This document discusses the importance of understanding users in business process design and improvement projects. It notes that while processes are typically analyzed and documented first, understanding user needs, behaviors, and context is also critical for project success. The document recommends designing processes and systems with users in mind rather than just for the business. It provides examples of how to better understand users through personas, communication channel preferences, and segmentation of what users want. The trends discussed include a focus on users and agile approaches over traditional waterfall and documentation-heavy methods.

1. So you have the process documented, what about the users? Maria Horrigan Principal Consultant Regional Lead Business process Design & ImprovementBPMLink Feb 2010

2. Slideshare and blogs www.slideshare.com/murph www.barocks.com Zenagile.wordpress.com @miahorri #BPM , #Agile

3. Business Process Design and Improvement IT is now part of the business - every program, every initiative, will have some touch point with technology Success depends on anticipation of future trends and ability to sense upcoming developments and to design appropriate systems and processes Understanding business processes is important Understanding Users, their needs and their behaviour is critical

4. Typically we start by analysing the process Talk to client and find out about the current process Document “as is” process Look at needs to improve efficiency and effectiveness of program or initiative Identify where the system can automate functions within the business process Map the “to be” process

5. End result But what about the users?????

6. Process vs People Project success hinges on Users therefore we need to: Understand what they want Uncover what they need …. Look at the context Understand the user behaviour Show how the process will help users in their work Design the process and system for users (not just for the business)

7. What needs to be considered Not just about the process or the technology

8. Process centric vs User centered Six Sigma Waterfall Lean Agile Trends in 2010

9. Six Sigma Focuses on removing the causes of defects(errors) and the variation (inconsistency) in manufacturing and business processes using quality management Asserts that continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results are vital for business success Processes have characteristics that can be measured, analysed, improved and controlled Follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified targets

10. Waterfall – takes time, sequential You’re only going to find out if your solution works at the end

11. Waterfall – it’s expen$ive to change It’s too expensive to incorporate changes toward the end of the project Cost of change

12. Lean "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination Working from the perspective of the customer, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for Lean IT focuses on customer satisfaction and reducing waste and is centered around creating more value with less work

13. Agile & Lean software development Agile - set of software development methodologies that originated as a response to fat and slow software development processes that increased lead time, work in progress and value/non value added activities ratio Agile has as one of its origins, concepts from Lean Thinking, as well organises work in a cross-functional, multidisciplinary work cell Focus on continuous improvements, that is the base of Lean Why this trend to Agile……

14. Business drivers for change to Agile A need to maximise: Business value Reduce: Waste/cost Improved: Responsiveness to business Service levels to business Quality Minimise risk profile

15. Agile Alliance Manifesto While there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

16. Agile Approach – User Centered This is actually ISO13407 Prioritised ‘features’

17. Mapping the User experience Iterated improvements to user interface prototypes Refine process through storyboarding Map business processes Workshop processes and requirements Iterate improvements to user interface prototypes Refine storyboard mapping user experience and business processes Validate with users

18. Case Study – User Profiles through Personas Understanding users, their behaviour and their context

19. Understanding Users - Personas Started off with ‘skinny’ view of users gained thru workshops Added to personas as info uncovered thru SNA – place in the network, information preferences, types, communication styles & channels Built up personas as we went in our agile project iterations, rather than all-at-once

20. From skinny to zen personas As our project knowledge evolved, we added to our understanding of users: Their information preferences Their expectations Their capabilities Their information needs Their social network profiles (Forrester’s Technographics) Documented as ‘ZenAgile’ personas

22. Animated

23. Creative

24. Outgoing

25. Goal oriented

26. Assertive

28. Information & task focus

29. Detail orientated

30. Cautious & risk averse

31. People oriented

32. Team players

33. Dependable

36. Presentations (animation & diagrams)

37. Prototypes

39. Presentations

41. Workshops

43. The result: ZenAgile Personas! Context Social Technographics Behaviour Communication preferences

44. The result – ZenAgile Personas Context Motivations Behaviour Communication preferences Wants

45. User Segmentation – What they want

46. Want Maps

47. What did I learn? Personas good way to help convey and shape understanding of user’s info needs Agile approach - build on “skinny” profile & flesh out personas as the project proceeds Use these personas in discussions with client to ensure process design and improvements has the user needs “top of mind”

48. Critical to Understand User needs Look at the project with the context of the organisation, the business unit and the users Contextual Inquiry It’s not about You! It’s about Users Always ask if what you are doing is adding value and how does it link back to the strategy

49. 2009 Trends in BPM & BA Change in requirements approaches and use of requirements management and BPM tools Increased Use of Agile Approach and Techniques Focus on Users

50. Change in Requirements Approaches Less reliance on use cases and movement towards BPMN, user stories and scenario-based requirements Less emphasis on requirements specifications, more emphasis on process modelling, prototypes and diagrams Increase in requirements management and planning and using traceability to control and manage product scope (BPM tools) Adoption of Agile methods in release and iteration planning

51. Increased Use of Agile Approaches Integrating Agile methods into project management and business analysis Currently, the industry has a wide, varied, and inconsistent use of Agile techniques The adoption of Agile methods, especially Scrum but also including XP, exploded in 2009. The use of Agile is one of the hottest topics within BPM and PMOs

52. Predictions for 2010 More focus on the Users and their needs Recognise that one size does not fit all Adoption of Agile methods will continue to increase and Waterfall approach will decline Recognition that adoption of Agile methods is not an excuse for lack of discipline Move to less documentation and knowing when documentation is important (for contracts and regulatory compliance) Focus on requirements management tools

53. Fin.Maria Horrigan Principal ConsultantEmail:Maria.horrigan@oakton.com.auBlog: www.barocks.com zenagile.worpress.comSlideshare:www.slideshare.com/murphTwitter: @miahorri