The predominant mindset around complex problem solving is decomposition; we inevitably jump to ways of ‘chunking up’ a solution. At Aginic, our experience of delivering hundreds of engaging data experiences is that this often misses a step that is crucial to creating compelling digital experiences: experimentation. In this talk we’ll describe how we have baked in experimentation to our ability to explore and navigate complex problem spaces and how this has helped deliver engaging outcomes for our customers. This talk is a must for anyone tackling complex projects, particularly involving data.

1. Crafting Digital Experiences with Agile and Design
James Hayes
About James:
CEO of Aginic, a consultancy specialising in the delivery of analytics, BI
and AI solutions utilising design led and agile approaches. Over the last
15 years James has worked with some of the largest organisations in
the UK and Australia to transform ways of working, unlocking the
potential of teams to deliver awesome customer experiences.

2. Hello!
Our story
Brief introductions
Exploring solution vs exploring problem
The problem
The learning
What we’ve learned
The solution
Our take on the solution
01
02
03
04

3. Brief intro to Aginic.

4. We are a diverse crew of creative data
analysts, designers, engineers,
delivery coaches, and cloud
technicians that love to combine our
technical skills to solve problems.

5. We’re on a Journey
Founded in 2014 by
Brett and Marty.
From 2017 to 2021 we’ve
opened offices along the way
We have grown exponentially
to over 90+ people
Between 2019-2021 we’ve grown into
4 chapters and 3 capability areas
Analytics, Delivery, Design, and
Engineering

6. We solve problems, differently.
Specialising in advanced
analytics, data science and
data visualisation. We
extract, aggregate, model
data and provide actionable
insights.
Data & Insights
A team of design and
engineering professionals.
We craft digital experiences
with the user in mind every
step of the way.
Digital Experiences
A team of agile and lean
coaches help deliver
awesome outcomes
rapidly.
Agile Consulting

7. Our journey today.

10. Discovery
● Set the initial course
● Understand the end user
● Establish the ‘happy path’ roadmap
● Identify the slices of value

11. What our ‘Discovery’ typically looks like...
Understanding
the vision
Forming the
team
Validating
Constraints
Identifying Value
increments
Understanding
the end user
Journey Mapping and
Persona development
MVP
Identification
Roadmap
Validation
Work Breakdown
for MVP 1
Setting up for
early sprints

13. Agile delivery
● Clarity of vision
● Great understanding of the customer
● Collaborative delivery team
● Empowered to solve problems
● Constant engagement and feedback
● Incremental Value delivery

14. The happy path: Everything is awesome!
Project Scope
MVP MLP
Story Story Story
● Work with clients to understand the value
they are chasing
● Create a shared vision of success
● Collaborative Delivery team
● Target early delivery of value through an
MVP
Discovery guides us to valuable increments

15. Horizontal vs vertical “slices”
● Technology-centric
approach
● One layer of the data
architecture at a time -
typically “bottom up”
● Slower delivery of value to
business users
● Limited opportunity for
business user input and
prioritisation based on
value
● Business-centric approach
● Designed to get insights in
the hands of business users a
“slice” at a time - as quickly
as possible
● Each next “slice” is chosen
based on the next highest
value
● User feedback and usage will
steer the direction

16. Why this Work Breakdown stuff matters
● This is ‘ground zero’ for agile
● It’s hard!
● Getting this part is arguably the most important aspect of your
project
● The stuff we’re talking about later assumes you’ve got this part
running well
Target early realisation of value

18. The problem.

21. Where we ended up
Where the gold lives
The chasm of
dissatisfied users

22. Complexity and Problem Decomposition
● We started to find ourselves ‘boxed
in’
● What if the initial guidance isn’t
quite right?
● What if (god forbid) the RFT didn’t
nail the value equation?
How do we know we’re
incrementing in the right direction? Project Scope The unknown
MVP MLP
Story Story Story
What we actually need

23. So just course correct right?
● It may be really hard to get support for
a change
● How do you know the new course will be
better?
● Sunk cost fallacy
● Change is hard!
The juggernaut is moving...

24. The learning.

25. Experimentation ‘phase’
● Deliberately try to prove / disprove your
roadmap assumptions
● Prototype / User Testing
● Architecture storytelling
● Platform validation
What’s all this then?

27. What a ‘good’ experiment might look like
QLD government agency engaged Aginic to
assist with the development of an
assessment tool that helped to define an
employee’s maturity within the context of a
Digital Capability Framework.
Aginic conducted a series of experiments to
create a Digital Capability Assessment Tool
using design thinking and iterative
development approach.

28. How we approached the project
Discovery
Phase 1 - Functional prototype
Development
Experiment
Phase 2 - Productionise
Development
Testing phase

29. Phase 1

30. Phase 1

31. Testing and Experimentation
● Application was in use inside the
organisation for several months for
selected audience
● Lot of data was collected during the
period that shaped the next iteration of
the product

32. Phase 2

33. Design approach.

35. User experience
Focuses on the experience users
receive when interacting with a
product. Component of CX.

36. Customer experience
Focused on improving a
person’s overall experience with
a company, at all touchpoints.

37. Service Design
Service design addresses how an organisation
gets something done and how that is
experienced by the customer and the employee.

39. How can we avoid the ‘detour’?
● Detailed requirements specifications with a fixed scope
contract will prevent experimentation
● We need:
○ Clarity on the outcomes desired (tell me about the
treasure not the means of travel)
○ Checkpoints to validate we’re on course
○ Trust
Outcomes vs Deliverables

40. The solution.

41. Experiment then we’re good right?
● Can help set course for the right roadmap
● Build confidence in the early phases
● Get early engagement / buy in
But...
● Divergence can still occur
● Conditions change
● Competitors can raid your value
● We also need to talk about Procurement...
Well, maybe...

43. Culture of continuous experimentation
● Continually revisit experimentation
● Commit to meaningful increments
but re-test assumptions in between
Validating hypotheses as a norm

46. How we deliver digital experiences
Experiment
Digital experience project
Deliver an experience increment
Scope out, de-risk, validate Scoped out development
(prioritised backlog)

47. Delivering the Experience

48. Recapping our Journey

49. Any questions?
If you have a question, please put it in the Q&A section.
Depending on time we will either read out the question or
bring you on camera to ask the question. Please indicate if
you don’t want to be on camera.

50. Thanks for your time.