It's been a turbulent relationship but there's still a lot of love left to give. Practical tips, pitfalls and stories of integrating user experience design into iterative delivery.

1. UX
MAKING THE MARRIAGE WORK
AGILE
Brent Snook
@brentsnook
http://www.slideshare.net/fuglylogic/agileux-making-the-
marriage-work

2. @brentsnook #LASTconf
MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN
JUST STAYING TOGETHER FOR THE KIDS
+
-
• why? started with a theatrical debate about this at Aconex (with this exact name)
• things had worked ok for the teams I had worked in, I didn’t understand the frustrations
• hearing more UX people’s experiences made me realise that things weren’t so smooth for everyone
• objections: can hurt holistic vision, could make people feel like they’re rushed
• XP (extreme programming) about developer driven, extreme practises
• radical change for many organisations
• jarring when used to up-front approach
• I can see how the rift formed
• when we do agile, sometimes it fails
• often because we learn the practises but we fail to grok the principles
• we fail to invent and adapt where practises are inadequate or even missing
• take the same principles and reapply them to benefit everyone
• it can work, closer to the end of the marriage made in heaven side of the scale

3. @brentsnook #LASTconf
THE REALITY
• NOBODY IS GOING TO SWEEP YOU AWAY TO
LIVE IN A FAIRY CASTLE
• YOU WILL GIVE EACH OTHER THE SHITS
• YOU HAVE TO WORK AT IT
!
BUT…
!
IT IS WORTH IT.
• like marriage, there is a simple reality
• nothing is perfect
• you will give each other the shits, no matter how much you like each other personally
• men are from mars and women are from venus
• development and UX are often looking at things from different level of details
• stick it out and you will make beautiful things together
• in the spirit of relationship tips, this is a loose collection of vague advice
• ignore it, remember it some day and maybe it will make sense

4. @brentsnook #LASTconf
DON’T LAY TRACKS
S T E E R
• the old way: laying the perfect track - intricate designs, flawless photoshop files
• pave the perfect path for the development team
• train just has to come along and everything should go like clockwork
• fraught with danger and waste
• survey the land precisely or you can be screwed by a giant rock in your path
• illusion of the ability to predict
• we all know that this doesn’t work
• agile and lean are a reaction to this
• we need feedback! will it work? how much does it cost? is it right?
• iterative software delivery is rally driving, not laying a train track
• there is a route but it is mainly about adaptation and communication
• a rally car without a navigator will quickly end up driving into a ditch
• too much is flying past for the driver to process
• a great agile UX person has brilliant reaction and navigation skills
• know how to generate learning and respond to it

5. @brentsnook #LASTconf
MAP
• ok, so don’t use BDUF to steer. how do you maintain vision?
• to navigate you need to map
• don’t lose your holistic view
• this is a common complaint of adaptible or iterative delivery methods
• “slice everything up into stories and jam it in a backlog” and you lose your holistic view
• have stories but lack narrative to the bigger tale
• need to map at the ground level to help you plan what to do next
• need to map at the sky level to maintain narrative and holistic view
• sky: personas, design flows, problems for the next few months
• maps are no good in your head - externalise
• use them to re-align the team with their goals
• navigate by being the story teller
• use big, visual props as you see fit
• use an appropriate fidelity for mapping, things will change
• do you need intricate filigree and ornate pictures of sea serpents?

6. @brentsnook #LASTconf
IN BE TWEEN
?
• part of maintaining that view is to evolve the design
• you have plans for what you want the product to be (skyscraper)
• you have a starting state, where your product is (house)
• these are like two key frames that you need to animate
• trying to jump between them will be jarring and risky
• can you wait the 6 months it will take to get there in one big bang?
• how do you even know you want a skyscraper without feedback?
• the destination frame is not a very helpful tool at the ground level
• …hard to relate it to what is there now
• your current state is a hard constraint that you have to work with
• confusion, noise and scope creeping into stories
• photoshop-driven acceptance testing :(
• you need to inbetween
• prodiving mockups, sketching - pick a point that is closer to the start
• adapt solutions to adding a smaller change

7. @brentsnook #LASTconf
AVOID
BRANCH + MERGE
BLOCKAGES
• another common problem, bottlenecks or blockages in the pipeline
• it is as painful as it sounds
• we deliver software through a pipeline
• “we’re waiting on designs from…."
• how much does it suck to be that person holding everyone up?
• as a ux person you're probably shared across several teams, right?
• more pressure - less chance to explore ideas and find the best solution
• always tossing meat to the ravenous wolves at your door
• create a linear pipeline and you will create a greater opportunity for blockages
• try not to do it, branch instead
• pick a lo-fi option that solves 80% of the problem, start on it
• generate and test more options in parallel
• merge your findings back in as new stories
• add more stories to work what you find back into the product
• also works with ui design…

8. @brentsnook #LASTconf
CREATE OPTIONS
• this is all about creating options for yourself
• recognise your artificial, implied or self-imposed constraints
• eliminate them
• we can't start that because…….why?
• the more you explore the better the final result will be
• design studios (lean ux) are great for this!
• everyone is briefed on a simple problem
• sketch, critique, adapt, pick options
• user test or spike options
• generate new stories and prioritise them with the rest
• the UX person needs to be a facilitator
• in the meantime, you already have something working
• important: we come up with these designs together

9. @brentsnook #LASTconf
THERE IS
ONLY
US
• in great, functional teams there is only us
• carrying on about how UX is holding you up is counterproductive
• carrying on about how development is hounding you for work is counterproductive
• us and them
• blame sucks, its a crap game and we all lose in the end
• us and them happens when teams are divided
• most orgs are set up with horizontal departments, need to cut across that
• up to people on the ground level to remove the us and them
• bring people in to the team
• invite the ux person to come and sit with your team, make them feel at home, even clear a spot for their Pantone colour mug
• feel like they’re parachuted in enemy territory? ask if you can go and sit with them
• seek opportunities to collaborate, get used to talking to each other
• eat lunch together, get coffee together
• you will find it very hard to complain about someone you eat lunch with every day
• part of being us is sharing responsibility

10. @brentsnook #LASTconf
• buy this book, read this book
• practical advice for what I have just talked about
• solid principles for working together

11. @brentsnook #LASTconf
DON’T LAY TRACKS, STEER
MAP
INBETWEEN
BRANCH AND MERGE
CREATE OPTIONS
THERE IS ONLY US

12. @brentsnook #LASTconf
IMAGES
!
Heart
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80497449@N04/10011940914
Stop Sign
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blank_stop_sign_octagon.svg
Cloud
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SVG_cloud_icons#mediaviewer/File:Cloud_font_awesome.svg
Lean UX
http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920021827.do#