware
of
limita/ons
and
compe/ng
tasks
to
avoid
conflicts
• UX
processes
are
poorly
described
and
to
a
large
extent
missing
(especially
compared
to
Scrum)
• There
are
some
low-­‐hanging
fruits
• Techniques
such
as
observa/on
studies,
interview
techniques,
card
sorts
can
rela/vely
easily
be
learnt
07/05/14 9Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen

10. References.
Agile
Manifesto:
h`p://www.agilemanifesto.org/
2001
Kollmann,
J.
Designing
the
User
Experience
in
an
Agile
Context.
Faculty
of
Life
Science,
University
College,
London,
London.
2008
Latzina,
M.
and
Rummel,
B.
Collabora/on-­‐Based
Usability
Training
for
Developers.
In
Mensch
&
Computer
2002
(pp.
285-­‐291).
Vieweg+
Teubner
Verlag.
2002
Søren
V.
Færch,
Jesper
Dam
Mortensen,
“An
Easy
and
Cost-­‐.effec/ve
user
research
method
for
suppor/ng
idea/on
in
the
ini/al
phase
of
product
development”.
Engineering
Psychology,
Msc
Thesis,
June
2013,
Aalborg
University
Hackos
&
Redish:
“User
and
Task
analysis
for
Interface
Design”
Wiley,
1998
07/05/14 10Infinit Workshop - Lars Bo Larsen